Our History

Our official history records declare that the congregation was chartered in the year 1760  as an offshoot from Zion in Oldwick. We were known as the “church in the Valley.” We shared a pastor among congregations, which changed over the years and included Oldwick (aka Germantown), Fox Hill (non-extant), German Valley (us), and eventually Spruce Run.

Our first pastor was the founder of American Lutheranism, Pastor Henry Melchior Muhlenberg. His two sons served sequentially as the pastor on the ground as Father Muhlenberg started numerous congregations up and down the Eastern seaboard. 

Soon enough, Zion and a  German Reformed Church membership in the area decided to  erect and share a church building  in 1774. The remains of this building can still be seen on Fairview Avenue, Long Valley.

The first time Zion was able to support a pastor that served only this congregation was in 1846, and the parsonage that housed his family still exists at the corner of Schooley’s Mountain and East Maple Avenue.

Significant church structural events in our history are the erection of the current church building in 1832, the erection of the bell tower and narthex in 1861, the stained glass windows in 1884, Field’s Hall addition in 1938, the Education Hall addition in 1967, a major sanctuary renovation in 1959, and Faith Hall addition in 2010.

There are elements in our sanctuary that remain original; including the pews! One of the early oil chandeliers has been electrified (just inside the front doors), and pictures of early pastors hang on the wall just underneath it.  

In short, we are a congregation that cherishes our history, but also tries to be open to new things that the Holy Spirit is doing.

-Taken in part from “Passing on the Faith: 1760-2010” by Helga Shwartz