Guide to the ELCA Region 1 Archives

The ELCA Region 1 Archives serves as the repository for the permanent records of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. The Archives includes records related to synods, congregations, clergy, Lutheran missions and organizations, and ELCA predecessor bodies.
For more information or to schedule a research appointment, contact archives@plu.edu.
Publications, images, and documents can be viewed in full by clicking on the preview image.

Conference, Council, and Synod Records

The below contain listings of the physical records pertaining to each conference, council, or synod. These records are not available online at this time.

Alaska Synod of the ELCA Oregon Synod of the ELCA
Augustana Synod Pacific Northwest Synod of the Lutheran Church in America
Columbia Conference Pacific Synod of the United Lutheran Church in America
Eastern Washington - Idaho Synod of the ELCA Southwestern Washington Synod of the ELCA
Hauge Synod Suomi Synod
Norwegian Synod United Lutheran Church in America
Northwestern Washington Synod of the ELCA

Congregation Files

Closed congregations of Region 1

Active congregations of Region 1
Alaska - listings of the the holdings of the ELCA Alaska congregations, including some photos.
Idaho - listings of the the holdings of the ELCA Idaho congregations, including some photos.
Montana - listings of the the holdings of the ELCA Montana congregations, including some photos and digitized documents.
Oregon - listings of the the holdings of the ELCA Oregon congregations, including some photos and digitized documents.
- Bethesda Lutheran Church, Portland - Martin Luther Lutheran Church, Portland
- Holy Sacrament Lutheran Church, Portland - Peace Lutheran Church, Rainier
Washington - listings of the the holdings of the ELCA Washington congregations, including some photos and digitized documents.
- Ascension Lutheran Church, Seattle - Family of God Lutheran Church, Federal Way
- Holden Village Records - Trinity Lutheran Church, Tacoma

Regional Clergy

Foss Family Papers - Listing of the papers of the Foss family. Several members of the Foss family were pastors and administrators in the Lutheran Church at the congregation and synod level. Family members were also involved with Pacific Lutheran University from its founding as students, board members, and faculty. For a detailed description of the Foss family, see here.

Bishop papers
G.A. AndersonO.K DavidsonMartin Nesvig
John H. StoughAnel FjellmanHans & Victoria Stub
Clarence SolbergMikkel LonoC. Rupert Swanson
Edith TraverHenry RiekeRoland Swanson
Mikkel ThompsonClifford Lunde

Photographs

Foss Photographs - Photographs from the Foss Family.
ELCA Photographs - Photographs from ELCA Region I.

Publications

Columbia Lutherans - a newspaper of the Lutheran Columbia Conference published 1900 through 1936. Up until 1929, issues are in Norwegian. 189 issues available online.

Alaska Synod
- Alaska Synod News - 44 issues available from 2013-2015.
Eastern Washington Idaho Synod
- Eastern Washington Idaho Cross Connection - 28 issues available from 2013-2015.
Northwest Washington
- "The Lutheran" insert - 26 issues available from 2008-2015.
- Soundings - 33 items from 2009-2011
- Spirit - 67 issues from 2009-2015
Southwest Washington
- Moments for Missions - 15 issues from 2014-2015
- SWATCH - 3 issues from 2015

Browse all ELCA Region I Archives holdings
Browse all ELCA Region I Archives digital objects
Browse ELCA materials in the PLU Library Catalog