Our Heritage: A Journey of Faith

The History of St. Paul United Church of Christ Remembered

"Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations…" Deuteronomy 32:7 

A Journey of Faith  

Serving the Downriver communities for well over a century, St. Paul United Church of Christ is one of the oldest and more historic churches in Taylor, as well as the Downriver communities.  Founded by German farmers, the congregation, gathered for over a century on the same site, has evolved and grown with the local area.  Today, it continues to offer an active and vital ministry in the name of Jesus Christ. Although our congregation looks with anticipation towards the future, it does so with a keen appreciation for its own rich journey of faith, which has been truly blessed.

Humble Beginnings  

St. Paul United Church of Christ had humble beginnings.  It started when a group of local residents asked Rev. C. Fitzer, pastor of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Wyandotte, to conduct worship services for them at the Sand Hill School, a one room schoolhouse at the corner of Pennsylvania and Telegraph Roads.  Within a short time, however, a decision was made to formally organize a church.  Accordingly, a meeting was called for March 26, 1883.  Twenty five families signed a charter on that occasion, establishing "St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church."  At another meeting on April 18, 1883, a decision was made to construct a church building on ground donated by Mr. Joseph Miller on Goddard Road near Telegraph in an area then known as "Taylor Centre."  A frame building was erected and dedicated to the service of God on May 4, 1884.  The first parsonage was built in Fall 1885.   During this same period, another group of German farmers, some of whom had attended worship at the Sand Hill School, resolved to found a second church in the area.  This "sister" church, which came to be known as St. John's Lutheran Church, was constructed at the southeast comer of Telegraph and Northline Roads.  It later became affiliated with the Lutheran Missouri Synod.  Then and later, many St. Paul United Church families had relatives who attended at St. John's Lutheran Church and vice versa.

An Evolving Denominational Heritage      

Over the years under the leadership of pastors and associate pastors, the St. Paul congregation has undergone many changes. Changes in name, the language of worship and building facilities.  Those who founded St. Paul United Church did so under auspices of the German Evangelical Synod of North America, a denomination which, originating in German Prussia, combined the Lutheran and Reformed Church traditions.  Since it was chartered, however, St. Paul United Church has always been more Reformed than Lutheran in its theological orientation and worship practice.  Communion, for instance, was administered on a periodic basis, five to six times per year, rather than monthly or weekly as is more common in a strictly Lutheran tradition.   In 1932 when the Evangelical Synod merged with the Reformed Church (German) to create the Evangelical and Reformed Church of America, St. Paul Church changed its name too.  The congregation thereafter became "St. Paul Evangelical and Reformed Church," the name that appears on the cornerstone of our present sanctuary.   Finally, in 1957 the Evangelical and Reformed Church nationally merged with the Congregational Christian Churches, which trace their heritage back to the Pilgrims and Puritans of seventeenth century New England.  The new merged only a monthly German-language service was offered.  Ultimately, this accommodation to our German heritage ended in the late 1930's, just as the United States was about to be engulfed in another world war.  The Reverend Stanley Hartmann, who arrived at St. Paul United Church in 1965, was the last German-speaking pastor.