Our Savior's Lutheran Church (Nome, Alaska)

Rev. and Mrs. Tollef L. Brevig began their ministry at the Teller Reindeer Station on August 1, 1984, serving the Laplanders as pastor, and the Eskimos as missionary and teacher. On his trips throughout the Seward Peninsula, Rev. Brevig occasionally stopped at Nome and held Lutheran worship services. This practice was continued by subsequent missionaries. In 1943 there began a migration to Nome of Lutheran Eskimos from Mary’s Igloo, Shishmaref, Brevig Mission, and Teller, and work of a more permanent nature became necessary. Dr. Philip S. Dybvig, executive director of Home Missions for the ELC, authorized the Rev. Norval Hegland, superintendent of Lutheran Eskimo Missions, to purchase lots and a quanset hut for use as a temporary chapel. The first service was conducted on September 20, 1953. Our Savior’s Congregation was formally organized January 21, 1957, and the new church was dedicated October 30, 1960. These units were completely funded as a national project by the Women’s Missionary Federation.