por susana taylor
The North Park community is invited to join the celebration of the 100-year anniversary of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, located at 4011 Ohio St. The party will be in full swing on Saturday, April 25, from noon to 2 p.m. and will include food, music and mingling with congregational members, youth, church officers and the pastor. Appetizers will be served free, but donations are welcome. After the open house, there will be a concert and singalong of melodies from every decade since 1915. If you have never visited Our Savior’s, this is your opportunity to meet people and take a look around.
Be sure to enter the sanctuary. It is designed with broad pews on both sides of a long aisle and the altar is beautifully embraced by rich wood. The side windows are stained glass and behind the altar, facing the congregation, is an impressive depiction of Christ praying. The tall, arched ceiling instills reverence and contemplation.
The church campus includes a secure courtyard, gardens, a library and offices, a preschool, a full kitchen and a fellowship hall used for annual meetings, martial arts, quinceanera parties and weekly square dancing.
Pastor Maria Santa Cruz, born in Mexico, leads services in both Spanish and English. Her passionate and thought-provoking sermons compel reflection and fellowship — and return visits from worshipers. After church, she can be found greeting those people who stop by for free bread and a homemade Mexican brunch between services.
Many families from North Park and other neighborhoods entrust their 2 – 4-year-olds to the preschool, which has been in existence since 1980. Preschoolers are met at their developmental level, and the excellent staff fills each day with thematic activities, crafts, food, walking trips and assemblies with speakers from local businesses. Kids experience the occasional thrill of a close-up encounter with a fireman in full regalia, a local postman or Santa Claus. Our Savior’s preschool consistently has a waiting list.
The church’s beginnings date back to 1915 when it was part of the United Norwegian Lutheran Church of America. At that time, the church was located at Park Boulevard and Centre Street. It had a pump organ and a piano purchased for $100. By 1921, sermons were sometimes delivered in English.
In the 1930s, Sunday school was established in Vasa Hall at Illinois Street and El Cajon Boulevard. Soon a generous parishioner offered to buy a corner lot on Lincoln and Ohio and that is where the present church stands. The WWII years brought many troops and military families from the Midwest, and people drawn to the Lutheran faith and strong Scandinavian and Northern European roots populated the congregation.
The evangelizing members helped to establish other Lutheran churches in San Diego County, including La Jolla Lutheran, College Lutheran and Lemon Grove Lutheran. Our Savior’s itself expanded with the acquisition of four adjacent lots, including apartments.
In 1959, membership numbered almost 1,300; however, today membership has dwindled, a trend seen among churches nationwide. However, what Our Savior’s lacks in congregational size, it makes up for with its sense of family and abiding friendships.
Overcoming language and cultural barriers, Our Savior’s is a church for anybody to feel joy, grace and forgiveness. And don’t forget to enjoy the party on April 25 — 100 years of memories right up the block.
—Susan Taylor is an English teacher, North Park resident and a member of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church since 1977.
