Hoodland Lutheran Church Brightwood OR

A progressive ELCA Lutheran church servicing the villages of Mt. Hood and the surrounding area.

All are welcome!

No hate speech will be tolerated.

Hoodland Lutheran is the only progressive church in the Villages of Mt. Hood area. ALL are welcome to come and worship here.

 

Download Hoodland Lutheran Church vCard with Service Times

Click here to contact the church  

Download Pastor Rev. Susan Granata vCard

Click here to contact Rev. Susan Granata  

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America  

http://hoodlandlutheranchurch.org/  

 

 

We are located 1/2 mile past the Sleepy Hollow Rd. exit on the North side of Hwy. 26 going East, going West we are 2/10ths of a mile past Wendell's.  

Please share parking information and/or parking experience!  

One of our primary ways or reaching out to help our neighbors is through Neighborhood Missions which provides emergency help within the community with things like food baskets and wood for heating.

On Thursday afternoons from 3-6 Tommie's Social Time happens with free coffee and goodies games and conversation for anyone who stops in. ALL are welcome.  

 

 

A History of our Congregation

All stories need a beginning, and this one begins in 1972 when a handful of Lutheran families wanted to establish a Lutheran congregation on the mountain. Pastor D.C. Schroeder from the Missouri Synod office in Portland came up to guide them in becoming a mission church in the community. For the first six months they gathered, in rented space, around the massive stone fireplace to hear speakers, most of whom were from Concordia College.

Relocation became an issue when there were problems heating the building. The new congregation worshiped at the Bowman's Resort for a short time until the overhead sprinklers malfunctioned, and the donated hymnals and Bibles were ruined. And so, in January of 1973, a thirty-two year relationship with St. John's Catholic Church was begun when Hoodland Lutheran Church became the third congregation to worship in that building along with the Catholics and the Episcopalians. For the next three years the congregation grew under the guidance of several interim pastors; John Scheck, Harold Iben, John Fenning and D.C. Schroeder.

Then, in 1977, the congregation had grown large enough to hire a part-time pastor, with Pastor Paul A. Gross accepting the position. A joint Vacation Bible School was held in 1978 with the Mount Hood Bible Church at Camp Arrah Wanna. In 1979, missions outside of the local area became a focus for the congregation, who sponsored a Cambodian refugee family that year. Wally and Kathy McKenzie also answered a call to serve in Madagascar for six to nine months, beginning a relationship that continues this day.

The first Confirmation class was started in 1985. In 1986 a church office was rented above the dental clinic in Welches. The possibility of having our own church was beginning to be discussed. In 1989 Pastor Paul began what was to become a continuing tradition with Hoodland Lutheran's Pastor also serving as the Chaplain for the Hoodland Fire Department.

In 1990 Pastor Paul heard the call to another congregation, and Pastor Heidi Fish came to the mountain. The first Spaghetti Dinner and Craft Sale was held as a fundraiser for the Neighborhood Missions Program, whose charter was later drawn up in 1994. Pastor Heidi left to minister in the Seattle area that year, and in October of 1995 Pastor Berry Scruggs was called to serve this congregation. In 2004, as noted in more detail in the history of the worship center below, Hoodland Lutheran Church moved into a home of it's own, fulfilling a dream that began in a living room in 1972.

In 2012 Pastor Berry left Hoodland Lutheran Church. Pastor Susan Granata was called as our interim until 2014. Pastor Don Voeks was installed in a four-year limited Call in February of 2014 and retired in February of 2018.

With Pastor Don’s retirement, the Hoodland congregation set aside twelve months of prayer, discernment and education. A time of learning to listen and really hear each other as we work toward a realization of God’s message for our future on the mountain. With the return of Pastor Susan Granata, a former interim, in the last part of 2018, as a permanent pulpit supply minister, the congregation enjoys a consistent gospel-based sermon. The congregation also has the opportunity to hear messages from two retired pastors; Rev. Steve Carlson, Rev. Nick Doversberger and Episcopal Deacon Katherine Holland.

The service music is lively and chosen with thought and care so as to be in sync with the message of the day. The worship team works hard to assist the ministers in creating an atmosphere of love, acceptance, and faithfulness.