Brief History of St. Anthony Park Lutheran Church (October 1999)
The roots of the present St. Anthony Park Lutheran congregation began November 28, 1902. Wartburg Evangelical Lutheran congregation was organized by twenty-seven members of the faculty and students of the theological seminary of the United Norwegian Lutheran Church, later, Luther Seminary. For 47 years, the life of the congregation was integral to the seminary. Worship services were in Bockman Hall chapel. Sunday School was held in the basement below the chapel. Seminary professors served as unsalaried part time pastors. A building fund for a permanent and separate church building was established in 1931. Six years later on March 24, 1937 the transition from a seminary to a community congregation began with a formal name change to St. Anthony Park Lutheran Church. In 1938, Pastor J.M. Langemo, was installed as the first full-time pastor of the congregation. However, the Depression of the 1930's and later, World War II made it impossible to erect the needed building. Rev. Alvin G. Lewis began his call to serve the congregation in 1944 when Pastor Langemo became a chaplain for the U.S. Army. Shortly after Pastor Lewis' arrival a Building Committee was formed, architect hired and the project was underway. Largely through the efforts of Pastor Lewis, the Building Committee, the women's groups and men's clubs, their vision finally became reality. The congregation, led by the children's choir marched joyously from the seminary chapel to the building site on Ground- Breaking Day, April 25, 1948. The new building including a one-story parish house was ready for occupancy with worship and Sunday School first held on March 25, 1949. By 1954, the membership had increased to about 1000 and more room was required, especially for the education program. In the spring of 1956, the congregation dedicated a new kitchen and an enlarged parish hall with a second story. During 1976, the third building program of the congregation was completed. This program included the addition of a large narthex, the Fireside Room, and additional Sunday School and office space. At this time, the pews were replaced with cathedral chairs to allow more flexibility of use and arrangement of the sanctuary. We recently began a new building program with a GroundBreaking ceremony on August 15, 1999. The reason for remodeling, is to add office space, an elevator and to make the church more welcoming and accessible to the community. With today's 50th year celebration and the upcoming remodeling project, our church celebrates its past and continues to carry out the vision of its founding congregation.