At the corner of Greenwood Avenue North and 132nd Street in Seattle's Broadview neighborhood, Luther Memorial Lutheran Church has been part of local life since the late 1940s. The congregation is known for a liturgical Sunday worship shaped by the church year, an intentional Reconciling in Christ welcome, and practical service to neighbors through food, gardening, environmental stewardship, and affordable housing. Its motto, “Actively Sharing Christ's Love in Community,” joins a settled pattern of worship with work that reaches beyond the sanctuary.
A Broadview Sunday School Grows into a Congregation
Luther Memorial began as a Sunday School for the Broadview neighborhood in the late 1940s. That ministry grew into a congregation, and the church has occupied its present building at the corner of Greenwood Avenue North and 132nd Street since 1957. The church continues to describe itself as a community of servants in the world.
The congregation's relationship with its neighbors also shaped its property. In 2017, Luther Memorial sold part of its parking lot and property below market rate to Compass Housing Alliance, creating space for 59 units of affordable housing. The housing building opened in 2019, and the congregation remains in relationship with the residents it calls its new neighbors. Around the Greenwood and 132nd corner, the church also operates a free pantry and a Giving Garden.
That history gives the present building a layered role: it is the place of Sunday worship, the base for music and Bible study, and the center of several ministries aimed at neighbors. These activities sit together in Luther Memorial's stated purpose to serve God's creation and its neighbors while worshiping the Triune God.
Sunday at 10:30: Gather, Word, Meal, and Sending
Sunday worship begins at 10:30 a.m. in the church sanctuary and is also livestreamed through YouTube. The service generally lasts around one hour. Luther Memorial calls itself a liturgical church because the pattern remains consistent: Gather, Word, Meal, and Sending. The congregation follows the liturgical calendar, preaches from the assigned biblical texts of the Revised Common Lectionary, and uses the Evangelical Lutheran Worship hymnal. Music at worship is led by piano and organ.
The sanctuary setting can change with the church year. Worship chairs may be arranged in the round, all facing one direction, or antiphonally. Although the physical formation varies, the recurring sequence gives each Sunday a clear shape and connects the congregation with the wider Christian liturgical calendar.
Every Sunday, Luther Memorial celebrates Holy Communion and invites all people to participate. The welcome is practical as well as theological. Some worshipers wear their Sunday best, while others feel at home in jeans and comfortable sweatshirts. Little ones may stay with their families throughout the service. A separate room is available with books and other activities for families who need a quieter place.
Afterward, an informal Sunday coffee hour gives worshipers time for conversation, coffee, and cookies. The gathering is low-key, but it adds a regular fellowship rhythm to the service and a natural way for people to meet one another after worship.
Finding the Church at Greenwood and 132nd
Luther Memorial is at 13047 Greenwood Ave. N, Seattle, WA 98133, on the corner of 132nd and Greenwood Ave. across from Broadview-Thomson K-8. Parking is available behind the building off 132nd Street every day. On Sunday, designated shared parking spaces are also available with Broadview Center on the south side of the church.
The church office is open Monday from 8:00 a.m. to noon and Tuesday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The office telephone number is 206-364-2510.
A Place at the Table for Every Person
Luther Memorial is a Reconciling in Christ congregation. It publicly and intentionally welcomes anyone who identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, nonbinary, queer, asexual, or intersex. The church describes itself as a varied and diverse community of servants in the world. It seeks to include and celebrate people of every race, ethnic background, sexual orientation, physical condition, and gender identity, and it says plainly, “There is a place for you here.”
This welcome is grounded in the congregation's understanding of God and the Church. Luther Memorial believes all people are fearfully and wonderfully made, considers its LGBTQIA+ siblings a gift from God, and says God values diversity. The different selves within the congregation together form the diverse Body of Christ. Public welcome and weekly Holy Communion meet in a service where everyone is invited to partake.
The Reconciling in Christ commitment also shapes how the church describes its place in the world. The love of God is for everyone, the church says, and its inclusive welcome is joined to a commitment to do God's work in Christ's name for the life of the world. Luther Memorial's stated mission ties that welcome to worship, creation care, and service to neighbors.
What Luther Memorial Believes
The congregation's statements of faith are concise and centered on God's continuing action, Jesus' reconciliation, Scripture, and care for creation.
God and Jesus
God is, was, and is yet to come. Luther Memorial believes there are many ways to encounter the Divine, that God is revealed in Scripture, and that God is still acting. About Jesus, it confesses that Jesus is God incarnate, fully human and fully divine, crucified, dead, and raised from the dead. Jesus came to reconcile the world to God, and Jesus is love.
Scripture
Scripture is the inspired word of God written by human hands. It is best understood and examined in community, and it can be wrestled with and questioned. The congregation's approach to Scripture is reflected in lectionary-based worship and in Seekers, its longest-standing Bible study.
The Church and Creation
About the church, Luther Memorial says there is a place for each person, that LGBTQIA+ siblings are a gift from God, and that God values diversity. It believes unique selves create the diverse Body of Christ. It also holds that people are entrusted with care of God's good creation and are called to co-create a sustainable Earth. These convictions gather around the Triune God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and express themselves through worship, service to neighbors, and sustained care for creation.
