EVERETT — Trinity Lutheran College in downtown Everett received a $700,000 pledge from a couple in northern Idaho.
The gift will pay for a two-year project to build a center for worship and art on the fifth floor of the school’s campus on Wetmore Avenue.
It’s the third-largest gift in the college’s 67-year history, said Trinity President John Reed.
The money came from George and Jackie Brammer, farmers from Gifford, a small community in north-central Idaho.
The Rev. Mark Samuelson, pastor at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Everett, has known the Brammers since 1979, when he came there to serve as a pastor in their parish. He knew they wanted to support the Lutheran Church, especially when it came to training new leaders. Many of Trinity’s students go on to serve as pastors and ministers.
“They want to make sure the church continues to have pastors who can serve in rural communities like theirs,” he said.
He visited the Brammers in the spring and told them about Trinity’s project. They decided to make a gift to the college in honor of George Brammer’s parents, the late Otto and Goldia Brammer. The new chapel will be named in their memory.
Otto Brammer was a mentor to Mark Samuelson.
“I’m proud of George and Jackie for their sense of mission,” he said. “They are people who just have a heart for the church.”
The top floor of the college was left open for potential tenants after Trinity moved to downtown Everett from Issaquah in 2008. Part of the room is being used as a chapel now, but the mostly bare walls and low ceiling make it feel more like a hotel conference room, said the Rev. Erik Samuelson, the campus pastor and Mark Samuelson’s son. Poor acoustics make it difficult to hear the person speaking and muffles the music.
Instead of feeling worshipful, Erik Samuelson wrote in a proposal, one might find oneself drawn to the room’s main feature: a sweeping view of the city and the Cascade Mountains.
The new chapel will be different. An artist’s rendering shows a skylight in the center, illuminating a baptismal font. Under one proposal, an art gallery with student art and works by other Everett artists would greet visitors at the entryway.
“The Christian tradition has always used art as a way to convey the message,” Erik Samuelson said.
College staff plan to hear proposals from architects later this month. Work is scheduled to begin in October. The center should open to students by March.
The revamped fifth floor also will house the visual communications program, the newest addition to Trinity’s curriculum.
The liberal arts college offers bachelor’s degrees in 10 majors and several one- and two-year programs. About 175 students are enrolled this year.
They are a visible presence in north Everett. The students volunteer with churches and nonprofit organizations in the community. They grow vegetables for local food banks in the garden atop the college’s parking garage and sing during Everett’s annual Thanksgiving celebration.
Katya Yefimova: 425-339-3452; kyefimova@heraldnet.com.
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