History

The Founding Fathers of our congregation were men of divergent religious faiths. Those coming to the community directly from Germany were Lutheran by background and persuasion. Those who came here from the New Knoxville, Ohio, area were Reformed in doctrine and faith. Because of their common German background and a deep-rooted desire for church unity, these early settlers labored hard to create one church that would satisfy the spiritual needs of both groups.

It was soon discovered that neither the Reformed nor the Lutheran groups were prepared to wholly surrender their doctrinal views for that of the other faith. Into this difficult situation came G. Fachtmann, pastor of the Evangelical Church of Henderson with a solution that proved right and spiritually satisfying. He suggested they became an “evangelical congregation” in which both the Lutheran and Reformed doctrines were recognized with the individual church member having the right of conscience and interpretation where they differed. The Founding Fathers readily acknowledged this and in 1869 formally established the Zion Congregation as a member of the then Evangelical Synod of the West. The Evangelical Synod of North American and the Reformed Church in the United States united to form the Evangelical and Reformed Church on June 26, 1934.

On June 25, 1957, the United Church of Christ was established out of a merger of four groups. Two of these were the Congregational Churches of the English Reformation with Puritan New England roots in America and the Christian Church with American frontier beginnings. The other two denominations were the Evangelical Synod of North America, a 19th century German-American church of the frontier Mississippi Valley, and the Reformed Church in the United States composed of early 18th century churches in Pennsylvania and neighboring colonies.

Zion’s first church and parsonage were built on Second Street in Le Sueur and first occupied by the Rev. C. Hauck from 1870 to 1879. The Rev. George Eyrich followed and served for 18 years. During this time there was the need for enlarging the church which was done in 1883. Ten years later in 1893, on land purchased from H. H. Kattmann, Sr. and his wife, Christine, a new church was built on Risedorph and Third.

In 1897 the Rev. Gustav Sturm came for four years after which Pastor Eyrich returned and served another fifteen years. A new parsonage was purchased in 1907 on Risedorph and Second Street. After the death of the Rev. Eyrich, the congregation called the Rev. Edwin Arends who served until 1924. It was during this time the first English services were only occasionally conducted. Our Fiftieth Anniversary was celebrated in 1919.

The Rev. Otto Muecke arrived in the spring of 1924. It was a difficult struggle to let more English services in this German Church, but the vote finally carried in 1931 to have an English service every Sunday and German only at some special times. Rev. Muecke was the first Northern Synod President in the newly merged Evangelical and Reformed Church in 1934. The Rev. George Low came in 1942 but because of his untimely death served Zion congregation only two short years. The Rev. Krueger served as pastor from 1944 to 1949. During this time a new constitution was adopted and Rev. Krueger was the first to live in the newly-built parsonage on South Elmwood Street.

From 1950 to 1959 Rev. Ernest Klaudt served Zion. Two Sunday morning worship services were initiated because of our growing membership. In 1952 the congregation voted to relocate, and in November 1955 the ground-breaking took place at our present site. Our beautiful new church was dedicated in December 1956 and cost approximately $320,000. Serving in our new church, in addition to Rev. Klaudt, and up to the present were:

Rev. Marvin P. Lehmann 1959-1970
Rev. John Heinl 1970-1974
Rev. Vernon Clausing 1975-1983
Rev. Frances Blumenfeld 1981-1984 (Associate Pastor)
Rev. Lauran Heidenriech 1994-2002 (Associate Pastor)
Rev. Robert Broeder 1984-2007                                                                               Rev. Ken Ribe 2008-Current (Interim Pastor)

During the time of Pastor Broeder there have been three significant additions to our building including our office complex, elevator, and remodeling of our chancel area of the sanctuary in order to provide a variety of worship and community functions.

In 1960 many families from the congregation of Salem-Tyrone and St. Paul’s Dresselville joined Zion.

An enduring reminder to our history would not be complete without taking note of the bell in the tower of the church. Now in its third location with us, and for over one hundred years, it has been inviting us to Sunday morning worship services. Since November 1968 it has also been pealing over our KRBI radio broadcasts of the early Sunday morning worship, enabling Zion to share our faith and ministry with a larger community.

During the 1980’s the congregation has come to enjoy a resurgence. In 1986 and 1987 the congregation remodeled the sanctuary and added new stained glass windows to the back of the sanctuary. In 1988 the congregation was the fifth largest in the Minnesota Conference UCC and a leader in mission support. In 1989 we began having full-time intern students. After three years of interns, the congregation voted to begin the process of securing a full-time associate pastor. In 1992 the building was enlarged with a modern office complex and new entrance, and over the last ten years most areas have been remodeled.

In 1994 Pastor Lauran Heidenreich joined our staff as Associate Pastor and was with us the next 8-1/2 years.

In the late nineties the building was made accessible by adding a commercial elevator.

In 2005 the chancel area of the sanctuary was remodeled to better serve our worship community. We are enjoying our new enhanced organ and the addition of a praise band.