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Pastor Karl Kilian of Peace Lutheran, an Ohio Synod congregation in Puyallup, established this congregation as a mission in Elbe, Washington. He conducted services periodically in the Town Hall. Most of the members came from Germany and services were conducted in German. One of the members, Heinrich Lutkens, donated the building site and the present church, now on the National Register of Historic Places. It once was a feature in “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” because of its unique size and design.

Karl Kilian served until 1933. Other pastors who came from Puyallup were Fred H. Theuer (1933-1937) and E. H. Jahr (1937-1947). The congregation was closed in 1948. After that time the little church went through of variety of stages, and in 1973, under the leadership of retired pastor Ervin E. Krebs of Tacoma, the place revived. The physical plant was restored, services began to be held on a monthly basis, and the church became a tourist attraction. Many volunteers worked in various phases of the restoration. In April of 1984 the Historic Elbe Church Association was organized. The title for the property was given to the American Lutheran Church, and administration of the Association is the responsibility of the Rainier Conference. The church has been designated as the Bishop’s Church of the North Pacific District, and all District Bishops and Presidents of the Lutheran Church worldwide have been designated “honorary pastors”.

When the Northern Pacific Railway Company built their Northwest terminus repair shops in south Tacoma in 1892, there were a lot of Scandinavians among these who worked there. A group of families decided that a Norwegian church was needed, and established it in 1902 under the direction of pastors in the area. The church was organized with assistance from the Home Missions. Ground was purchased and a basement built where services were held for a number of years beginning in 1908. In 1917, the English language was introduced for services, supplanting Norwegian. The church debt was paid and the mortgage burned in May of 1927. Groundbreaking for the present church was held and the new sanctuary was dedicated on the 50th anniversary of the congregation, November 18, 1956.

October 4, 1971 there was a fire at Hope Lutheran Church caused by arson. A statue of Jesus brought over from the original building was destroyed along with many records, and other artifacts. The building was remodeled to repair the damage caused by the fire.

The congregation dissolved in 2014. Their last service was March 9, 2014.

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church had its beginning in the year 1923 as an inter-denominal Sunday School. The people of its congregation met in three different homes during those early days and their first pastor was Reverend Arthur Shaffer. In 1924 Reverend Claude Pellet took over and under his leadership this group became a Lutheran Church. Reverend Pellet saw Grace Lutheran established at its present site at 73rd and Park and a building erected before turning the reins over to Reverend H.N. Svinth in June of 1930, who served for 31 years.

The 1930’s were depression years and this small congregation put up a terrifically hard struggle to keep the doors of Grace Church open. Their work was rewarded, however, as the following years brought more prosperous times and a larger congregation. In 1955 a parsonage was built on the grounds behind the church.

Gethsemane Lutheran was formed through a merger of two congregations, Grace Lutheran and St. Paul Lutheran.

Grace Lutheran had its beginnings in 1923 as an interdenominational Sunday school. In 1924, when the church became Lutheran, they erected their facility at 73rd and Park.

St. Paul Lutheran was established in 1891 by Rev. J.J. Mylund, who conducted services in a rented building which served as both church and parsonage. In 1904 a facility was built at 13th and L Streets.

With the merger of the congregations in 1962 under Reverend Carl Laursen, the combined group met in the facilities of Grace Lutheran. A new facility was dedicated on February 16, 1964, and several years later and educational wing was completed. In 1998, the congregation merged with Bethel & Mt Zion of Tacoma, Washington, becoming United Lutheran Church.

Immanuel Lutheran Church was founded in 1905 by Pastor Frisk. They shared pastors with Bethel after Bethel was established, and voted to dissolve in 1942 after talking about a merger with Bethel. This makes many of their records overlap.

On March 11, 1914 a meeting was held to consider the formation of a new congregation. The chosen name was “Svenska Lutherska Bethel Forsamlingen”. A lot was purchased in April, and at a June 1st meeting it was proposed to build a church at the total cost of $2,809.14. The congregation formally organized on July 13, 1914 with eight couples signing the charter.

