St. John's United Church of Christ is a historic church in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

. It was founded as 'Saint John's German Lutheran Evangelical Church and was called St. John’s Evangelical and Reformed Church from 1943 to 1962. The congregation formed in 1843 to minister to the very large German immigrant population of Richmond (especially the Carver neighborhood) at the time. The name "German Lutheran Evangelical Church" was selected as its members were Lutherans, but the church has never been affiliated with any Lutheran denomination. It operated independently until 1874 when it affiliated with the

German Evangelical Synod of North America The Evangelical Synod of North America, before 1927 German Evangelical Synod of North America, in German ''(Deutsche) Evangelische Synode von Nord-Amerika'', was a Protestant Christian denomination in the United States existing from the mid-19th ...

, a predecessor of the

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximately 4 ...

. After meeting in member homes for several years, the congregation moved into a new church building on North Fifth Street at Jackson in 1847. It moved into a larger building in 1881, and into its current facilities in 1928. The church houses one of the three remaining intact EM Skinner

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...

s on the

East Coast of the United States The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard contains the coa ...

. One prominent member of St. Johns was Conrad Frederick Sauer, whose family-owned CF Sauer factory exists nearby on Broad Street to this day

Virginia Governor

Mills E. Godwin Jr. Mills Edwin Godwin Jr. (November 19, 1914January 30, 1999) was an American politician who was the List of governors of Virginia, 60th and 62nd governor of Virginia for two non-consecutive terms, from 1966 to 1970 and from 1974 to 1978. In his f ...

and his family were members of this congregation during his first term. St John's was also influential in forming th
Gesangsverein Virginia
or "Virginia" German singing society that was a pillar of Richmond's German community and still exists today

References

External links

St. John's United Church of Christ website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint John's United Church of Christ, Richmond, Virginia Religious organizations established in 1843 United Church of Christ churches in Virginia Churches in Richmond, Virginia German-American history German-American culture in Virginia 1843 establishments in Virginia