1929. The Education Building was first occupied on Sunday, October 27, 1929. The plan was to proceed immediately to erect the sanctuary, but two days later the collapse of the stock market began the Great Depression. The congregation worshipped in Vanderbilt facilities "temporarily" for ten years while struggling to raise funds.

1937-1944. In 1937 ground was broken for the sanctuary and on Palm Sunday, March 10, 1940, the church worshipped in its own house once again. Dr. Costen J. Harrell was pastor at the time and was elected Bishop in 1944.

1940-1948. When the West End congregation first worshipped in the newly-completed sanctuary in March, 1940, not all of the stained glass windows were yet installed. Through the next eight years, the rest of the windows were commissioned, installed, and dedicated as they were funded and completed. The entire sanctuary was dedicated in 1948 when the debt had been completely paid.

The stained glass windows of the West End Sanctuary are a distinctive and important part of the worship space. The art windows are the work of the D'Ascenzo Studios, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, distinguished glass artists under the direction of Nicola D'Ascenzo (1871-1954) whose work is in a number of churches and other buildings throughout the United States, including Riverside Church in New York City, the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., The Folger Shakespeare Library in New York, and buildings at Yale and Princeton Universities. A window he designed for the RCA headquarters is now in the Smithsonian Institution.