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In the fall of 1987 a small group of people joined together to form the steering committee for a mission congregation then known as the Evangelical Lutheran Church of South Everett. Under the leadership of Mark Samuelson, the mission developer pastor called by the ELCA, they met regularly in the bingo hall on Paine Field while reaching out to the community and inviting others to join them in worship. Organization Day was held on January 8, 1989, and on that day the group that had affectionately been known as “Potluck Lutheran” officially became Spirit of Christ. Over the course of the next few years they meant in various places, and finally in the spring of 1994 construction began on a permanent church building. On May 21st, 1995 the building was dedicated. The congregation voted to dissolve on January 20th, 2002, and the final service was held at the end of May, 2002

Living Branch Lutheran Church began as a preaching point in 1992. It became a worshiping community in 1996. In 2000 it became a developing congregation. On December 14, 2008 they voted to disband the congregation.

Cross of Christ in Vancouver, WA began its ministry in 1967. They met in the Minnehaha School, and later moved to the Minnehaha Grange Hall. The congregations was dissolved on August 9, 1970.

The Riverton Heights Lutheran Church was organized as a Mission of the American Lutheran Church on October 2, 1945. The Agreement of Association with the state of Washington was signed on October 17, 1945 by Pastor Phillip Rohrbacher, Jeanne Axtell, Kenneth Hove, Arthur Theimer, Gus Magnuson, M. E. Baker, and Malinda Spanier. The lot where the church was built was purchased for $1,350. The deed was dated October 30, 1945.

Church services, weddings, baptisms, funerals, and Sunday School were conducted in the basement of the Parsonage until the Chapel was dedicated on April 13, 1947. The Parsonage continued to serve portions of the Sunday School for several years. Ground breaking ceremonies for construction of the Parish Education Building were held on October 26, 1958. On April 24, 1960, the building was dedicated and has since fulfilled its multiple functions admirably. Recognizing our continuing need for additional facilities, a program for construction of a new Sanctuary and additional classrooms was begun in October 1966. Ground breaking took place on September 9, 1973. The new Sanctuary was dedicated on June 8, 1975.

During the church’s time many pastors served. Philip Rohrbacher, the founding pastor, served from 1945 to 1948. He was followed by Ernest Philippi from 1948 to 1952, Erich Knorr from 1952 to 1953 and February through June 1954, Vernon Kraxberger from 1953 to 1954, Leonard Kutz from 1954 to 1968, Richard Bersie from 1968 to 1995, Norma Borgford from 1995 to 1996, and Joyce Miller from 1996 to 1998, in which the church closed due to lack of funds.

• From the commemorative booklet from the church’s closing worship

Tenino Community Lutheran Church started as a preaching point in 1993, and on May 18, 1997 they voted to become a congregation in the ELCA, but they were never able to keep the congregation going, and disbanded in 1999.

St Paul’s Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized June 1891 when Pastor Jens Jensen Mylund came to take charges of the field. From 1891-1897 the congregation held their services at 2308 South G Street, Tacoma. The congregation moved to 1529 South Tacoma Ave in 1898. In 1902 they built a church on L St., and in January 1905 the congregation was incorporated. In 1905 the parsonage was finished. The congregation sold their building December of 1961, and merged with Grace Lutheran in January of 1962.

• From the history in the parish registry

The congregation was officially organized on August 25, 1919. In cooperation with Pacific Lutheran University, members of the congregation erected a church on the college campus in 1920, and worship was held there until 1936 when the congregation purchased the property of the Parkland Evangelical Lutheran Church. The structure (built in 1902) was razed, and the present sanctuary was built and dedicated on June 8, 1958. Trinity has helped to establish several churches in the area, including Christ the King in Midland, Christ Lutheran in Lakewood, Spanaway Lutheran, and Gethsemane Lutheran at South 76th.

The Mount Zion congregation was organized in 1915 by the Lutheran Free Church. It was an outgrowth of Olivet in Tacoma. It first met in a chapel located on 56th and I, and in 1918 the congregation purchased property and erected a building at 54th and Thompson. In 1925, a vacated Methodist church was purchased at 59th and Thompson for $2000.

After a period of study and planning for future needs in 1957, a building site was purchased near the old church. The building was begun in 1961 and completed on October 7, 1962. The name was changed to Mount Zion Lutheran church in 1960 to avoid conflict with another Zion Lutheran in Tacoma. In 1998 Mt Zion merged with Gethsemane and Bethel of Tacoma becoming United Lutheran Church.

Luther Memorial was organized as Zion’s English Evangelical Lutheran Church by Reverend E.G. Lund on June 7, 1891. In 1892 the present site was purchased for $3,500 and a building was erected at a cost of $1,000 and dedicated in August of 1893.The congregation was admitted to the Evangelical Synod of the Northwest in August of 1893, and on September 1, 1901, the congregation withdrew its membership from the Synod of the Northwest to help form the Pacific Synod.

A new church was erected in 1909. On August 16, 1932, the congregation was merged with Our Savior’s Lutheran Church and the name of Luther Memorial was adopted. Since the newly merged congregations belonged to different synods, it was decided that the new congregation would remain independent. Not all of the members went into the merger, so Our Savior’s Lutheran Church also existed as a congregation in Tacoma. In 1937, Luther Memorial joined the Northwest District of the American Lutheran Church. The church voted to dissolve on November 14, 2004.

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”.