During the post-war era our congregation was growing rapidly and the new building was over-crowded for both worship and Sunday School and it became evident that the second unit a larger church, must be built. Shortly after pastor Paulsen began his ministry committees were again organized to proceed with plans for building. In 1959 an architect was engaged and a fund raising dinner resulted in 3 year pledges of $45,000. This was a time of rapid church growth generally, a n d there were encouraging signs of growth at St. Ansgar and so it was decided to build a church to seat 400 worshippers and accommodate a Sunday School of 300 and a choir of 40 voices. It was further proposed to build in a modern style of architecture reflecting the changes in church architecture that had taken place in only 10 years. The whole matter of size, style, location and affordability became a divisive issue and the’ proposal was passed by only a 33-21 majority. The issue again sifted the congregation and made the building task harder as some of the pledges were canceled and some of the planners dropped out. Again the Church Women became very important to the new church, and raised large sums of money for it.
The day of church dedication, January 14th, 1962 was a tremendous event with nearly 650 people attending the two services. Dr. William Larsen, the vice-president of the American Lutheran Church officiated and preached. The new building received architectural recognition for its successful blending of two styles and a Toronto newspaper, the Daily Telegram, later featured it as one of Toronto’s noteworthy churches.
There have been times when we felt we had over-built and financially over-extended ourselves, especially when our congregation suffered from the general decline in church attendance and membership that came in the late 1960’s. However, we were rescued from our financial difficulties, first by city expropriation of land that provided us with $26,361 and then later by a determined fund-raising campaign which eliminated mortgage payments arrears and a sale of notes which made the mortgage more affordable. We were also forced into the good policy of making the building available for community use and much of this use provides welcome rental money.
Our congregation has come a long way from modest beginnings in a dance hall to the spacious building generously accommodating the congregation ‘s activities and often serving as a “cathedral church” for Toronto Lutheran events.
Original Credits Carl Larson, Philip & Irene Jorgensen