A New Church is Built

In 1918, the Rev. Ingvard M. Anderson arrived at St. Mary’s.  He had something most of his predecessors had not, a university degree.  He also would serve as pastor for 13 years, while his 12 predecessors had averaged only about three and a half years each.

Ground was broken for the new church on July 12 the following year.  Even the, however, things did not move as swiftly as members might have wanted.  Money was tight and the cost of building was high; the new church would cost over $38,000.  Because the parish preferred to limit its indebtedness, nearly half the construction costs were paid in cash.  This meant that periodically, work was halted temporarily when funds ran short. 

But finally it was completed and the new church was dedicated in March 20,1921.

A brand new church should have a pipe organ, members agreed.  St. Mary’s had never had one in its previous church buildings. A fund drive began in 1919, but made little headway. In 1923, though, a serious effort was made to come up with the money needed, $4,250, and it was soon collected. The organ was purchased from the M.P. Moller Pipe Organ Co., of Hagerstown, Maryland. It was installed in time for St. Mary's 50th anniversary celebration in 1924.

Under Pastor Andersen's direction, St. Mary's began its first monthly publication, called, in Danish, Kirkebladen at first, but later published in English as the Lutheran Messenger. Financial support from some 70 local advertisers made possible the four-page bulletin of church news and activities.

From the earliest years, all services were in Danish, but new members and new generations were Americanizing St. Mary's. In the very early 1920's, two English services a month were scheduled, and by March 1923, services were being conducted weekly in both languages. Soon English dominated.

When St. Mary's marked its 75th anniversary in 1949, it would be proudly announced that all services were in English, a sign that it had "taken its place in the community as a church that stands ready to minister to the needs of all people…”

In fact, though, with the coming of Pastor Siersbeck, fluent in Danish, occasional services in St. Mary's traditional language were still offered in the 1950s and '60s. His assistant, Pastor Ray Pedersen remembers when these finally were dropped, although a special Danish service still was scheduled annually at Eastertime.

Pedersen also recalls an elderly parishioner remarking, disappointedly, in her soft old-country accent, "It's too bad Pastor Pedersen doesn't speak Danish!" 

Siersbeck recognized that the "loss of a foreign language closed access to other cultures of great dimensions." But there was, perhaps, a more positive result as well. "St. Mary's members began to feel a new and vital responsibility in the community," he said.

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