Hillwood Church

The Apostolic Lutheran Church of Seattle was incorporated in 1935. However, the history of the Apostolic Lutheran Church in the greater Seattle area dates back nearer to the beginning of the 20th century. Our national church federation, the Apostolic Lutheran Church of America, has it roots in the Laestadian Revival Movement which spread through Finland and the Scandinavian countries in the 1800s. There were adherents to the Laestadian Revival Movement in Kent, Washington, a community south of Seattle, in the very early 1900s and possibly the late 1800s. There was an Apostolic Lutheran Church in Soos Creek-an area east of Kent, Washington, where many Finnish Christians from the Laestadian Revival Movement had settled. They had their own church building in Soos Creek, their own local preachers, and many of the elders of the faith from Finland and other parts of the United States had preached there. Pastor Isaac Seppala continued conducting services in Kent until the late 1960s. It was in the early 1950s, however, that the church in Soos Creek was sold due to declining membership. In the years immediately prior to that time, we had the practice of canceling a Sunday service in our Seattle church once each summer and both groups met in the old Soos Creek church. There was also another small Finnish Lutheran Church in Kent. In the latter years of that congregation's life, it was without a pastor. Their members invited Brother Isaac Seppala to conduct services in their church, monthly and sometimes twice a month. In the north end of Seattle-at Richmond Beach, there was a group of Norwegian immigrants who came about the turn of the century, in the early 1900s. This group included a man by the name of John L. Johnson, known to most as J.L. Johnson, who came from Tromso, Norway. He was a preacher in the Laestadian Revival Movement and was active in arranging services in the Richmond Beach area with many of the services being held in his own home. He was also listed on the unordained ministerial roll of our national church and was instrumental in making arrangements for our rental of the Free Lutheran Church at Richmond Beach during the years 1945 to 1949. Mr. J.L. Johnson died in 1948. Then across Puget Sound in Poulsbo, Washington, was another settlement of believers from the Laestadian Revival Movement-many of whom were also immigrants. A man by the name of John Fogman, who figured much in the early history of our Seattle congregation, had lived in Poulsbo before moving to the Ballard District of Seattle. In the case of the Erickson family they made their home in Poulsbo before moving on to Clatskanie, Oregon. One of the Erickson daughters married Matt Ruhkala, an early preacher who lived in Rocklin, California. In the 1940s members of our Seattle congregation would ferry from Edmonds to Kingston, Washington, to attend home services in Poulsbo. The last member of the Poulsbo group was Wendla Johnson-who passed away in the later 1970s. Bill and Hilda Isakson, who moved from Clatskanie, Oregon, to Suquamish ( near Poulsbo ) in the early 1970s, were close friends and frequent visitors with Wendla Johnson and commuted across the sound to attend our services. And then in the city of Seattle there came to be many families of the faith in the 1920s and 1930s-so that by the early 1930s consideration began to be given to organizing an ALC congregation in Seattle. Among these early families were the John Selins, Isaac Seppalas, the Pihl families-Hilding and Folke from Sweden, Oscar Wirkkalas, Leonard Sathers, Leppaniemis, Degerstroms, John Fogmans, Leonard Smiths, Arnold Andersons, Ditlef Korshavens, Helmer Skutviks, Cornelius Forshaugs, and Carl Hansons. And when the economic conditions began to improve after the great depression, there was an influx of young single people to Seattle seeking employment. Services were first held in homes-these Finnish, Swedish, and Norwegian Christians meeting together and using the means of translating serm