Church History

Fifty German residents of Richmond organized this church in May 1843. They wanted to worship in their native language. The first services were held in different homes around the city. They met to sing hymns, pray and read the scriptures together. Many attempts were made to establish a formal church.

The founding members chose the name "St. John's German Evangelical Lutheran Church of Richmond, Virginia." The first service was held in October 1843 in a house at 412-414 East Marshall Street. On Christmas Day, 1847 the first service was held in the new church building on North Fifth Street at Jackson. A school was established in the basement and continued for forty years as an important part of the community.

Until 1874, St. John's continued to operate as an independent church. In May of that year, the congregation became known as St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church when it became associated with the Evangelical Synod of North America (which was not a Lutheran body) and remained so until 1943.

It should be noted that St. John's was never a part of the Lutheran denomination. The word "Lutheran" appeared in its name because the first members were Lutheran in background. They followed the Lutheran teachings as the norm of faith and carried the word "Lutheran" as part of their name until 1943. St. John's was considered by the community to be the "German Lutheran" church of Richmond.

In 1879 a parcel was purchased at Eighth and Marshall Streets and work was begun on the new and larger church. On October 8, 1881 the first service was held in the sanctuary. The new structure was beautiful with its tall spire and it was large enough to allow for future growth. This new location was in the midst of the German community and allowed it's members to live together, work together and worship together.

As Richmond continued to grow, its boundaries were extended westward and the congregation of St. John's felt the effect of this move. Transportation at this time was not readily available and members had difficulty getting to church activities. In 1913 property was purchased at the corner of Lombardy and Franklin streets. This properly was a part of the University of Richmond and the President's house was located where the Sanctuary now stands.

Mr. Carl Lindner, a member of the congregation, drew the plans for the new church. The building took place in two phases. The Parish House, which is now referred to as the Christian Education Building, was completed in 1921. In December of 1926, the cornerstone of the Sanctuary was laid and the building was completed in February 1928. The altar and the paneling of the chancel are hand carved. The upper windows were taken from the church at Eighth and Marshall Streets. The windows above the altar and above the balcony were new memorials. In 1948 the lower level windows were installed as a complete set of memorials depicting scenes from the life of Jesus.

E. M. Skinner built the pipe organ in 1927. It is one of three Skinner organs in its native state on the East Coast still being played on a regular basis.

In 1943 a name change was adopted to St. John's Evangelical and Reformed Church. Their affiliation with an even larger church body came about by the merger of the Evangelical Synod and the Reformed Church in the U. S. in 1932.

In 1962 another name change took place for St. John's. It became St. John's United Church of Christ. This was brought into being due to a merger of the Evangelical and Reformed Church with the Congregational Christian Churches on June 25, 1957.