As a new mission congregation of the American Lutheran Church (now Evangelical Lutheran Church In America), Christ Lutheran Church formed in 1972 was formally organized in 1973 with 69 baptized people as charter members and Pastor Paul Christ served as our first pastor.
Our Saviour’s Lutheran congregation in Bremerton donated most of the worship items as well as make a six-year pledge to help fund our new congregation. The first service was held at the Old Belfair Fire Hall, moved to the Belfair Elementary School and a parsonage was built on 5-acres of land adjacent to the North Mason School District property.
In 1975, the ministry of Christ Lutheran Church changed from solely a congregation, to a dual ministry of a congregation and a retreat ministry, and purchased the old “Cheerio Lodge” off North Shore Road in Belfair, WA. The property consisted of a Log Lodge with attached apartment, 10 cabins, shop, storage building, laundry building, water storage and a tennis court that doubled as a basketball court. The worship services were held in the cozy Log Lodge until the new sanctuary was built in 1978.
Pastor Paul Christ accepted a call as Head Chaplain at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming in early 1975. The Rev. Donald Fossum of Trinity Lutheran Church in Lynnwood, WA became pastor and served Christ Lutheran for twenty-five years until he retired in 2000. After a succession of several interim and called pastors, the Rev. Julie A. Kanarr accepted the call to serve Christ Lutheran and arrived in September 2012.
The retreat center was shared with the entire Christian community, served many youth groups under supervision of Christian leaders, non-profit civic organizations, designated refugees of local disasters and domestic trauma referred by appropriate agencies. The retreat center closed in 2008. The old cabins were demolished, and the dorm building has been remodeled into classroom space for the CLC childcare center. The congregation uses the Lodge building for its quilting group and other activities. The Lodge is also used by the Coalition of Churches to prepare food boxes for its feeding program for hungry children in the community.
In 1998, the congregation established the Christ Lutheran Child Care Center as a ministry to provide quality childcare in a Christian environment.
