For nearly two years the congregation had to be content with the temporary services of neighboring pastors until Pastor Richard Tollefsen of Port Townsend, Washington (a brother of Pastor I. Tollefsen, organizing pastor), accepted the call and moved to Seattle to serve the congregation until 1896, when he moved to Minneapolis to become the rector at the Norwegian Lutheran Deaconess Home.

This young and hopeful congregation was at this time to enter upon a period of server testing. In 1897 Pastor B. A. Borrevik accepted a call to serve as pastor; and in 1900 he left to form a new congregation to be affiliated with the Lutheran Free Church Synod and located only a few blocks away, taking some of the members in to the new fellowship. Consequently, those who remained turned over part of the church funds, which was likely quite limited by present-day standard.

In 1901 Pastor T. J. Gronningen from Bath, South Dakota, accepted a call and remained in the service of the parish until 1905. During this period the congregation sold its property at Fourth Avenue and Pine street for the sum of $19,000 and purchased a new site on Fifth Avenue and Wall Street for $6,250. A new church building costing about $12,000 was completed and occupied in 1904. Upon Pastor Gronnigen’s resignation in 1905, Pastor E. J. Hinderlie came to shepherd the flock until 1909. Another disruption came when the city of Seattle regraded the area where the church building was located. When the congregation was forced to sell its church and parsonage and be moved to another location after only five years of occupancy, the event was indeed, disheartening.

In 1909 the Rev. E. B. Slettedahl, pastor of Bethlehem Lutheran Church of Tacoma, was called to the congregation. Pastor Slettedahl was a “church planter” in more modern terminology. Previous to coming to Seattle he had been instrumental in establishing many congregations in the Midwest as well as in California. He brought with him a spirit of urgency for renewal, which resulted in a spiritual awakening and outreach. In 1913 Pastor Slettedahl resigned upon receiving a call from the United Synod to become the area evangelist and , subsequently, the Superintendent of the Home Mission work of the church on the west Coast with headquarters in Seattle. During 1913-14 the Rev. G.A. Larson, who at that time was Superintendent of Home Missions on the West Coast, served the congregation on an interim basis.

In 1909 the congregation worshiped in a rented church at John Street and Howard (now known as Yale) while the congregation negotiated the purchase of a parcel of land at Boren Avenue and Virginia for the sum of $15,000, and what was considered a temporary building was erected and occupied in 1912.

A Greenwood Ladies Aid was organized in March 1913; and with the help and encouragement of the Rev. and Mrs. G. Larson, the Bethel Norwegian Evangelical Church was organized in 1914. The Mission Board sent Pastor Odd Gornitzka, a recent seminary graduate, to take over the work. By January of the next year, Pastor Gornitzka had accepted a call to our congregation with the promise that he would continue to hold services in the afternoon of as many Sundays as possible. Eventually - within a short time - the Mission Board sent another pastor to the Greenwood location.

It must be noted that the Rev. Slettedahl had done a preliminary canvass with the help of interested lay persons in both the Greenwood area and an area in West Seattle, which resulted in what are now known as Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church and First Lutheran Church of West Seattle. Pastor Gornitzka also preached and performed pastoral duties in both of these congregations until they had resident pastors. Phinney Ridge Lutheran dates its incorporation to 1915, and First Lutheran of West Seattle to 1918. (Pastor e. B. Slettedahl was the founding pastor who signed the documents of incorporation.)

Pastor Gornitzka’s ministry lasted for eight years whereupon he was called to the Lutheran Bible Institute in the Twin Cities (St. Paul and later, Minneapolis, Minnesota).

Synodically, our congregation was first affiliated with the Norwegian-Danish Lutheran Conference. However, when this body in 1890, together with two other church bodies, formed the United Norwegian Lutheran Church of America, we became members of this new synod; and in 1917, when the UNLC merged with the Hauge Synod and the Norwegian Synod, forming the Norwegian Lutheran Church in America, we followed. In 1919 the name of our congregation was changed to First Norwegian Lutheran Church of Seattle.

When Pastor M. L. Nesvig entered the ministry of our congregation, he brought with him considerable influence from the Hauge Synod, which called for simplicity in the order of the service and liturgical form and vestments. During his term of service, the congregation began to outgrow its quarters and a substantial building fund was started. Upon a call from the NLCA to become its city missionary in Seattle, he resigned in 1936; but he and his family continued membership in the congregation, contributing service and ministry for many years.

The Rev. B. T. Gabrielson from Detroit, Michigan, was called to serve the church and was installed in 1937. With his ministry we sensed a continuation of the Hauge Synod influence.

One lot, 60 x 120 feet, was purchased on February 4, 1939, at the corner of Eighth Avenue and John Street. In the meantime the church building at Boren and Virginia was sold, and the congregation held services in Harmony Hall at Eighth and Union Street for the next seventeen months. When the plans for the new church building were considered, it was obvious that the 60 x 120-foot lot would be far from adequate. In the midst of the dilemma, the Fremad Young People’s Society, which had been in existence in the congregation since 1890, presented the adjoining lot to the congregation as a gift.

