Sitka Lutheran Church was founded in May 1840 in New Archangel, Russian Alaska.
Russian-American Company Governor Arvid Adolph Etholen, a Swede-Finn Lutheran, had returned to New Archangel that year on board the Nikolai with a party of Swede-Finns, Russians and the Lutheran Pastor Uno Cygnaeus. The first official Lutheran worship service was held August 23, 1840, in the Green Room of the Governor’s House on Castle Hill.
On October 15, 1843, Rev. Cygnaeus dedicated the first Lutheran Church building, on the site of the current church building, 224 Lincoln Street. Sitka Lutheran acknowledges that the church is on land occupied by Tlingit people for thousands of years.
On October 18, 1867, the date of the transfer on Castle Hill, of Russian claims to the United States, Czar Alexander II deeded the Lincoln Street property to the Lutheran congregation in perpetuity. Treasured original artifacts include the 1839 painting of “The Transfiguration of our Lord” by renowned Finnish painter Berndt Abraham Godenhjelm, and an 1844 Kessler Organ, from Estonia, which is still in use.
In 1888 the first building was razed and Lutherans met in businesses, theaters, homes and schools until the second building was erected, in 1942. A Serviceman’s Center for World War II soldiers and sailors – then a Fisherman’s Center – was hosted in the 1940s by the congregation under the leadership of Pastor Ernst Nygaard, a Norwegian immigrant.
A fire in 1966 destroyed the heart of downtown Sitka, including the Lutheran Church, and a new building was dedicated October 31, 1967. It was refurbished in 1994, with many energy-saving features.
The congregation is dedicated to outreach, including to Sitka High School and Mt. Edgecumbe High School students and Pioneer Home residents. Youth-centered mission trips made to Indonesia, Jamaica,Tanzania and Canada reflect recent efforts of the congregation to spread the Gospel, refurbish damaged homes and provide health care, as in Jamaica.
The church also has a pie sale that’s become a traditional part of Sitka’s Alaska Day celebration; supports quilting; and has a summer program that brings in volunteers from around the country to assist the church in several ways, including selling popcorn to visitors in front of the church.
Sitka Lutheran Church has a new pastor this year, Rev. Mimi Goodwin. She has experience preaching, leading worship, creating celebrations of life with family members, teaching classes, singing in choirs and hosting community gatherings. She holds a master of divinity degree, and is completing the ordination process with the Alaska Synod of the ELCA.
Sunday morning worship is at 10:30 a.m. Contact information: Facebook, the web, phone 907 747-3338 and e-mail slc.admin@acsalaska.net. Visitors are welcome!
