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- Members of First Lutheran Church, Ketchikan, Alaska, prepare fish cakes for a spring bazaar. After the pandemic, the congregation faced many challenges. Today the congregation has aligned its purpose and ministries to find restoration.
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- First’s church was built in 1930 as a Norwegian mission to fishermen and seafarers. Located at the southern tip of Alaska’s southeast Inside Passage, time and a rainforest climate had taken a toll on the building. A National Fund for Sacred Places grant will help members with fund building repairs.
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- Members of First make lefse for the spring bazaar (left) and quilts for Lutheran World Relief. At First, they believe serving others is an important part of living out their faith. The congregation offers both local and global service opportunities.
Three years ago, as many congregations were rebuilding after the pandemic, things at First Lutheran in Ketchikan, Alaska, were falling apart. The first issue was the church building, which was built in 1930 as a Norwegian mission to fishermen and seafarers and located at the southern tip of Alaska’s southeast Inside Passage. Time and a temperate rainforest climate had taken a toll, and members faced $1.1 million in building repairs.
The second issue was just as challenging: the pastor left and there was no plan to replace him. The congregation struggled with its mission and identity; some members wondered if First should leave the ELCA. “The building needed restoration,” said Lane Johnson, longtime member and council president at First. “We needed to balance that with restoration of the congregation.”
Three years later, they still don’t have a settled pastor. Yet, through lay leader collaboration, First’s members have navigated internal and external restoration. They have sustained core ministries and were awarded a highly competitive $175,000 National Fund for Sacred Places grant, which supports vital ministry in historic buildings.
It started with alignment. “Instead of having all these things pointing us in different ways, people have aligned with God’s love, other people and creation,” Johnson said.
Alignment happened in many ways. Pulpit supply pastors covered many but not all of the Sundays for worship. Lay leaders did everything else—performing administrative duties, running church programs, caring for the building and supporting community user groups. As a result, lay leadership became strong. “It’s too easy, I think, to turn things over to the pastor,” Johnson said. “The more we did, the better we felt about it.”
Johnson said sometimes “people stepped into roles they didn’t necessarily feel comfortable with, and they flourished.” He took a turn as treasurer despite initially feeling like it wasn’t his gift.
“Instead of having all these things pointing us in different ways, people have aligned with God’s love, other people and creation.”
Another internal step toward restoration was addressing some members’ theological concerns about the ELCA. “It was one of the issues we had to deal with,” Johnson said. “We made a process for dealing with it.” Council leaders asked pulpit supply pastors to lead several studies on faith and human sexuality. Members studied Scripture, listened to each other and prayed together. “God’s love was moving through us toward each other,” Johnson said. “You could feel the love, even when we were disagreeing.”
In 2024 the congregation council voted to remain in the ELCA. “There’s only one Lutheran church in town, we’re going to have a spectrum of interpretations,” Johnson said. “But we agree on more things than we disagree.” Ketchikan, which is accessible only by boat or plane, has a population of just over 8,000 people.
Buoyed by internal restoration, congregation leaders imagined a future for their aging building, which needed siding, roof work and steeple repair. First was one of 24 grant recipients out of the more than 480 congregations nationwide that submitted an initial letter of interest for the Sacred Places grant. Grant winners have to demonstrate financial sustainability and a vital ministry and have a building with historic architecture. First’s grant application highlighted the community connection with First’s building, which hosts community groups including Narcotics Anonymous, the Ketchikan Symphony Orchestra, the Sons of Norway and home school groups.
The Sacred Places grant requires congregations to raise matching funds, but it comes with wraparound training, coaching and assistance for congregations. Fund staff will also work with First on architectural plans and bids. “[Sacred Places staff] are really there to help us,” said Denise Wolvin, First member and the grant writer. “They are making sure this church will be here in the long term.”
Restoration work on First’s building is slated to begin in summer 2026.
“It’s very hopeful when you have strong laity and strong leadership from the pulpit working together.”
Since First was awarded the Sacred Places grant, members have obtained other grants from local and regional foundations. Yet the most meaningful grant may have come out of a disaster. Last August, mudslides demolished homes in Ketchikan and left one person dead and several injured. Lutheran Disaster Response supplied $30,000 in aid to the community, distributed by First through grocery store gift cards and direct aid.
“It was probably one of the most humbling and rewarding things I’ve done in a long time,” said Virginia Klepser, longtime member and past council president. Parishioners offered to pray with recipients as they picked up their gift cards—most accepted the offer with gratitude. “Everybody was pretty upbeat, it was amazing,” Klepser said.
For Johnson, the confluence of the Sacred Places grant and LDR support had a deeper significance. “Both of these things made us feel part of the ELCA,” he said.
Members are now ready for the next phase of rebuilding: calling a pastor. A call committee will be elected in March. They’ve had a steady and well-liked interim pastor for the past few months, which has readied them for the next step, Johnson said. “It’s very hopeful when you have strong laity and strong leadership from the pulpit working together,” he said.
In the meantime, First is getting ready to celebrate its 100th anniversary in August. Members are also getting ready for summer cruise ship visitors who flock to Southeast Alaska in the thousands. Visitors tour the historic building or attend worship; a few have gotten married at First. Whether visitors stay for a few hours or a few years, Johnson hopes they’ll see what he sees when he surveys the congregation. “The people here,” he said, “they really love each other, and they love God.”
