We invite you to join us for worship on Sundays at 10:15 am, in person or digitally through our Facebook page.

135 years ago, a group of Swedish immigrants planted this church. Over the generations, the congregation has recommitted to being a community at the corner of Walnut and Broadway Avenue in the West Central neighborhood of Spokane, Washington. We are located two blocks north of the Spokane River and two blocks west of the courthouse. As the neighborhood continues to change, we remain dedicated to living out our faith together with our neighbors of all kinds.

At worship, we gather around stories, songs, and signs of God’s grace in water, bread, and wine. God loves the whole world and all its creatures. God became human in Jesus and faced crucifixion and death for loving so-called unlovable people. God’s Holy Spirit has called us here, to this corner, to continue that work of radical love. Here we taste, see, hear, and sing this love of God so that we can seek and live it out all our days.

We are rooted in the Lutheran way of following Christ and yet broadly ecumenical.

Our mission: 

Secure in the grace God offers to all, we seek and celebrate God’s presence for the life of the world, beginning in West Central Spokane and reaching to every corner where we are.

Our staff:

Liv Larson Andrews (she/her/hers) has served as the pastor of Salem since 2010. She is passionate about the arts, liturgical spirituality, and the embodiment of faith in Christ. She serves as Dean of the Spokane Westward Cluster. She has been published in the Christian Century, Sundays and Seasons, Gather magazine, the Cresset magazine, and the Spokane Faith and Values blog.

Pastor Liv also serves on the Advisory Council for the Institute of Liturgical Studies, a gathering hosted each Spring at Valparaiso University. She recently concluded a six-year term of service on the Board of Directors for the Grunewald Guild, a retreat center nurturing the connections between art, faith, and community. Because she still dreams of a hosting cooking show + lectionary Bible study, she can be found on social media with the handle @lectionarycook.

Noreen Duffy (they/them/theirs) joined us as office administrator in 2021 and keeps us organized. They also coordinate the use of our building by many neighborhood groups, classes, and ministry partners. You can reach them via email at: salemcongregation@gmail.com 

Why are pronouns important?

Music Ministry:

Salem is blessed with several gifted music leaders who rotate leading worship on Sunday mornings.

Drew Olsen (he/him/his) serves in this rotation and also directs our church choir (practice is held on Thursdays at 6pm).
Vonnie Rentner (she/her/hers) serves as well, and guides a folk music group called Simple Gifts.

More about who we are:

We are part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and we are a registered Reconciling in Christ congregation.