From 1924-1942, Bethel of Tacoma and Messiah of Auburn joined as one parish. In 1939, in preparation for the 25th Anniversary, the sanctuary was renovated. All labor and materials were donated. In 1947 Bethel became self-supporting and began to plan for building. Service was held in the basement until the dedication in September of 1948. An educational unit was added in 1959. The sanctuary was renovated and remodeled for the golden anniversary, a new organ was installed in 1981, and new pews in 1982. In 1998 they merged with Mt Zion & Gethsemane of Tacoma, Washington, becoming United Lutheran Church.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd was organized on Sunday, March 1, 1953, at the 11:00 A.M. worship service, with Dr. Henry J. Hokenson in charge, aided by Mr. Charles H. Gustafson.

In 1954 their church building was dedicated. In 1957 land was purchased to build a new sanctuary. In 1959 the congregation went off Mission Aid, and the new building was dedicated. A parsonage was also built and later sold to one of their pastors. They used Central Valley High School for some of their Sunday school classes. An addition was built to remedy this problem in 1987.

The congregation worked on ecumenical relations with the Episcopalian and Catholic Church, and had a covenant with Holy Spirit Episcopalian & St. Mary’s Catholic Church. They also had joint confirmation with Holy Trinity Lutheran and Peace Lutheran.

They merged with Christ Lutheran in 2011, and changed the name to Advent Lutheran Church.

In 1953 the Board of Missions of the ELC purchased a building site and called Eugene W. Nilsen as pastor. In October of 1954, construction began for a church which was completed in April of 1955. By July, when the charter membership rolls were closed, there were 500 baptized members. By 1966 the Sunday School enrollment had grown to 360 students.

In 2011 they merged with Good Shepherd, and became Advent Lutheran Church of Spokane Valley, Washington.

This congregation was established in 1955 by the Mission Board of the American Lutheran Church. Holy Trinity Lutheran in nearby Ephrata was a sister congregation, as several members of Faith were from that congregation. In 1956 the ALC gave a $25,000 loan for the construction of a church. Building began on April 20 of that year. Soap Lake was a boom town in the 1950s, and population is now half of what it was at that time.

Saint James Lutheran Church’s history traces back to 1921, when Pastor Frederick Weisenborn founded a Lutheran Church and Sunday school in the White Center area of Seattle. At first, there was no actual church building, and services were held in local halls and the houses of members, such as Esther Hilborn’s, where the Church’s first Eucharist was held. The church struggled to eke out an existence during its nascent years, but was prospering by 1928, when the congregation was renewed under Pastor P.E. Blaiser. Full-time pastor Kolbein Simundsson arrived in 1928 and served until retiring in 1958.

In 1947, a new church building was finished and received a dedication service. At its peak, Saint James Lutheran Church grew to support 600 attendees in its church and 400 children in its Sunday school. The numbers dwindled with time, however, and eventually the Church serviced a moderately sized group, whose average age increased over the years. The Church increased outreach programs to the community, such as teaching English to immigrants and creating programs to find jobs for them. Projects such as Alcoholics Anonymous, the Girl Scouts and Nutrition Programs were also supported in this time. The church building was consistently renovated over time.

Saint James closed after Easter in 2005, because church attendance had dropped dramatically. The Easter service contained 50 attendees; on average it served 25, most of which were retirees.

On January 1, 1970, two congregations in the Burien area merged to form Our Savior’s. They were the House of Prayer Lutheran Church (ALC), and Bethel of Burien (an ALC congregation which had been established by the Lutheran Free Church). The two pastors served the merged congregation until August 1, 1970, when they left for other parishes and Reverend Robert Moylan became head pastor. During the four years that Moylan was pastor a building program was instituted. A first unit was erected and a few years later, a parish education unit was added. They voted to leave the ELCA on January 20, 2001.