Springfield Lutheran Church (Springfield, Or.)

Alphild Kjorstad was sent as a parish worker by the Board of Home Missions of the Evangelical Church to initiate a survey of Springfield. As a result, first services were held in the Playmore Theater on July 7, 1946 with forty people in attendance. The congregation was officially organized on September 15, 1946 by Dr. H. L. Foss, then President of the North Pacific District, and Rev. Sterling Simonson was installed as the first pastor. Property was obtained in the summer of 1947 on Mohawk and I Streets, the growing edge of Springfield. Today it is the center of the community. A new sanctuary was begun and services in the first unit were held August 5, 1948. The new sanctuary was dedicated April 10, 1949. A second unit of the church, including classroom space and a parish hall, was completed on November 25, 1956. A third and final unit was dedicated on May 8, 1968, adding sanctuary space for over 300. The congregation served as the mother for Resurrection Lutheran Church, and ALC mission congregation which was formally organized in 1968.

From the guide to the Springfield Lutheran Church, Springfield, Oregon, Records, 1946-2012, (Pacific Lutheran University)