Music for Sundays and Special Seasons
Music is a vital ministry at Luther Memorial. The Adult Choir sings in worship at least once a month and prepares special music for holiday celebrations. Rehearsal is at 11:45 a.m. on Sundays, except on the first Sunday of the month, and no previous experience is required. The choir's presence gives the congregation a regular voice beyond the piano and organ leadership used for worship.
The Bell Choir has returned after a several-year hiatus. It concentrates on music for Christmas and Easter, rehearsing at 9:30 a.m. on Sundays for roughly two months leading up to those holidays. No previous experience is needed. Together, the choirs make room for people who want to sing or ring bells and for the church to prepare distinctive music for major seasons of the church year.
Individual musicians are also welcome to share their gifts during worship at any level of ability. Pastor Sara Funkhouser is the person to connect with for that part of the music ministry. Hand drums, tambourines, and other instruments may accompany the congregation, making music a shared part of worship rather than a feature reserved for formal choir members.
A Little Pantry and a Giving Garden
The Feeding Ministry is grounded in Jesus' words in Matthew 25:35-36: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me...” On the 132nd Street side of the church, beside the front door, the congregation hosts a Free Little Pantry. A pantry team fills it with shelf-stable foods six days each week. The pantry is emptied as the need for food in the community continues to rise.
The guiding rule is direct and communal: “Take what you need; give what you can.” Neighbors can fill the pantry at any time with nonperishable food, donate online to support the ministry, use the pantry team's Amazon Wishlist, or drop off donations at the church. Food is available through an open pantry, and giving remains possible for those who have more.
The Giving Garden extends the same practical care into shared space. Luther Memorial opens its garden space free of charge and has newly laid raised beds for neighbors who enjoy gardening. Plots are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis each season. Garden questions are directed to garden@luthermemorialseattle.com, and plot reservations are handled at 206-364-2510.
Earth Ministry has recognized Luther Memorial as a Greening Congregation. That recognition follows concrete practices including recycling, composting, using green materials, remembering creation in prayer and ministry, and maintaining fertile soil for the Giving Garden. The church connects these actions to its conviction that people are entrusted with the care of God's good creation and called to co-create a sustainable Earth. Its work for the earth is thus connected to its worship, neighbor care, and public life in Broadview.
Partners in Ministry and Public Faith
Luther Memorial partners with organizations that share its commitment to actively share Christ's love in community. It is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and a member of the Northwest Washington Synod. The church also works alongside Lutheran World Relief, the Earth Ministry's Greening Congregations network, and Reconciling Works. Each relationship reflects a different part of the congregation's stated mission: global neighbor care, responsible stewardship, and a public welcome rooted in Reconciling in Christ.
Lutheran World Relief was founded by Lutherans in the United States at the end of World War II. It addresses global poverty by helping people adapt to challenges that threaten their livelihoods and well-being, working based on need regardless of race, religion, or nationality and without evangelizing. Reconciling Works hosts the Reconciling in Christ roster, which includes congregations, synods, colleges, seminaries, and organizations. Through that affiliation, Luther Memorial continues to state that the love of God is for everyone.
Earth Ministry's recognition connects the congregation's internal practices to a wider network of congregations caring for creation. At Luther Memorial, that care is visible in green materials, composting, recycling, creation-centered prayer, and the Giving Garden.
Giving also supports the continuation of the church's ministries and mission. Gifts can be made online for that purpose, connecting financial support with the worship, study, food, garden, and neighborhood partnerships described here.
Seekers, Scripture, and the Sermon Archive
Seekers is Luther Memorial's longest-standing Bible study. The group is lay-led, serves women, and meets every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m., following a summer break before restarting in October. Its work reflects the church's conviction that Scripture is best examined in community. Reading, conversation, and questions are not outside the congregation's approach to faith; they are part of understanding the inspired word of God through shared study.
Preaching follows the assigned biblical texts, while the church emphasizes sermons that use Scripture to highlight the radical and inclusive love of the Divine. The church's sermon archive preserves messages from across the church year and beyond, with written material and audio available for some messages. Its recurring subjects include Advent, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and Reformation, as well as baptism, faith, hope, justice, love, creation, mission, daily life, and community. The range shows a congregation connecting worship with doctrine and lived experience.
The weekly rhythm connects several forms of participation: worship with the whole congregation on Sunday, Bible study with Seekers on Wednesday, choir rehearsals around worship, and coffee and conversation after the service. Music, study, and preaching each give shape to the call to love and serve a neighbor.
Rooted in Broadview, Open to the World
Luther Memorial's story has moved from a Broadview Sunday School to a long-standing congregation with a church building, a visible pantry, a Giving Garden, a 59-unit affordable housing partnership, and an inclusive liturgical worship life. Its days are shaped by Word and Meal, by choral and instrumental music, by study and conversation, and by practical commitments to neighbors and creation. At 10:30 each Sunday, the people of Luther Memorial gather at Greenwood and 132nd, living out the motto that names both the heart of its worship and the reach of its ministry: “Actively Sharing Christ's Love in Community.”