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Crown Lutheran Church has its roots in two former Lutheran Free congregations, namely Bethany Lutheran Church, organized in 1901 and Christ Lutheran Church, organized in 1903. Bethany congregation built their church at Fairview and John in 1922, and in 1930, the Ballard congregation dedicated their new building at 22nd Avenue N.W. and West 61st Street.

The two congregations decided to merge, the meeting for this merger was held at Bethany on January 17, 1956. The two congregations continued their normal worship services, as well as other activities, in their respective churches, but on June 17, 1956, the first joint worship service was held at Christ Lutheran Church, and from then on, all service was held at Christ Lutheran Church until Crown Lutheran Church was completed for occupancy, the first service being held on December 15, 1957.

For a brief period of time, Crown continued to be served by Pastors Rusdahl and Rundstrom as co-pastors. Shortly thereafter, having received a call from the church in Starbuck, Minnesota, Pastor Rusdahl resigned, and the call to serve Crown was accepted by Pastor Rundstrom in August, 1956 and he served until August, 1960. He was followed by Pastors James Peterson, Edward Olander, James Erickson, and Ron Soine.

Embla Lodge No. 2 was founded on 24 April 1907 in Tacoma, Washington, officially incorporated by the state as a nonprofit organization on 24 February 1908. The organization was chartered by the Sons of Norway and relied on the guidance of Valkyrian No. 1 lodge when they first started. Together with Valkyrian No. 1 and Freya No. 3 lodges, Embla Lodge No. 2 became part of the Grand Lodge Daughters of Norway on the Pacific Coast. Embla Lodge No. 2 was led by Sisters Laura Walstad, Minnie Holmes, Sofie Horn, Anna Krogh, and Lizzie Nelson for the first five years. Other prominent leaders were Sisters Marie Gunderson, Anna Christiansen, Martha Hegelstad, Anna Aarflot, and Jennie Olson Woog. In 1924, Sister Marie Gunderson was once again president, followed by Sister Clara Larsen. Each ruled for three years, and many joined during those years.

The name of the lodge, “Embla,” comes from the first woman of the human race, according to Norse mythology. Askr, the first man, and Embla were created from two trees on the seashore by three gods. The first god gave them life, the second god gave them understanding, and the third god gave them their physical appearance.

Embla Lodge No. 2 participates annually in the Scandinavian Heritage Festival in Puyallup, Washington, and also helps plan the annual Norwegian Festival at Pacific Lutheran University. They offer a variety of cooking classes at PLU in addition to various cultural programs held at the lodge.

The first Daughters of Norway lodge was formed in Seattle, WA in 1905. In 1908 the Grand Lodge was organized to act as a coordinating organization for all the lodges.

The lodges provided an opportunity for Scandinavian immigrant women to enjoy the fellowship of other women of similar backgrounds.

Lodges in Alaska, the Midwest, and on the West Coast prospered. Many of the original lodges remain although the needs of the members have changed.

The Daughters of Norway Grand Lodge was founded as the "Daughters of Norway of the Pacific Coast" (DNPC) on February 20, 1908. It was created by the three independent lodges that existed in Washington State at the time, including Valkyrien Lodge #1 of Seattle (1905-), Embla Lodge #2 of Tacoma (1907-), and Freya Lodge #3 of Spokane (1907-1923) to hold conventions and conduct administrative business. At the 1930 convention, membership was opened to women married to men of Norwegian ancestry, and a proposal to allow translation of installation ceremonies into English in cases where the candidate did not understand Norwegian was passed. In 1936, the first issue of the Daughters of Norway's Døtre av Norge was published, transitioning from Norwegian to English during the 1950s. The DNPC officially changed its name to the Daughters of Norway in 1956, which correspondes with when the organization stopped providing death benefits to older members, making the group strictly cultural and social. The Grand Lodge is still active, hosting conventions and publishing issues of Døtre av Norge as of 2024.

Established on April 19, 1888, this congregation began as the Norwegian Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church and held services in a Swedish church located between 3rd and Pike. The congregation erected its first church at the corner of 4th Avenue and Pine. This was subsequently sold in 1904 and a new church was built on the corner of 5th and Wall. The Denny Regrade project forced a change and in 1912 a new church was erected at Boren and Virginia, and the name was called “The First Norwegian Lutheran Church.” In 1939 the last sanctuary was erected, and the name was changed to “Denny Park Lutheran Church” in 1945. The ALC North Pacific District Headquarters offices were located in the youth/education building of this congregation.

University Photographer, Pacific Lutheran University: 1966-1995

Reverend Dr. Seth Clarence Eastvold was born in Chicago, Illinois on December 19, 1895 to Reverend Dr. Carl Johan and Ellen Sophia Eastvold. He graduated from Jewell Lutheran College and Academy (Iowa) in 1913 and St. Olaf College (Minnesota) in 1916. In 1920, Eastvold received the degree Candidate of Theology from Luther Theological Seminary (Minnesota). He received from Augustana College and Theological Seminary (Illinois) the following degrees: Bachelor of Divinity (1924), Master of Sacred Theology (1926), and Doctor of Sacred Theology (1931).

Eastvold enlisted in the United States Army (1918) and served as a non-commissioned officer with the American Expeditionary forces in Europe (1918 – 1919). He was appointed chaplain in the Officers Reserve Corps and served until the expiration of his appointment (1928).

Before coming to Pacific Lutheran College (PLC), he served Lutheran parishes in Parshall, North Dakota (1920 – 1923), Jackson, Minnesota (1923 – 1927), Madison, South Dakota (1923 – 1933), and Eau Claire, Wisconsin (1933 – 1943).