On October 6, 1938, Pastor E. B. Slettedah, now retired and a senior deacon of the church, inspired the Board of Deacons to hld a historical meeting on the recently purchased lots. This meeting became a jubilee of prayer and dedication. The cornerstone for our present worship center was laid August 20, 1939; and the following December 17, the building was opened for services. However, the service of dedication did not take place until April 21, 1940.

In April 1937 our church inaugurated the every-Sunday broadcast of the Lutheran Gospel Hour. This ministry was continued until the late 1970's with reports of much blessing to many who could not attend a worship service.

The demands of the labor force in the shipyards and the airplane industry brought many to our area during World War II. Many were young people dedicated to serve their country in the military or in industry. A fair number of these young people sought fellowship in churches of their choice; and our congregation became somewhat of a “mecca” for many Midwesterners, some of whom stayed on and established homes.

In 1945 the name of our church was officially revised to identify its location and became Denny Park Lutheran Church.

The Denny Park Bible Camp was started at Lutherland in the summer of 1941 with Mr. Art Grimstad as the Camp Dean. From 1941 to the mid-1970's hundreds of children and young people benefitted and grew spiritually through the ministry of Mr. Grimstad and Pastor Gabrielson, faithful deacons, Sunday School teachers, and women who helped with the cooking.

The Rainier Vista Sunday School was organized in a housing project in south Seattle in 1941. The work prospered under the leadership of many faithful lay teachers and continued until home mission churches absorbed the work and ministry.

When the radio ministry was discontinued in 1976, it was replaced by a tape ministry, which is faithfully continued by others of like expertise. The Lord has called unto Himself several who served in this area, the latest one being Homer Toombs, who died February 22, 1988.

During World War II, five of our young men gave their lives for their country. In the Vietnam conflict, one young man gave his all to his country. Blessed be their memory!

By 1949 the Sunday School had outgrown whatever quarters were allowed when the present church was built. A temporary annex building was erected on the three lots that had been purchased in 1946 at the corner of Dexter Avenue and John Street. With the flight to the suburbs and aging of the congregation, the building is now used by the Redeemer Lutheran Church for the Deaf (LC-MS). The addition to the church building, known as the Youth-Education Building, was dedicated in April 1957 and is now used in large portion by the regional office of the ELCA.

Pastor Norris W. Stoa from Illinois was installed as pastor on March 27, 1955, and continued a faithful ministry until 1974 when he accepted a call to the chaplaincy of the Lutheran Seamen’s Center. During his years of leadership of the congregation, the Youth-Education addition was erected (1957), a new church office and radio room were completed and the sanctuary of the church was refurbished with new carpet, pews, and flooring (1961). The Seminary internship program begun in 1942 and discontinued after two years was resumed, and our congregation enjoyed the ministry of a number of fine young men preparing for full-time pastoral work.

In 1974 Pastor Conrad Greenquist came to us from a parish in California and found a congregation of less than four hundred members, many of whom were senior citizens. More and more apartment houses and condominiums were encroaching upon the area surrounding the church, making it very difficult to canvass the area or to invite individuals to attend services. Early in 1976 the congregation voted to call an associate pastor to work with the youth and to attempt an approach to the multi-unit dwellers. In June 1976 the Rev. Hilary Bitz was installed as the associate, and he continued in this ministry until 1980, having met with a measure of success, as well as much indifference. An Outreach committee continues with a ministry of song services at several nursing and retirement homes.

Pastor Greenquist accepted a call to Spokane in 1979. Pastor William Hutter was installed on December 15, 1979, and continues to tend the flock of God in our midst. With the increase in the number of homeless people, many demands are place upon the church staff in the form of requests for help with food, rent, and utilities, as well as needs for personal counsel.

Through these one hundred years, scores of individuals and organizations have given of their time and means, together with much prayer and love, to the end that the purpose of God might be accomplished through the ministry of the congregation.

Some additional history items:

The A. Grimseth Memorial Organ in the sanctuary of the church was initially installed in Kimball Hall in Chicago, where it was used for demonstrations and concerts. The pipes were later installed with a new console, chest, and relay in a Kirkland, Washington, theater from which it was purchased in 1943 and installed in the church at Boren and Virginia. Subsequently, it was installed in our present sanctuary. During the past forty-eight years a number of additions have been made, adding to the instrument’s versatility and capabilities.

On Thanksgiving Eve, November 26, 1987, the Cora Toombs Memorial Organ in our chapel was dedicated to the glory of God.

Our beautiful hand-carved chancel appointments are the work of Mr. H. L. Erickson, a sculpurist who learned his art in Norway and became well-known on the West Coast and in Hawaii for his masterful work. The pulpit was the first item he made and donated to our church in 1907. Over a period of 35 years, he carved the remaining items, including the alter, baptismal font, and a set of six contribution plates at cost to individuals and organizations who, in turn, donated the items to the church. Mr. Erickson had drawn plans for a carved altar rail and a chair when death intervened.