1933-1944

Due to expansion and inner discord, the congregation split in two sub-congregations in 1934. The congregation divided between two groups: Arthur Võõbus’s supporters and Harri Haamer’s supporters. Before the war, the situation between two sub-congregations had become so complicated that they considered establishment of two different congregations. The problem settled after the onset of the WW II and new political circumstances in Estonia.

Despite discords in the congregation, the clerical work enlivened and the congregation was more active than in the earlier years. Both sub-congregations started doing children’s and youth work and formed choirs.

 

Soon the second sub-congregation felt the need for own office. Thus, the back of the first floor got an extension and balconies for the apartments were built on the second and third floor, designed in 1938 by architect Nikolai Kuzmin.

The church caught fire on the 25^th of August 1944 – majority of the flammable parts of the church and its wing were destroyed. The handrail of the stairs to the tower and apse windows, as well as the walls, pillars and altar sculpture remained intact, although the statue was damaged in the fire.