In 1943, Dr. Eastvold was offered the presidency of PLC and $40,000 to settle the college’s debt. During his presidency, the institution paid off its debts, 41 buildings were added, the institutions assets increased from $250,000 to $9 million, enrollment soared from 144 students to 2,409 students, and the college was accredited as a university. Eastvold was a strong proponent of such policies as mandatory chapel attendance and the prohibition of dancing and enforced them strictly. While president he traveled extensively and chronicled these experiences for publication in newspaper and book form. During his time the school attained university status in 1960 and became Pacific Lutheran University. In 1962, Eastvold left the presidency of PLU after a continuing conflict with the Board of Regents on the role of the president following the Ocean Shores scandal. The university granted him a handsome retirement package and stipulated that the Chapel-Music-Speech Building would be rededicated Eastvold Chapel. He became acting president of California Lutheran College on January 1, 1963.

Dr. Eastvold held many other church-related offices before and during his presidency at PLC/PLU. He was a Vice Pesident of the South Dakota District of the Evangelical Lutheran Church for four years, Vice President of the Eastern District for seven years, and first Vice President of the Evangelical Lutheran Church for twelve years. Eastvold served on the Board of Trustees of St. Olaf College for seven years and on the Board of Education of the ELC for eleven years. He was a delegate to the Lutheran World Federation conventions in Germany (1952) and Minneapolis (1957). He was a member of the executive council of the National Lutheran Council, and he represented the ELC at the North American Study Conference of the World Council of Churches (1957).

Dr. Eastvold was president of Independent Colleges of Washington, Inc. for seven terms, and he was a member of the higher commission of the Northwest Association of Secondary & Higher Schools. He was a participant in the White House Conference on Education (1955). In Tacoma, he served as President of the Tacoma Health Council and Vice President of the World Affairs Council. Throughout his many years of public life, Eastvold was honored by numerous community organizations and educational institutions. He was a recipient of the Lutheran Brotherhood award (1958). Luther College (Iowa) conferred an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree on Dr. Eastvold in 1959 and Gonzaga University gave him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1962.

He was the author of several books and numerous pamphlets. His pamphlets included “Let Us Go to Chapel,” “The Pastor and His Spiritual Life,” and “Why Attend a Christian College?” He authored the books Paul and Luther , Beyond the Grave, and Around the World in 180 Days, along with several others. Transcripts of some of his addresses were distributed throughout the Lutheran church and his chapel speeches were often broadcast over local radio.

Seth Eastvold married Enga Eastvold on June 20, 1918. They had two children. Their son Donald Wallace Eastvold was Attorney General of the State of Washington from 1952 – 1956 following which he went into real estate and development and was involved in the Ocean Shores development. Their daughter Eleanor Melva married Sr. D.K. Holian, a surgeon. Dr. Eastvold died from a massive cerebral hemorrhage on February 25, 1963 in Minneapolis, Minnesota while attending the annual meeting of the college presidents of the American Lutheran Church.

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”.

Pastor Vern Jeffers presided over the first services in October 1954. In January 6, 1956, the congregation was organized as Epiphany Lutheran Church of Portland, Oregon. They dedicated their building June 2, 1963. From 1970-1975 the congregation held kindergarten in the building. In 1977 some of the property was sold, and October 11, 1981, they voted to disband. Their last service was held October 25, 1981.

Robert Ericksen, Kurt Mayer Chair in Holocaust Studies Emeritus and Professor of History at PLU, earned his Ph.D. in history at the London School of Economics. He is the author or editor of five books and more than forty articles or book chapters. All of his work has dealt with two major institutions in Germany during the Nazi period: churches and universities. He retired in 2016.

His first book, Theologians under Hitler: Gerhard Kittel, Paul Althaus and Emanuel Hirsch (Yale University Press, 1985), was translated into German, Dutch, and Japanese. In 2005 it was made into a documentary film of the same name, produced by Vitalvisuals.com and shown on PBS to a market of 43 million households. Ericksen co-edited with Susannah Heschel of Dartmouth College Betrayal: German Churches and the Holocaust (Fortress Press, 1999). His most recent book, Complicity in the Holocaust: Churches and Universities in Nazi Germany (Cambridge University Press) appeared in 2012. He is now under contract with Cambridge University Press to complete Christians in Nazi Germany, which will appear in their Short History Series.

Ericksen has been a fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the Lutheran Academy of Scholars at Harvard University; he has received research awards from the National Endowment for the Humanities, among others; he is a founding member on the board of editors of a German journal, Kirchliche Zeitgeschichte, and of an online journal, Contemporary Church History Quarterly; and he serves as Chair of the Committee on Ethics, Religion and the Holocaust at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

In 2004 Ericksen delivered the biennial Kaplan Holocaust Lectures at the University of Cape Town, which led to his recent book, Complicity in the Holocaust. In April 2013 he delivered the Raul Hilberg Memorial Lecture at the University of Vermont. In August 2012 he spoke on “Pastors and Professors: Assessing Complicity and Unfolding Complexity” at the University of Cape Town conference on “Holocaust Scholarship: Personal Trajectories and Professional Interpretations.” The nine talks at the conference are soon to appear as a volume on Holocaust historiography. He has spoken on several occasions on the Holocaust, including the November 2007 Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff Annual Lecture, published by the Museum as “Christian Complicity? Changing Views on German Churches and the Holocaust.”