Selah Covenant Church

Selah Covenant Church History
Work in process by Robert S. Nass 3/8/10

On December 8, 1910, The Swedish Mission Covenant Church of Selah had it's first official church service in it's newly constructed church building in downtown Selah, WA. To understand why these early settlers started what was to become Selah Covenant Church it is significant to understand their context. They were first of all born-again Christians, secondly they were Swedish immigrants, thirdly they were American pioneers.

Please enjoy this web enabled walk though our church history.

1. Our roots are in Historical Christianity

2. The Protestant Reformation.

On March 8, 1908, The first Swedish immigrants arrived in Selah WA. They included five families, all members of the then Swedish Covenant Church; the Frederick Fogelquists, Emil Fogelquists, David Johnsons, Charles Johnsons and Adolf Petersons. They came by train from Souix City, Iowa, where they had originally settled near the end of the 1800's. They started farming when they got here and many of the larger orchards are still owned by descendants of these early families.

The early Swedish families first gathered for church above the Selah General Store, then later at Taylor's School and the Mennoite Church. On October 4, 1908, they decided to organize the Swedish Mission Covenant Church. With great financial sacrifice on the part of the members, the men of the congregation constructed the church in 1910 with Reverand Danielson as the minister.

During the 1930's these Swedes sensed a need to expand their ministries, so they began conducting their services in English and in the early 1960's changed their name to the Evangelical Covenant Church now affectionately known as Selah Covenant Church. Over the next few decades the church grew and then, in the 1990's, the church embarked on a new vision for a major expansion of building a new/larger church home under the campaign of "Breaking New Grounds - Building New Lives."

In the 1990's several changes occurred with the purchasing land on McGonagle Ave, buying the adjacent annex building and eventually selling the McGonagle property. After a devastating loss of the Annex to a fire, God led us again to property on McGonagle Ave where we finally built and moved into our new home in 2005. We've been changing and moving for 100 years and the one constant in our journey is that we are centered on Christ and living for His glory in Selah, Washington.