St. Peter’s is participating for the second year in a row. Admission to this all ages event is free. Donations to the church are always gratefully received.
Since 2000, Doors Open Toronto (toronto.ca/doors-open) has welcomed over two million visits. It’s the largest event of its kind in Canada, where people can visit architecturally, historically, culturally, and socially significant buildings for free.
Doors Open events are held across Ontario from April to October, or check out virtual tours at doorsopenontario.on.ca/2025-events.
Doors Open began in France in 1984. Today, Doors Open is a global movement that encourages local discovery in forty-eight European countries, Australia, and the United States.
Estonians have an incredible heritage to celebrate and share as one of the world’s most ancient cultures. It is estimated Estonians have lived on their Baltic lands since about 6,000 B.C. Despite centuries of occupation, the Estonian people have shown profound resilience as their language and culture have survived. Now they enjoy freedom.
It is important to understand how St. Peter’s church is central to Toronto’s Estonian heritage. This place of worship was built by Estonian immigrants who arrived in Toronto during or after the Second World War. Their hearts were heavy with the human costs of war but with bred-in-the-bone resilience they looked to the future. They joined together and set out to build a boldly modern European church in staid 1950s Toronto as a symbol of their hope and pride.
Funds were raised and the congregation lent their skills, for example, sewing curtains for the windows and doing electrical work. The minister’s wife brought flowers from her garden for the altar.
“This church is being erected in memory of the thousands of Estonians who have died in World Wars, the Wars of Liberation, and the dangerous escape.”
-taken from the proclamation placed into the cornerstone of St. Peter’s Church in 1955
Doors Open is your chance to enjoy St. Peter’s Church as the proud legacy of Estonian immigrants who built the modernist structure for themselves and future generations, in which to worship and come together as a community.
ARCHITECTURE
St. Peter’s was designed by Mihkel Bach (1916-1972), an Estonian immigrant who taught at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Architecture. Bach was one of several Estonian architects who helped bring modernism to Toronto’s cityscape.
Bach also imported ancient wisdom into the bones of St. Peter’s with its distinctive load-bearing timber framing, mimicking medieval stave churches once common in northern Europe.
The church’s altar is said to look like overturned boat, remembering those who survived perilous escapes over open water and those who did not.
St. Peter’s structure grew just as Estonians survived and succeeded in their new lives in Canada. By the summer of 1970, Bach’s Estonian colleague at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Architecture, Ants Elken, had helped fulfill Bach’s original vision by adding the Guild space and cross tower, topped with a soaring wooden cross.
The Globe and Mail calls St. Peter’s Church a “tour de force” and “a masterful piece of modernist, ecclesiastical architecture.”
St. Peter’s Church is now listed on the City of Toronto’s Heritage Register as a valued property with significant cultural heritage.
REMEMBRANCE
Many Estonian-Canadians would not be here if not for the over 1,700 Estonian soldiers who chose to leave the front lines in Finland and return to defend their homeland. Most gave their lives in Estonia’s Blue Hills in the fall of 1944 during heavy fighting but they held off the Soviet advance for about a month. Their sacrifice allowed over 100,000 Estonians—many of our parents and grandparents—to flee the country, often risking their own lives.
Serving with the Estonian soldiers was a young bespectacled army chaplain, Oskar Puhm, who witnessed the bloodshed and survived.
When Puhm and his family came to Canada, he was the first minister at the newly-built St. Peter’s and served for thirty-four years until 1982. At one time, the congregation was the largest outside Estonia with over 4,000 people.
At Doors Open, take a moment to reflect at the Soome Poiste (Finnish Boys) memorial, designed by their brother-in-arms, Alfred Karu, at the right of the altar. A candle silently burns to honour their sacrifice.
Finnish Boys and hundreds of other Estonians who helped build and grow the church now rest in the columbarium outside the landmark, including Pastor Oskar Puhm and his wife Meta Einroos Puhm. Although all of their voices are now silent, their legacy must be held with deep respect.
“Strong leadership moving toward the good of the community will ensure the future of St. Peter's.”
-Meta Einroos Puhm, as told to Eesti Elu in November 2006
WINDOWS
In 1980, the St. Peter’s Ladies Guild decided it was time to grace the church with magnificent windows. After much fundraising, the church’s sweeping new abstract stained glass windows were blessed in 1990.
Doors Open is a rare opportunity to learn about the creation and delicate installation of the stained glass panels that wrap around the church directly from the artist, Austrian-Canadian Ernestine Tahedl (ernestinetahedl.ca)
Notice the distinctive wooden doors leading from the sanctuary to the office which Ms. Tahedl also designed.
Look up behind the organ and see the tall window which represents the glorification of the cross and healing. The window is dedicated to a former chair of St. Peter’s Church, Andres Tork, and his wife Inge, who both died tragically while skiing in the U.S. in 1994, before the window was completed.
MUSIC
In Estonian culture, music holds joy and even defiance. As the Soviet Union faltered in the 1980s, Estonians mobilized by singing songs forbidden by the Soviet regime. The Singing Revolution’s peaceful protest triumphed with the reestablishment of Estonian independence in 1991.
At Doors Open, settle into one of St. Peters’ hand-carved wooden pews, look up at the soaring wooden beams, notice how Mihkel Bach’s design allows soft natural light onto the altar, enjoy the wash of colour from the windows, and let the church’s acoustics add to your experience of this wondrous space with a variety of free concerts.
The Toronto Estonian Men’s Choir is a proud tradition reaching back over 70 years. The choir was founded in 1950 with the motto: Alati Sinule kodumaa, kōlagu vabade meeste laul! or ‘Always for our homeland, may the voices of free men echo in song.’ The singers are led by former opera baritone, Avo Kittask.
Enjoy a pipe organ recital by gifted University of Toronto mathematician and musician, Erik Kreem who says, “Playing the organ is a lot like solving a physics problem.”
By standing together and sharing our pride in how this sacred structure reflects Estonian heritage, we are reminded of its importance. It is time for new generations of Estonian-Canadians to join together and look to the future by taking pride in this architectural and cultural landmark, as our predecessors did.
LISTING OF ALL EVENTS at St. Peter’s Church, 817 Mount Pleasant Road, during Doors Open 2025:
Saturday May 24th, 2025
Doors Open 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Last entry at 4:30 p.m.
Toronto Estonian Men’s Choir Concerts at 11:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon
Pipe Organ Recital by Erik Kreem 12:30 p.m.
Talk by artist Ernestine Tahedl who was commissioned to create the church’s stained glass windows 3:00 p.m.
Sunday May 25th, 2025
Doors Open 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Last entry at 4:30 p.m.
Salvation Army service featuring a toe-tapping brass band 10:00 a.m.
Pipe Organ Recital 12:30 p.m.
Korea One Church service with translation and English songs 2:30 p.m.
On both days, volunteers will be available to answer questions and lead tours.
Transit directions: From Eglinton Subway Station, walk two blocks east along Eglinton Avenue East, or take one of several buses eastbound along Eglinton Avenue East.
Kõik on teretulnud. People of all ages are welcome to explore and enjoy.
Indeed, St. Peter’s Church’s doors are always open, and always free, to anyone seeking community and a warm welcome. You are not alone. Visit St. Peter’s throughout the year ( stpeterstorontoestonianchurch.ca/ )
Share your Doors Open experience using the hashtag #DOT25
Share your photos on the Doors Open Ontario Flickr page (See the event and site information for specific guidelines or restrictions on photography and/or video.)
