A Light on Boulevard Road Since 1893

Westminster Presbyterian Church has stood on the east side of Olympia for more than a century. Its story begins on December 2, 1893, when the Reverend James Welch organized the First United Presbyterian Church of Olympia in a rented room at the Hale Block on 4th Street. Seventeen people formed that first congregation, and within three years they had built a wooden church at Jefferson and Fourth that was dedicated in January 1896. A second, brick building - the "little brick church on the eastside" - was dedicated in 1930 at Lybarger Street and Fourth Avenue under the Reverend William Spalding.

After the Second World War, under the Reverend Gordon Jackson, the church stopped being a denominational mission and took the name Westminster United Presbyterian Church. Long pastorates shaped mid-century growth: the Reverend Charles Loyer served from 1958 to 1982, and the Reverend Dr. Dwight Whipple from 1983 to 2001. In the early 1980s the congregation was renamed Westminster Presbyterian Church, and in 1990 the current building at 1925 Boulevard Road was joyfully dedicated. A new Fellowship Hall was added in 2008-2009, and on April 15, 2015, the Session adopted an Open and Affirming statement of welcome. Today the congregation calls itself "A Light in Olympia," and its tagline says it plainly: Serving God and Neighbor.

Sunday Worship

Worship gathers each Sunday at 10:30 a.m. The hour is set aside from overscheduled lives as a time to be present to God and to one another. The service moves through song, prayer, and reflection on the Word of God, with a Children's Message offered shortly before the sermon. After the Children's Message, children are invited - but never required - to step forward; the dismissal to age-level formation comes at that moment. The peace of Christ is shared for three to five minutes, and Communion is celebrated regularly. Everyone is welcome at the Lord's Table.

The worship is rooted in the Presbyterian (U.S.A.) Book of Order, which describes worship of the triune God as "the center of our common life, and our primary way of witnessing to the faith, hope and love we have in Jesus Christ." Westminster's own description fits: Guided by tradition, open to God's new expression. After the service, the congregation gathers in the Fellowship Hall for coffee and conversation.

Worship is livestreamed each Sunday at 10:30 a.m. on Facebook and Vimeo, so friends near and far can join in.

Music That Carries the Word

Music sits at the heart of life at Westminster. Three ensembles carry the music program. The Chancel Choir rehearses on Thursdays from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. and on Sundays at 10:00 a.m. from September through June, singing most Sundays and on Christmas Eve. Repertoire ranges from Renaissance motets to spirituals and contemporary pieces, with special focus during Advent and Lent. The Bell Choir rehearses on Thursdays from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., and the Praise Team rehearses on Sundays from 9:15 to 10:00 a.m. leading contemporary hymns and folk music in worship. Director of Music Ministries Dr. Dawn Sonntag welcomes new vocalists and instrumentalists to any of the three.

Children at the Center of Worship

Westminster is intentionally intergenerational, and children are welcomed into every aspect of the church's life. The congregation's stated belief is that children are not the future of the church but the church today, so all but the very youngest begin in worship alongside their families. Infants and their caregivers may stay in the sanctuary, use the Caregiver/Cry Room to the left as you enter, or sit in the narthex where little ones can move around while still hearing the service.

For children from six months to three-and-a-half years, the Infant/Toddler Room on the second floor opens at 10:15 a.m. and closes at noon. It is staffed by two regular caregivers who provide consistent, gentle care, and first-time families are registered on arrival. For ages three-and-a-half to eight, Godly Play is offered during worship, a Montessori-inspired program built around story, wonder, and play rather than memorization. Children ages nine to twelve gather as the Tweens, exploring the same biblical stories in greater depth. All staff and volunteers working with children have passed background checks, and a Safe Practices policy is in place.

Youth Group and Young'ish Adults

The WPC Youth Group is open to teens ages thirteen through eighteen and describes itself as "radically inclusive." The group's mission is to "frolic in the awesomeness of God's creation and grow in our faith" and to spread God's love in church, community, and world. Youth serve every other month at the Thurston County Food Bank, take a week-long summer mission trip, walk the Crop Walk, and step into leadership in worship as lay readers, musicians, and liturgists. Director of Faith Formation Sarah Eaton coordinates the program, and a dedicated Facebook group keeps families in touch.

Young'ish Adults gathers people in their twenties, thirties, and forties - married, single, with children or without - for monthly fellowship events. Pastor Matthew welcomes inquiries.

Hope Village on the Grounds

In 2019, Westminster opened Hope Village on its own property in partnership with the City of Olympia. The village is a community of ten tiny homes along with a shared kitchen, gathering area, and administrative office, and it exists to provide transitional housing and case management to people walking the difficult road of housing insecurity in greater Thurston County. Guests are usually connected to stable housing and employment within six to eight months. Catholic Community Services provides case management and site supervision, and Westminster supports the village with a part-time staff coordinator, partner churches, and the wider network of the congregation.

