Hindu group buys St. James Lutheran
CAMBRIDGE — The old Lutheran Church at the top of a grassy hill in the middle of Hespeler has been sold.
The 150-year-old fixer-upper now belongs to the 200-member Greater Toronto branch of the Dayalbagh Radhasoami Satsang Association of North America, which has been meeting in private homes.
The selling price for St. James Lutheran? $846,250. Opening day, after repairs and renovations are completed, is expected in the fall. The Hinduism offshoot welcomes members of all religions.
“We’ll have our hands full for the next few months,” said association secretary Rajan Sharma on Tuesday, as a crew of engineers began their assessment of the 1867-built church.
“But that’s OK. We knew we were buying an older structure.”
An older structure the dwindling 18-member Lutheran congregation could no longer afford to maintain.
Hence, the sale that capped off a bidding war involving six suitors — the top four being religious organizations.
Now, after an Aug. 1 closing date for the sale, a new faith prepares to move to the intersection of Cooper Street and Queen Street, where a Catholic Church and a Presbyterian Church are on opposite sides of the roads.
The setting is perfect, Sharma said.
“This intersection is pretty pious,” Sharma said. “Three churches, including us. It’s a pious area. That is very important to us.”
After years of searching for the right location in and around Greater Toronto, perusing more than 100 properties, the temple didn’t have to settle on setting up in a strip mall. That industrial-unit option was distasteful.
Hespeler, where neighbours have warmly welcomed the group, offered up heaven-sent solution without the steeplehigh Toronto real-estate markup.
“This church, nothing could have been much better than this place in Cambridge,” Sharma said. “We could not have afforded millions.”
An agreement that allows the city to lease the church’s parking lot with 26 spots when not in use by praying members will be honoured, Sharma said.
And the once-stagnant face of downtown Hespeler, where a 10-storey highrise is now being completed, changes just a little bit more with the arrival of a lessfamiliar “religion of saints.”
“For me, I just see it as a sign that Hespeler is starting to mature and develop,” said Cory de Villiers, the local real estate agent in the church sale. “It’s pretty cool. We’ve got a mosque. We have this Hindu temple. We’ve got the Chinese Canadian church as well.”
And, in 90 days or so, the temple hopes to be open for services.
“We want to blend into this community,” Sharma said. “That’s our goal.”