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The church now known as Lake
City Community Church has been a “Crossroads for Christians”
for 80 years. There is no way to count all the ways God has
worked in lives through the ministry of this church. It’s
helpful to look back a bit as we look forward.
Lake City Church began in January of 1923 when a group of
forty-three men and women, boys and girls, met and formed a
Sunday school. In the same month a group of eleven women met
and formed a missionary society called “Lend-a-Hand.” On
July 4, 1923, ground was broken for the beginning of the
structure now known as Holt chapel, situated on three lots
that were donated by Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Holt, founders of
the work, and two lots that were donated by Puget Sound
National Bank. The basement was occupied in November 1923.
The auditorium was finished and dedicated four years later
in January of 1927. The pioneer Senior Pastor of the church
was Eddie Coy who served for nine years.
The ministry continued as a
Sunday school, evening Christian endeavor, and women’s
outreach until 1932 when Mr. D.P. French began to hold
worship services. The church was incorporated and officially
named Lake City Church during the ministry of the Rev.
Stanley George L. Johnson who came to the church as pastor
in 1945.
The first major building
expansion occurred under the ministry of Pastor Lowell
Wendt. The building known by us “old timers” as the
Bremerton building was added to the property. Chuck Stillman
placed a bid on some surplus military housing in Bremerton.
The building was procured, barged to Steilacoom, and then
put in place with volunteer labor. It is the building that
now houses our nursery and preschool ministry.
During the years of 1950-54,
the men of the church faithfully contributed their abilities
and labor to the construction of the present sanctuary
building. If space permitted, many stories could be told of
the Saturday workdays that went on for five or six years. In
the meantime, there were double worship services on Sunday
mornings, and Sunday school classes convened in buses and in
various neighborhood homes. A bus ministry was begun at this
time and with three buses bringing as many as 75 people to
Sunday school each Sunday.
The ministry continued to
expand and in 1955 the first church-supported
 missionaries,
Ken and Gloria Raddick, were sent out. They served until
retirement as missionaries with SIM (Sudan Interior
Missions). The church constitution was ratified and the name
officially changed to Lake City Community Church in 1957.
Sunday school grew dramatically during the late 50’s
averaging over 500 and occasionally reaching 700 in
attendance. Ministries such as VBS were important avenues of
outreach with hundreds of children attending and involving
scores of teachers and helpers. Our youth work was also
greatly expanded at that time.
Pastor David T. Stewart served as
our Senior Pastor beginning in 1963. The outreach and expansion
of our church was greatly expanded under his leadership. The
education wing and foyer building were added and several
properties were acquired for future development. The daughter
church of Sunset Community Church was started with many members
of our church volunteering to attend and support the new church.
LCCC was one of three churches that owned and operated Island
Lake Bible
 Camp.
It was ultimately decided that the scope of the camp ministry
was greater than the churches could handle, and the property was
deeded to Crista ministries who operates it today. The church
opened a Christian bookstore called King’s Way Bible Book store
located in the Villa Shopping Center. Its dual purpose was as a
Christian outreach and a convenience to LCCC members. After
several years of operation the store was purchased by Dightman’s
Bible Book Store and became its Lakewood branch. Significant
leadership was also given to The Servicemen’s Christian Center.
Our worldwide missions outreach
grew significantly under Pastor Stewart’s leadership. For
several years, beginning in the early 70’s, approximately one
third of the entire church budget was used to help support the
growing number of missionaries that were sent to the field by
LCCC. A scholarship fund was begun to help students with the
goal of Christian service attend colleges and Bible Schools.
 On
August 12, 1964, the present church sanctuary was severely
damaged by a fire that was started by children playing with
matches in the breezeway and spread to the attic above the
platform. The cost of the repairs exceeded $60,000 and took five
months to complete. Meanwhile, services were held in the Lake
City Community Center.
Blake Slater, who began his
tenure with LCCC as our Youth Pastor, became our Interim Pastor
when Dave Stewart retired in 1982. Pastor Blake served in that
capacity for nearly three years when Roger Trautman was called
as our Senior Pastor in 1985.
Lake City Community Church was
led by Dr.
 Randy
Bridges from 1988 to 1999. Pastor Randy continued to emphasize
the original commitments of Lake City Church and at the same
time develop a successful outreach to the youth and families of
the community. The considerable undertaking of construction and
paving of our current parking lot also occurred under his
leadership.
In January of 2000, Lake City
Community Church was blessed when
Dr. Jim Kennington
became our new Senior Pastor. The ministry continues to grow
with the vision and planning of a new sanctuary well under way.
For the past 80 years Lake City
Community Church has maintained a clear focus on the teaching of
God’s word with the goal of reaching our community and world
with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We will continue to support and
send missionaries into our neighborhood and to the “uttermost
ends of the earth.”
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