Lake Forest Park Civic Clubhouse, early 1940s.

History of the congregation

“Brave servants of Christ who in the Redeemer’s Name have founded a church, may you never lose the zeal which prompted this new venture, but ever retain the courage to bear all things, the confidence to hope all things, and a love that endures and is kind.” —The Rev. Arnold Krone, 1947

Gasoline rationing during World War II prompted a group of Episcopalians to start Church of the Redeemer at the north end of Lake Washington. A chronicle of the first 50 years of Redeemer that was put together by the Youth Group in 1996-1997 tells this story.

  • The story starts with the congregation’s beginnings as the North Shore Episcopal Fellowship meeting in homes in the Bothell, Kenmore, and Lake Forest Park area.
  • It continues with the forming of an organized mission congregation of the Diocese of Olympia that met in the Clubhouse of the Lake Forest Park Civic Club. The header picture on this page is how club house looked in 1949 at the time of the first service.
  • There are stories of buying the land and first buildings owned by the congregation.
  • The construction of our current building and organ.
First Sunday bulletin for Redeemer dated February 16, 1947.

Here are brief articles, many from a longer chronicle that are quicker to download and reformatted to be read on the web, with information about parish history:

  • Brief biographies about priests who were formerly at this parish
  • Unusual architecture of the main building, which was designed by noted Pacific Northwest architect Roland Terry
  • Historical outreach efforts
  • The organ is a rebuild from the first instrument through a renovation by Bond Organs of Portland

Here is Redeemer 1947-1997: The First 50 Years, a high-resolution PDF file, with a long download time.

Cover of Redeemer 1947 - 1997: The first fifty years
Redeemer 1947-1997: The first fifty years.
High resolution PDF file. Long download time.
First hymn at the first service for Redeemer
The first hymn at the first service of Church of the Redeemer.

The Episcopal Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, reaching out to the world.

Church of the Redeemer

Welcome to Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6210 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. We are a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.