Welcome to Gloria Dei Lutheran Church !
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church was founded in 1905 by a small group of Swedish and Finnish immigrants seeking to build a welcoming faith community in Olympia. Over the years, the congregation has grown, building new spaces for worship, music, and fellowship, and expanding its ministries to include a preschool and contemporary worship. Our rich tradition of music, service, and community life continues to shape who we are today. Gloria Dei is a proud member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Southwestern Washington Synod.
Our congregation is led by Pastor Julie Hutson and Pastor Zach Herzog.
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church is a Reconciling in Christ (RIC) congregation in the Southwest Washington Synod
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ( ELCA).
About the ELCA, About the SW WA Synod
We at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church are called by Jesus to love God and one another, to practice generous hospitality, and to serve all. All are welcome regardless of race, culture, ethnicity, age, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, physical or mental abilities, socioeconomic position, family status, background, housing status, or where you are in your faith journey. We are not afraid to love.
Gloria Dei is an open and affirming congregation- all are unique and beloved children of God. We commit ourselves to the work of anti-racism, social, environmental and economic justice; while growing in faith and service to the community.
This is Christ’s teaching: to love one another as God loves us all.
We also acknowledge that we gather on the unceded land of the Coast Salish peoples—including the Cowlitz, Nisqually, and Squaxin—who are still here. We honor them as neighbors, siblings, and partners in caring for this land.
Gathering is God’s action through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17). We proclaim the Word of God, that the Spirit may create faith in us, gathering us together as the “body of Christ.”
Growing is the ministry of nurture and care that brings us “to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). We offer opportunities for significant sharing, support and study that those who gather here may grow in faith.
Going is the sending out of Jesus’ disciples that the spiritual, physical and emotional needs of all might know the healing presence of God (Matthew 28:19-20). We seek to share the love of Christ in meaningful ways within and beyond our walls.