Tacoma Rescue Mission History
Gypsy Smith was born in 1860 England in "a gypsy tent . . . near Epping Forest." He become a popular revivalist preacher in both England and the United States. He visited Austria in 1894 and the U.S. four times, preaching in New York, New Jersey, Chicago, St. Paul, St. Lois, Kansas City, Denver, San Francisco, Portland (OR) and Tacoma. It was his seventeen-day series of revival meetings in Tacoma in December of 1911 that inspired the establishment of Tacoma's Rescue Mission.
Tacoma churches (First Presbyterian, East Congregational, First United Methodist, First Baptist) united to bring Gipsy Smith to the area. A committee of twenty-five local businessmen, representing the churches involved, financed the construction of a 28,000 square-foot "tabernacle." The wooden structure was erected at the corner of 6th Avenue and South I Street, and had seats for 6,000 and a loft for the 350-member choir. News of the revival meetings was featured on the front page of the Tacoma Daily Ledger from December 1st through 19th. Over 100,000 people paid 25 or 50 cents admission to hear the famed preacher (the total population of Tacoma was about 135,00). Before Gipsy Smith left Tacoma, he met with the committee and challenged them to establish a rescue mission.
During the time Gipsy Smith was visiting Tacoma, the Ledger ran an article covering the opening of the new Bowery Mission in New York City. The mission movement was still strong and growing. The message preached by Gipsy Smith and his fellow-laborers was critical of "comfortable" Christianity. "My heart goes out to the men and women who are hard at it in the rescue missions every night in the year. The devil never closes his shops-he is wise. What are the churches doing? Coddling saints," said Smith in a letter to the Tacoma Rescue Mission.
Evolution of Tacoma's Rescue Mission
Inspired by the message of "The Gypsy," and encouraged by rescue mission workers from Portland, the Tacomans (including Fred Murray, first president of the Tacoma Rescue Mission) raised funds, recruited volunteers and located a vacant building. The mission began operating in March of 1912 in a rented space on Fourteenth Street. It was funded entirely by donations. The Mission provided shelter, food and clothing and sought to meet the spiritual needs of Tacoma's less fortunate. Most of the people served by mission in its early days were those who had failed to succeed in the lumber and maritime industries.
After World War I, the shipyards in Tacoma suffered. There was a series of strikes by the Metal Trade Workers, and the shipyards were shut down by the management in the early 1919. The workers lost the battle for higher wages, but the work stoppage had crippled the industry. By 1924, there were no shipyards left in Tacoma, and the population of the city had dropped to 97,000. The shipyards had, during the war years, employed 14,000 workers. Many of these, now unemployed, availed themselves of the services of the Tacoma Rescue Mission.
In the 1930s, the mission moved to 1533-35 Broadway. The increase in the number of unemployed and homeless during the Great Depression led the trustees and directors of the mission to seek larger, permanent quarters. In the late 1930s, the mission relocated to yet another temporary site at 1219 Pacific Avenue. The mission board led a fundraising effort to finance the purchase of 1512 Pacific Avenue. In 1940, the board made the purchase with donations from churches, the Weyerhaeuser family, and Mayor Kaufman, among many others. By November of 1942, the mission board paid the mortgage in full, and in 1946, purchased the adjoining building as the mission expanded. The Tacoma Rescue Mission Emergency Services existed at this location until 2001 when it moved to New Life Square.
* Excerpts from Janice Evans' "The Tacoma Rescue Mission: A Crucible for Creativity"