Church History
Previous pages:
The First Presbyterians in America
The Presbyterian Faith Comes to La Grange
The Building of our First and Second Churches
The Educational Wing—“If You Build It, They Will Come”
As early as 1920, discussions had begun that improved facilities were needed for our growing Christian Education and Youth Ministry programs. With keen foresight, the adjoining property on Elm and Ashland was purchased that year. The Great Depression that started in 1929 deflated any hopes of building a desired Christian Education wing. In 1935 the Sunday School facilities were remodeled and enlarged to take care of the rapidly growing Department of Religious Education. The kitchen facilities were also enlarged and modernized—the bowling alley gave way to an earlier version of our current Fellowship Hall.
Crowded church school classrooms in the late 1940s
Adult Education class meeting in the kitchen in the late 1940s
1952 Church Education Building
Session Meeting in the Parlor
By 1940, church school attendance had grown to 300, and another committee was formed to look at the building of a Christian Education wing. However, World War II intervened, and plans were again abandoned. By the late 1940s, Sunday School enrollment was approximately 500, and church membership approximately 800.
Sanctuary Choir processional
Finally, after all the years of setbacks and disappointments, excavation for the addition was started in 1950 and the Dedication of the Educational Wing was held on September 28, 1952. Twenty-eight new classrooms, assembly rooms, a beautiful and dignified parlor, a small chapel, a library and adequate staff quarters were housed in a beautiful building, corresponding in material and architecture to the adjoining Sanctuary.
Shortly after the completion of this construction, Sunday School enrollment doubled!
Laying of cornerstone for education wing addition, 1/28/51
1952 New Church Parlor