Identity area
Type of entity
Corporate body
Authorized form of name
Icelandic Lutheran Church
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1917 -
History
The Icelandic Lutheran Church (now the Oakridge Lutheran Church) was originally established in 1917 by Rev. S. Olafson; however by the 1930s, the original congregation dissolved. In 1941, Rev. R. Marteinsson, from the Board of American Mission, was sent to Vancouver to establish a mission and on March 8, 1944, the Icelandic Lutheran Church was organized with 100 members. Right from the Church’s inception, it had a very active Women’s Auxiliary.
For 12 years, the congregation held their Worship Services at the Danish Lutheran Church, but moved to their current location on Ash Street and 41st Avenue in 1956. Pastor Guenter Strothotte who formerly served at the German Church of the Cross knew that they were looking for a larger Church. In 1969, a 49 year lease was agreed upon by the two congregations to share the space. Additionally, in 1989, the two congregations merged. Today, the church is a multi-cultural congregation which continues to draw its membership from Icelandic, German, and more recent Chinese waves of immigration.