Messiah’s Story

Messiah's story begins in Auburn almost 100 years ago.

Like our surrounding community, the congregation has changed quite a bit as the years have rolled by. Auburn was once a rural crossroads, the type of place a lot of people passed through on the way to somewhere else. For those who called it home, the activities of fishing, farming, and logging created the enduring rhythms of Auburn’s early community life.

 

 

Early Messiah grew out of the energy and industry of those first, non-native settlers.

The church was organized under the guidance of Dr. E. C. Bloomquist of First Lutheran, Tacoma. Groundbreaking for the first church was held June 4, 1925. Pastor E. Arthur Larson began serving Messiah in 1928 in conjunction with Bethel Lutheran of Tacoma. On January 13, 1942 the congregation voted to become a separate parish and established a Sunday School at Lutherland (bible camp) in Federal Way.

Indebtedness of the property was paid off in 1944.

The chancel area was remodeled in 1945, a pipe organ installed in 1947, and a parsonage built in 1948. Property for the future building was purchased in the early 1950s. Groundbreaking for the new church was held October 13, 1957. The first service in the new building was July 13, 1958. An education building was erected in 1961. In 1979 the 55th anniversary was celebrated with the dedication of a new education unit. The congregation celebrated an extensive renovation and addition to the whole complex in 2008.

Like many communities of faith, the building and expansion of facilities was seen as an important mission in the years following World War II.

For Messiah, though, the physical building has always been secondary in importance to the primary work of creating and celebrating compassionate, joy-filled, and service-centered relationships. We are a people who enjoy being together, and we seek to extend that spirit of compassion, joy, and service outward for the benefit of our surrounding community.

As we seek to extend our congregation's spirit and become more deeply rooted in relationship with our neighbors, we continue to notice how much Auburn and South King County are changing.

 In response to what we see and hear around us, Messiah’s mission and ministry continues to adapt and change. Therefore, as our story of being God’s people in Auburn continues, we commit ourselves to the following mission:

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