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This is the first of several entries detailing the history of Interbay Covenant Church.  After two+ years of conversations and prayers, their respective leadership team and membership have decided to merge with and into Quest Church.    This is an amazing story of Kingdom vision, courage, and sacrifice.  These posts are from a record of Interbay’s history recorded by one of their long time members, Verna Harris.

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A Church is not a building – a Church is a people. And many people: farsighted, diligent, committed, concerned, visionary, and yes, with a sense of humor, have made this Church possible,… people like Henry Isaacson, who purchased the old Interbay Presbyterian Church in 1941 and then turned it over to First Covenant Church for a Youth Center and Sunday School. And people like Arnold and Verna Holing, who established the Interbay Chapel, and then with a small crew from the Home Church, started the first Sunday School – with seven pupils. It was during this time the smoking coal furnace needed a lot of attention, and those attending the Chapel services went home with sooty nostrils.                

It was the faithfulness of those first visionary people that Interbay Chapel began to grow. It was because of a long parade of people who took the leadership and were faithful, blessed by the Lord’s guidance and direction,Interbay Covenant Church has become what it is today. People like the Carl Hagstroms and a great crew of people from First Covenant have put many hours of labor into the Church and its ministries has built a strong base for our Church.               

At Interbay Chapel, worship services were led by Assistant Pastors of our Mother Church, First Covenant – young men like Ralph Odman, Richard Christensen, Kenneth Rood, and Wallace Roseberg. In 1946 under Ralph Odman’s leadership, a recreational program for youth received a special commendation from the Seattle Police Department and Juvenile Court. 

Attendance at the Chapel increased and the Sunday School grew to an average of 175 in 1953, and Pastor Roseberg felt it was time for the congregation to become self-supporting. The people agreed at a special business meeting December 16, 1953, and Del Odman was elected our first Chairmen with Charles King, our Sunday School Superintendent. Rev. Roseberg was called as our first Pastor, after having resigned from his duties at First Covenant. His salary: $250.00 a month with $50.00 car allowance. On Easter Sunday, April 18, 1954, the Charter Membership rolls were closed, registering 51 names. Our new constitution stated that our Pastor was to be the husband of one wife, and since Pastor “Wally” was without such a blessing, some of the people tried diligently to help find one.               

It was during the early years of the Church that the Sunday School and Church business meetings provided some of the social outlet for our people. Although our group was small, it was during these times we raised money for carpeting, drapes, an organ, and other improvements to our old building. Once Pastor Wally was sent downstairs while his salary was discussed and so he decided to wash the dishes from our potluck supper. He finished the whole job, all the while wondering what the struggle was with his salary. Meanwhile, upstairs, they had gone on to other business completely forgetting to call him back to the meeting.                

The whole Sunday School met together for opening worship, and with fondness, we recall the times Gene Porter, then Superintendent, would promote camps. He would come carrying a heavily loaded suitcase which would spill open and dump a lot of camping paraphernalia to the platform. Or some will remember the time that the Sunday School children were earning tickets for special prizes, and a group of rough-looking pirates jumped on the platform, grabbing the tickets from Superintendent King’s hand. The look of amazement on his face should have been recorded. And then there was the annual Sunday School Staff Christmas Party, which was climaxed by a fuzzy-looking creature crawling on its hands and knees through the room, a wagonload of gifts behind him, and a blinking red bulb attached to his face. It was Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer, alias Fred Nygren.               

Pastor Wall” as he was affectionately called, led the church until 1956. It was the same year that First Covenant Church deeded the property to this thriving little congregation – and it was the same year that we began to support our first missionaries, the Donald Bruckners in Alaska. Valuable assistance and counseling was given us, during these formative years, by our then District Superintendent, Rev. Carl Peterson.               

One of the special people of Interbay Covenant was Elsa Olson. She was given a “temporary” Sunday School class of 2-and-3 year olds, but her temporary job lasted for twenty-four years. Today, our attractive, well-equipped nursery is dedicated to her memory as “Elsa’s Garden.”               

In 1957 Rev. Theodore Nyquist became our Pastor – a warm and loving man whose young sons brightened the lives of some of out teen-aged girls. Mrs. Nyquist was poplar with the Junior High set and the Junior high girls usually sat with her in one of the front pews during the morning service.    By 1958, the influence on Interbay began to be felt around the world. The Ralph Odmans were missionaries in Haiti, and Darrell and Betty Teeter, and daughter, Joy, left as missionaries to British Guiana.