Grace Lutheran Church was established in April 1965, when Pastor Robert W. Larsen accepted the call to be a mission pastor. The first worship service was held in Circle View School on September 12, 1965 with 169 people present.

On November 14, 1965, the Service of Entry/first worship service was held in the first sanctuary on our present site near Edinger and Golden West (which has been remodeled into offices and classrooms and is now called "Grace Hall"). 238 people attended, a membership of 54 families. It was not until January 15, 1966 that the congregation was officially organized and became a part of the American Lutheran Church (our predecessor denomination).

By 1968, because of rapid growth of our Sunday School, education space was provided. New suburban tracts were being built all around the church. Many of our early members came from the Midwest and they moved here for aerospace jobs. Long Beach was the center of Lutheran "immigration" to California.

When Pastor Larsen resigned in 1973, one man who had been standing in the background, except in the choir, agreed to become our interim pastor. Because of his love for teaching, Pastor Paul Johnsen did not wish to consider accepting the position of full-time pastor at Grace. He committed eight months as interim pastor while still giving full-time to his teaching task at California Lutheran Bible School in Los Angeles. He was again asked to consider a call to be pastor and in mid-1974 he accepted.

Paul and his wife Joyce raised five kids and did a long stint as missionaries in Japan before coming to California. His love for the lost and people-friendly evangelical temperament set the tone for much of what Grace was to become. "You're fantastic!" became a favorite phrase of the congregation because of Paul.

During Paul's time here, the congregation expanded rapidly to become the largest Lutheran Church in California, especially during the season when pastor Phil Tukua was Paul's partner in ministry. Many of the current leaders of the church were part of his young adults ministry. Phil was known for his irreverent attitude, his love of people and almost unlimited appetite for big food.

Pastor Paul, as a lifetime educator, also started our forays into pre-school and elementary school establishment. Both are now a big part of what we do and who we are. His ministry was capped by the completion of the stunning, yet simple sanctuary where we have gathered ever since 1985.

Renewal has always been a part of Grace's fabric. Living faith has been taught and lived out. It all started with Harry Smith (current member) and Marriage Encounter many years ago. People will tell you that this is when people started to hug each other at Grace. Cursillo, Promise Keepers, Alpha (www.AlphaUSA.org), Prayer School initiated by associate Pastor Kurt Morem, Establishing God's Peace (EGP) led by member Ann Cramer, and Cleansing Stream have become vital to the heartbeat of the congregation.

Pastor Paul and his beloved friend pastor Mel Bollesen (who is the snappiest dresser in the church) are still ministering among us. Because of their Scandinavian heritage, they are known as the "two great Danes."

Senior Pastor John Bradosky was here throughout the 1990's and brought a renewed emphasis on discipleship. Pastor John was known for his excellence in pastoral care in crisis and also less fondly for the fact that he played the accordion. During his time here, the elementary school expanded and moved off campus to a rented facility a few miles west on Edinger. Short-term mission trips also became prominent during this time, paving the way for current mission efforts. He has since moved to Ohio where he is senior pastor of Epiphany Lutheran Church in Dayton (www.elcdayton.org).

Current number four senior Pastor Dave Housholder (or just "Pastor Hous") joined us in the Fall of 2002 coming from Hosanna! in Lakeville, Minnesota (www.HosannaLC.org), one of the largest Lutheran churches in the world. His (dumpy) car is almost as popular as John's accordion!

The congregation spent a year in 2004 seeking the Lord’s will for our future. We called this the year of “Refocus”. The Lord surprised us with two commands:

1) Reinvest in your schools. The schools are your portal to reaching the community.

2) Get out of the church growth (addition) business and get into the church planting (multiplication) business.

The Lord’s timing was perfect. Our neighborhood is changing and most established churches in our part of the county are in decline as the neighborhoods diversify.

In obedience to the Lord, we sent out dozens and dozens of members to our nearest sister churches Westminster Lutheran Church of Hope and Reformation Lutheran as part of “multiplication”.

We also launched our first “from scratch” church plant. Robinwood Church (www.RobinwoodChurch.com), our first “baby” started worship in March of 2006.

So now, where there used to be one viable Lutheran church in our neighborhood, there are now four. Our faith family is growing.

Grace today, is the mother ship for the Alpha Course in Southern California and a proud member of the Pacifica Synod (www.pacificasynod.org) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (www.elca.org). We fellowship with churches in the alliance of Renewal Churches (www.allianceofrenewalchurches.org), and are heavily involved in Global Missions throughout the world including our Unreached People Group effort in East Africa.