The beginnings of Grace Lutheran of Vale go back to April 23, 1950 when Rev. Sherwin Schmidt of Faith Lutheran in Nyssa, Oregon held the first services in the Willowcreek Church in Willowcreek, Oregon. These services were conducted by other pastors in subsequent years, and the group was known as the “Vale Preaching Place”. When John L. Briehl graduated from seminary in 1951, he was installed as pastor of the churches in Nyssa and Vale, a two-point parish still in existence. From that time on services were held regularly, and the Vale group met in the Willowcreek Grange Hall. On April 11, 1954, Vale Preaching Place was officially organized as Grace Lutheran Church. Construction of a church was begun, and it was dedicated on February 15, 1958. In November of 1975, ground was broken for a large addition for Sunday School and Fellowship Activities, and in 1976 the mortgage on the existing church was burned.
From the guide to the Grace Lutheran Church, Vale, Oregon, Records, 1954-2012, (Pacific Lutheran University)
