Listen to this article
The corps holds a weeklong celebration for its 125th birthday.
Captain Alfred Harris introduced The Salvation Army to Seattle on June 5, 1887. Beginning in the basement of a bar in Pioneer Square—now known as the old section of Seattle—the church grew to 700 converts within its first seven months. This work eventually evolved into the Seattle Temple Corps and is now located in the North Seattle Greenwood neighborhood.
To mark the auspicious event, Seattle Temple held a “Homecoming” weekend in late November 2012 with special guests Colonels Terry and Linda Griffin. The Griffins have a long history in the Pacific Northwest region.
Saturday consisted of two workshops: a drama class in the morning, directed by Roberta Simmons-Smith and corps soldier Melanie Lyons. Simmons-Smith is creative arts director at Territorial Music Publications in Atlanta. The afternoon was a music workshop led by Nick Simmons-Smith and Ken Lyons. Simmons-Smith is territorial music publications and market specialist in Atlanta, and Ken Lyons directs the songsters at the Temple.
Nick and Roberta Simmons-Smith hailed from England and received a special invitation by the Seattle Corps to take part in its commemorative event.
Sunday’s event was a band concert led by Nick Simmons-Smith and Seattle Temple Bandmaster Stephan Wennstig. Led by Nick and Ken Lyons, the Songsters sang. Students of the after-school music program performed a number with the band.
Majors Ron and Ronalee Fenrich are corps officers at Seattle Temple.
