Zion is the daughter church of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne. Pastor Freidrich Wyneken first visited Columbia City in 1840. At this time he was preaching, baptizing, doing weddings at homes in the community. He would be in the county every four weeks or so. There was an improvement in services when Pastor Wyneken was able to elicit the help of Lutherans who remained in Germany. In 1842, Rev. Wilhelm Loehe of Neuendettelsau, Bavaria, joined the effort by sending two young men, that he had started training to serve in the ministry. At St. Paul's in Fort Wayne these young men were further instrumental for ministry and sent out to work in churches like Zion in Columbia City (this was the beginning of Concordia Theological Seminary). During these years, Zion was not an organized congregation and was referred to as a Preaching Station that was served by J.N.G. Streckfuss, John Miller and others during the time they were students and provided many services for believers in Columbia City.
Rev. Christian Reichardt accepted the call of St. Johns Lutheran Church in Whitley County and also served the little group known as Zion. In 1866, Zion constructed the church on Ellsworth Street where they worshiped for nearly one hundred years at which time the building was sold to the Eel River Baptist Church upon completion in 1986 of the current building at the corner of Main and North Streets which included a fellowship room and classrooms.
Since 1861, the congregation of Zion has been served by the following pastors:
1867-1876 Rev. Christian Gotthilf Reichardt
1876-1877 Rev. J. Hassold
1877-1879 Rev. K. Seitz
1880-1883 Rev. J. Zimmermann
1883-1889 Rev. T. Thieme
1889-1923 Rev. H. Jungkuntz
1923-1952 Rev. O. A. Stamm
1952-1959 Rev. J. K. Muhlenbruch
1959-1966 Rev. Paul Schwan
1967-1970 Rev. E. W. Schmidtke
1970-1980 Rev. Martin L. Rastl
1982-1988 Rev. William Randall
1988-1991 Rev. M. L. Zilz
1991-2007 Rev. James A. Haugen
2011-Present Rev. Philip R. Rittner II
The Lord has blessed Zion Lutheran Church mightily in the past and continues to bless us today with the promise of continued blessings tomorrow!
Rev. Christian Reichardt accepted the call of St. Johns Lutheran Church in Whitley County and also served the little group known as Zion. In 1866, Zion constructed the church on Ellsworth Street where they worshiped for nearly one hundred years at which time the building was sold to the Eel River Baptist Church upon completion in 1986 of the current building at the corner of Main and North Streets which included a fellowship room and classrooms.
Since 1861, the congregation of Zion has been served by the following pastors:
1867-1876 Rev. Christian Gotthilf Reichardt
1876-1877 Rev. J. Hassold
1877-1879 Rev. K. Seitz
1880-1883 Rev. J. Zimmermann
1883-1889 Rev. T. Thieme
1889-1923 Rev. H. Jungkuntz
1923-1952 Rev. O. A. Stamm
1952-1959 Rev. J. K. Muhlenbruch
1959-1966 Rev. Paul Schwan
1967-1970 Rev. E. W. Schmidtke
1970-1980 Rev. Martin L. Rastl
1982-1988 Rev. William Randall
1988-1991 Rev. M. L. Zilz
1991-2007 Rev. James A. Haugen
2011-Present Rev. Philip R. Rittner II
The Lord has blessed Zion Lutheran Church mightily in the past and continues to bless us today with the promise of continued blessings tomorrow!