to serve another ten years, and after that he was succeeded by Antti Lepistö, John Wargelin (1927-31), Carl J. Tamminen to 1936, Eino M. Tuori (1936-41) and then Evert E. Torkko, Ahti Karjalainen and Alex William Koski. Incidentally, Pastor Torkko began to give radio sermons over Station WEBC in the autumn of 1939, and radio later developed into an important medium for religious services in Finnish.

In its earlier phases, the congregation had no church of its own but used to hold its services in a Swedish church on Second Street. In the summer of 1899, however, land was purchased on St. Croix Avenue, and the following year the Finnish church was built. It promptly became the center for cultural activity in the area, for the church hall was used from the very beginning by the temperance society and by the young peoples' society Nuija, which used to hold program evenings there, finishing with folk dancing, since ballroom dancing was not permitted there.

As great as was the need for this spiritual stimulus which the church was able to provide, the time was to come when a Finnish center could no longer be limited to one street and when, furthermore, the members of the church wanted their congregation to be situated elsewhere. In 1923 they bought the old First Presbyterian Church (built in 1869) and renovated it to a considerable extent.

Messiah Lutheran Church in Duluth.

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