Jacob Dimond / jake@yelmonline.com
Rainier Chapel is one of the oldest entities in the Nisqually Valley region.
It will celebrate its 90th anniversary at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 14, with a service and outdoor activities to follow.
Michael Wolfe, Rainier Chapel’s pastor, and his wife, Cindy, told the Nisqually Valley News on Friday, Aug. 22, that the event is completely open to the community, and that they hope to see local residents join the church on Sept. 14 to celebrate, share stories of the chapel and enjoy quality time with attendees.
“There’s generations of families who are connected to the church from throughout the years … We’re celebrating 90 years, from 1935 to 2025,” Michael said. “After the service, we’ll go out into our parking lot area and we’ll have games, live music, a barbecue trailer, and we’ll be celebrating out there afterwards. There will be a fun day full of festivities to celebrate the 90th anniversary.”
Michael and Cindy each shared stories and tidbits of information from throughout Rainier Chapel’s rich history. The church began operating in 1935, but Sunday school in Rainier was initially hosted in a tavern.
“As far as we can tell, it’s the oldest entity in Rainier that’s continuously ran. A fun fact is that the building that’s attached to our church right here — our church actually started in a tavern,” Cindy said. “They’d clean it out for Sunday school on Sunday morning, and it ran that way for about 10 years. We still have that space. It’s attached to our building. There’s a lot of history here all the way around.”
The tavern itself was built in 1901 and was named Jimmy’s Tavern. According to Cindy, the church’s origins began in 1935 when George and Rose Hahn went to the owner of Jimmy’s Tavern and claimed that Rainier “needed a place to learn about God.” The owner obliged, and 10 years later George and Rose Hahn purchased the tavern in efforts to grow the church.
“It officially became a church after 10 years. This town was booming, it sounds like. We had a couple of fires, and I didn’t realize that until we started looking into the history,” Cindy said. “The Hahns would come in Sunday morning, clean out the tavern and put stuff in for church. Then, they’d take it down and get it ready for the tavern again. They did that throughout a 10-year period.”
With a history that spans 90 years, heartache is bound to occur throughout the course of time. According to Cindy, one of the longest Rainier Chapel members recently passed away.
“The first baby that ever came to our church just passed away,” Cindy said. “She saw her 90th birthday and wanted to see the celebration, but she just passed away. She was the sweetest lady, too.”
Cindy said she and Michael are both thankful for the opportunity to be part of the 90-year celebration at Rainier Chapel. She believes they were led to the church for a reason, and said they’re aiming to grow the longstanding organization.
“The church has been through a lot, good and bad, but we are really seeing growth. When we came, it was a lot of older people in their late 70s or 80s. After that generation died, there wouldn’t have been a church,” Cindy said. “We really believe God called us here. We’re building it back up, and not by ourselves — obviously with God’s help. We have a lot of amazing people helping us, too.”
