WOODDALE LUTHERAN CHURCH
4003 Wooddale Ave.

In response to missionary Rev. Dwight Shelhart's survey of the area in 1928, several meetings were held in the summer of 1929 in private homes, and in August a new congregation that would become Wooddale Evangelical Lutheran Church was born. The group met at a rented a three-room house at 4258 Utica from September 1928 until April 1930, when they moved to the little auditorium in Brookside School (while St. Luke's met in the main auditorium).

The congregation was officially organized on December 1, 1930, and a typographical error at the Hennepin County Registrar of Deeds led to the unique spelling of Woodale. Rev. Dwight Shelhart was elected President of the church council a week later. A newspaper account of the congregation's 1929 Christmas Pageant, held at Brookside School, mentioned the participation of 70 children and 150 parents; Art Hager was one of the members of the decorating committee. Rev. Shelhart was listed as the church's pastor.

The first two lots of an eventual two-acre plot at 40th and Wooddale were purchased in on May 2, 1930. The first full-time pastor, Dorrance Jensen, came to Wooddale right after graduation from Seminary in June 1931, and served until November 1937. In 1933, the Cahill Lutheran congregation was formed as a branch of Wooddale. 

The first church building was erected at 4003 Wooddale Avenue and dedicated in February 1938. Rev. Herbert J. Motz-kus, from Montevideo, was installed that March. Every church should have a basement, so in 1939, the building was lifted up so that the men of the church could dig one. An "overflow" addition was added in 1942. In February 1949, Rev. Motz-kus left to become a Field Missionary in Montana and was replaced by Rev. Paul F. Obenauf in December 1949. Quonset Huts were added after the War, and a new wing was added in the spring of 1952 for the burgeoning congregation.

Finally it was decided that a new building was in order, so in the spring of 1955, the original building was sold and in September, Doepke Movers moved it to north Minneapolis on Highway 55.


The congregation worshipped at the Park Theater building during construction of the new church.. The parish education building, completed in 1956 at a cost of $200,000, was used for services until the main church was completed.

The Cornerstone of the new church was laid in October 1964. It is said that the parsonage at W. 40th Street was moved to 3601 Kipling - it is now listed as a duplex built in 1948.

See Wooddale Lutheran Church’s website at www.wooddalelutheran.org.

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This information comes from a variety of sources: newspapers, books, yearbooks, phone directories, interviews, etc. Given the varied sources, we cannot guarantee that all of this information is correct, and welcome any additions and corrections. Please contact us with your contributions and comments.