Mission:

Shepherd of the Valley is a Christ - centered family committed to know Christ and make Christ known!

Purposes:

Come and Worship! Come and Share! Come and Grow! Go and Serve! Go and Tell!

Shepherd of the Valley is a part of the Northwest Washington Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

History:

In August, 1972, Pastor Wesley Tollefson was called to help establish a Lutheran Church in Maple Valley. Initially the congregation met in a school. As the congregation grew, a 4.7-acre piece of land was purchased. In May, 1975, ground was broken for a church building, and in 1978 the first services were held in the new facility.

Wes Tollefson retired in 1994. On October 27, 1996, after a two-year interim period under Gary Dalenius, Pastor Dave Sorensen took over the reins. Under Pastor Dave's energetic and Biblically-focused leadership, the congregation began to grow and it soon became evident that a larger church building was required. On May 1, 2005 services were first held in the new, larger sanctuary. The new structure added 12,000 square feet to the old facility. The old sanctuary now serves as a general purpose room, and has been named Tollefson Hall in honor of Pastor Wes, who continues to attend services at Shepherd-Valley Lutheran Church nearly every Sunday. Woody Carlson took over as interim pastor at Shepherd of the Valley in July, 2006 after Pastor Dave took a call in Fargo, North Dakota. In fall 2007, Bill Walles accepted a call to become pastor of SVLC.

The mission of Shepherd of the Valley is to "know Christ and make Christ known!" Members of the congregation donate time and money to Vine Maple Place (a home for single mothers in Maple Valley) and to the Central Lutheran program to feed the homeless in downtown Seattle. Overseas, Shepherd of the Valley has provided monetary support to St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Vladivostok, Russia and to Massai Girls' School in Tanzania. Members of the congregation donate both time and money to the Corner of Love mission in San Ramon, Nicaragua (a thriving mission birthed out of Shepherd of the Valley that is now a separate entity supported by many churches in our area and beyond) and to a mission in Colonia Solidaridad, Mexico, where the high school youth have ministered through a program sponsored by Azusa Pacific University. Women of the church make quilts for distribution through Lutheran World Relief. Our benevolence dollars support many other missions, near and far, as well.