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Zwingli United Church of Christ
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The earliest roots of this church go back to the late 1700's and early 1800's when the people of this area with the help of itinerant ministers passing through, worshipped God while gathered in private homes. Rev. Ernst may have been the first minister to preach in Berlin's first non-denominational church which — the community log school house and church building which stands on the front edge of the Union Cemetery in East Berlin today. In 1811, John and Margaret Hildebrand donated land next to the school house and construction was begun on a new church building. The Union Church was completed in 1822 and served the Lutheran and German Reformed congregations well. The Union Church eventually needed extensive repairs and the two congregations decided to dissolve the joint ownership in a peaceful way in 1888. In 1889, members of the Emmanuel Butt family donated land on West King Street to the Reformed Church and on June 15, 1890 the cornerstone was laid for a new church building. On September 25, 1891, Zwingli Reformed Church was dedicated to the future of Christ's work in the East Berlin community. Zwingli was named after Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531) the great Swiss reformer and founder of the Reformed Church. In 1934, due to a merger with another denomination, the church became Zwingli Evangelical and Reformed Church and once again, due to merger, had its name changed in 1957 to its present Zwingli United Church of Christ. |