Volga German Lutherans were gathering in Calgary for worship and Bible study as early as 1899 with the Rev. Emil Eberhardt of Stony Plain presiding. Immanuel Lutheran Church was founded in 1902 by Volga German families and was affiliated with the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod.
As Immanuel Lutheran was experiencing discord, a group decided to form an English-Language Lutheran parish in Calgary. On 2 April 1913, in the home of Edward Wolf (223 14th Ave. West), the congregation of First English Lutheran Church was established, but not formally constituted. They began holding worship services on Sunday evenings in the Swedish Lutheran Church at 6th Ave. & 2nd Street. The Rev. John E. Herzer was in charge of the services, but he soon accepted a call to Jehovah Lutheran Church.
Location
401 9a Street NE
Calgary, Alberta
History
By 1920, there were enough German settlers living in the newly founded town of Bashaw, that a congregation decided to form there. It was made up of members who had been attending the rural St. Peter's Lutheran Church north and west of Bashaw.
They purchased an existing building and converted it into an appropriate worship space which was dedicated on 14 November 1920. The congregation shared a pastor with St. Peter's and has ever since.
Zion is currently affiliated with Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.
A Catholic chapel was built of adobe in San José in 1912 across the street from the present building. Father Matthias Saxler served as the congregation's first priest. The corner stone for the San José Catholic Church was laid on 31 October 1926 and dedication held on 21 April 1929. The architect was Salesian Father Ernesto Vespignani. The altar was a single piece of Carrara marble carved by the Mahlknecht brothers in Austria. The church was declared a Provincial Historical Monument on 12 August 1983.
The Congregación Luterana de la Santa Cruz (Holy Cross Lutheran church) held its first services in 1921 and the following year the members of the congregation began construction of a church building.
Location
In 1913, the first services were held by the Iglesia Evangélica del Río de la Plata (IERP), and they began construction on a church building in 1916.
The Iglesia Evangélical Congregacional San Jacobo (St. Jacob's Congregational Church) was founded in 1929.
The land for construction of Santa Ana Catholic Church was donated by Victorino Viale in 1921.
The history of the Evangelical Baptist Church dates back to the 1930s when there were in the rural areas near Viale (in the area of Las Tunas) a few Volga German families who were Baptist: Fritzker, Kramer, Tischler and Kossmann. They gathered two or three times a month to hold worship services in their homes) that knowing the Baptist religion gathered two or three times a month for family reunions, which is usually carried out in some houses of the families.