Garden of Weedin' and Earth Care

Since 2012, the church has set aside land on its grounds for the Garden of Weedin', a community garden whose harvest includes a full ten percent donated to the Thurston County Food Bank - about a literal ton of produce each season. Dedicated beds grow food for the Food Bank and for Hope Village, and a pumpkin patch rounds out the season. Members of the community rent four-by-twenty-foot beds for thirty or sixty dollars a season.

Westminster is also a certified Earth Care Congregation. The Earth Care Team, which meets monthly, has organized group hikes, periodic classes on creation care (including a plant-based eating class), Ridwell recycling drop-offs, and creation-care emphases woven into Sunday worship and garden-side vespers services. The team's prayer is to take seriously God's charge to till and keep the garden.

One Parish, One Prisoner

Westminster partners with Underground Ministries in the One Parish, One Prisoner (OPOP) movement, a Bible-rooted initiative that matches congregations with individuals preparing for life after incarceration. The congregation's first team, OPOP Alpha, recently celebrated the release of their partner, who was baptized at Westminster, joined the church, found employment, and completed work on her MBA. In February 2024, OPOP Omega was commissioned as the congregation's second team. The ten members of OPOP Omega continue to discern their next steps as they walk alongside a woman currently incarcerated at the Washington Correctional Center for Women.

Mental Health Ministry

In 2021, Westminster received an O Comfort My People grant through the Presbyterian Mission Agency and launched a congregational mental health ministry. Since then the church has hosted mental health-themed worship services, Mental Health First Aid trainings, workshops, and personal sharing opportunities. A Mental Health Committee curates a thorough resource list for the congregation and broader community, covering counselors and therapists, helplines, support groups, books, online tools, and the local NAMI Thurston/Mason chapter.

Adult Learning and Fellowship

Adult Christian formation at Westminster is intentionally broad, covering spiritual practices, biblical study, and theological ideas that may stretch the mind. On Wednesday mornings from 10:00 a.m. to noon, a Bible Study gathers in the Chapel. A long-running Book Group meets on the second Friday of each month at 9:15 a.m. in the Library and has been gathering since 1994. The Men's Fellowship Group meets on the first Saturday of each month at 9:00 a.m. for coffee and conversation, and on the second Wednesday evening of each month, committees gather on Zoom for the work of the church.

The Women's Ministry gathers around prayer, Bible study, justice work, and fellowship. Elizabeth Circle meets on the third Tuesday of each month at 9:30 a.m. in Room 12, September through May, with a yearly spiritual study. The Sew Happy Quilters meet on Thursday mornings at 9:00 a.m., funding missions through annual quilt sales. For more than twenty years, the Life Abundant Project has assembled midwife kits sent to the Health Center in Banso, Cameroon. The ministry also supports the global Fellowship of the Least Coin and sponsors an annual sock drive at Thanksgiving for neighbors experiencing homelessness.

The Westminster Library, with roots in a 1940s corner room of the old brick building, lends reference, classic, and contemporary books on theology and faith, plus a growing children's section. Magazines include Christian Century, Sojourners, Plough, and Presbyterian Today.

Open and Affirming, Open Doors

Westminster's stated commitment is to welcome all people to worship the living God through Christ while together learning to love and care for one another, growing in faith, and promoting social justice. The 2015 Equality Statement declares the church Open and Affirming, affirming the full inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender (including nonbinary), and queer people in every part of the church's life and ministry - including ordination as Ruling Elder, Teaching Elder, or Deacon. The church's public description of its core work names radical compassion, racial justice, ecological stewardship, full inclusion of LGBTQIA+ siblings, and advocacy for those in Olympia experiencing homelessness or living in poverty.

Ways to Connect

Visitors who want to learn more can reach the church office at office@wpcoly.org or (360) 357-5750. The Westminster Triangle, a monthly newsletter, is posted online, and giving is available online through a secure platform, by check mailed to P.O. Box 2033, or in the wooden church collection plate in the narthex. Stock gifts are also accepted. New Members Classes are usually offered on the fifth Sunday of January, May, August, and October for anyone considering membership or simply wanting to learn more about the Reformed tradition and life at Westminster.

Those who want to serve alongside the congregation will find partners already named - the Thurston County Food Bank, SafePlace Olympia, Hagar's Community Church, and others - and named missions of Hope Village, the Garden of Weedin', One Parish One Prisoner, Mental Health Ministry, and Earth Care. The lead pastor is the Reverend Matthew Benz-Whittington; the associate pastor is the Reverend Julie Scheer Johnson; the Reverend Laurie Lynn Newman serves as Bridge Pastor.