Gull Harbor Lutheran Church (Olympia, Wash.)

Independent Lutheran work in the German language was begun in the Gull Harbor area north of Olympia in 1940 and was informally organized into a congregation in 1941 by Rev. Hans J. Wuerth, a former pastor of the Iowa Synod. Gradually the English language began to replace the German, and by the early 1970s all the worship services were in English. Age and failing health made it necessary for Pastor Wuerth to retire, and the congregation turned for assistance to Rev. Hendrick Laur, an LCA missionary on furlough. Pastor Laur reorganized the work as a new LCA mission which was received into the Pacific Northwest Synod in 1975. A new building, designed and built by the members of the congregation, was occupied in May of 1978.