 “The last days of October (1884) I came to Seattle, this time with a firm determination to stay for some time and in the Name of Lord take up the work of preaching the Gospel and to build unto the Lord a house here.”
These words of the pioneer missionary Pastor Peter Carlson were written for the magazine Augustana
and the Missionary.
Gethsemane had a church building before it became a congregation. Pastor Carlson, with “$12 cash in his pocket and $1,000 in expectancy” bought a lot on Third Avenue between Pine and Pike Streets in downtown Seattle and proceeded to erect a church on the site. History records that it was a 60’ X 120’ lot with two existing buildings, and the cost was $3,600. And the church building was very small, just 34’X 50’ and cost about $1,500 to build. The Church Extension Society of the Augustana Synod provided the financing at Pastor Carlson’s urging. It is said he supervised the construction, having earlier made his living as a carpenter, with “many volunteer hands helping.”
On February 4, 1885, a scant four months after Pastor Carlson’s arrival, an organizational meeting was called at which time 19 persons signified their desire to become members of the congregation. At a second meeting shortly thereafter, seven more became members. Thus, the Swedish Lutheran Gethsemane congregation was founded with 26 charter communicant members and eight children. The new, unadorned church building was dedicated on February 22, 1885.
With his primary purpose accomplished, Pastor Carlson moved on to further missionary works throughout the Northwest, leaving his fledgling Seattle congregation in other the hands of a succession of Augustana lay members pastors. The first was Dr. Eric Norelius, then Dr. G.A. Anderson, Pastors C.P.Rydholm, A. Jackson, J.P. Lundblad, A.P. Monten, Erick Hedreen.
In 1892 a newly ordained Lutheran minister began to his impact that would last for 23 years. Martin L. Larson took over as pastor of a flock that numbered 40 members and approximately 20 children. Before he left, the total had risen to 400 members. In May of 1893, the congregation elected to buy the church building from the Church Extension Society. This required the struggling little Christian community, still receiving Home Mission aid from the synod, to obtain a loan for $4,000. But God was with them. The small congregation grew in numbers and spiritual strength. By 1899, the building debt had been reduced to $2,070.
Now outgrown, the congregation made the decision to move early in 1901. They chose a corner lot at Ninth and Stewart, the present-day site Gethsemene Lutheran Church. The property was sold for $11,000 and an additional lot was acquired for $3,500. With such an advantageous exchange of sites, the completed church, left the congregation with a debt of only $1,783 that was soon retired.
What a legacy…good stewardship, concern for spreading the Gospel, and the benevolent work of our Church pastors and congregants! |
