St John's United Church of Christ 3.54

St. John's came into being in 1894 when a group of German immigrants asked a neighboring minister, Rev. William Vollbrecht, to come to Burton and help a dozen interested families start the church. Rev. Volbrecht helped organize the founding fathers, in the home of Herman Knittle (a Burton merchant), in 1894. That year, the Rev. Herman Specht was chosen as pastor and a church building was erected on land purchased from August and Amalia Pfefferkorn. The church cemetery was established in the early 1900's. A new brick sanctury was built in 1951.

The congregation changed it's name twice in it's history because of denominational mergers. Originally, St. John's Evangelical, it changed to St. John's Evangelical and Reformed in 1934. In 1957, the merger of the E&R church with the Congregational Christian churches, caused the name to change to St. John's United Church of Christ. The name causes some confusion with the "Church of Christ" here in the South, but the abundance of musical instruments, and the strong ecumenical flavor of the UCC quickly remind folks of the difference.

Christian Education has been a major priority for the last 70 years, and today there are classes for all ages every Sunday morning, and offerings during the week. A new Family Life Center provides great educational and fellowship space for the church and the community.

The congregation continues to support a wide variety of local, national and foreign outreach programs.