[2] St. Edmund's was founded 1947 by a small group of Christian laity and clergy meeting in temporary facilities in the village of Elm Grove, Waukesha County, Wisconsin.

Within a decade the group had raised sufficient funds to construct their own building on land donated to the congregation by members of their community on Watertown Plank Road in the village.

The free grant of the charter provided the 15-year-old parish with honorific roots to Christian ministry in Milwaukee dating to 1874 and Anglican historical connections stretching back almost 1,100 years.

Olmstead remained in the position for the next 30 years, serving both the parishioners of St. Edmund's and young men studying for the ministry from Nashotah House Seminary.

Designed by architect William P. Wenzler and completed in 1957,[13] the building on Watertown Plank Road in Elm Grove included one of the first hyperbolic paraboloid roofs in the United States.

[14] The roof was made of poured concrete and extended 45 feet beyond the altar, which was hung with a crucifix created in an abstract style and lit through natural light.