Our Church History

On April 27, 1793, the Synod of the Reformed Churches of Pennsylvania formed and declared themselves independent of the Reformed Church of the Netherlands in Europe. The Synod consisted of the seventy-eight congregations of which 70 % were without a pastor. Communicants numbered nearly 1500 and were situated mainly in Eastern Pennsylvania and Maryland. As time passed, more appeared in Western Pennsylvania, Virginia and North Carolina.

Missionary pastors traveled westward and ministered to the needs of pioneers in the Ohio country. Among these missionary pastors were Rev. Jacob Christman ( 1804), Rev. John Jacob LaRose (1805), Rev. Thomas Winters (1809), Rev. Jacob W. Dechant (1815) and Rev. John Peter Dechant (1819).

For further background on the area and the trials of these missionary pastors, see the translation from German of Rev. Paul Henkel’s Journal, written during his Lutheran missionary journey to Ohio in 1806, and published in Ohio Archaeological and Historical Publications, Vol. xxm (1914). Names include heads of German households in German and Washington Townships, Montgomery Co. A copy is located at the Dayton & Montgomery County Public Library.

With the founding of Miamisburg in 1818, residents held a public meeting on May 1st and agreed to the terms of erection of a schoolhouse on the lot which is now the northeast corner of Central Avenue and First Street. In the Spring of 1820, ten or twelve members belonging to the Gebhart’s (St. John’s) and Stettler’s congregations joined together to form the congregation at Miamisburg. They met in the little schoolhouse, which was completed in 1818.

The newly formed congregation served as a missionary outpost with informal and irregular services until 1824, when Rev: David Winters arrived to begin a pastorate which lasted nine years.

In 1822, The German Reformed Congregation was incorporated with the German Lutherans as a “Union” church. With this arrangement, the two congregations used the little schoolhouse on an alternating basis.

Efforts to build a house of worship were unsuccessful until 1830 when a brick structure was built on a lot east of the little schoolhouse and cemetery. Because of a lack of funds, the structure was not completed until 1833. This building served both congregations until the union between the Lutheran and Reformed congregations was dissolved on January 12, 1861. Less than a month later the Reformed congregation purchased its present location at the Northeast corner of what is now Second St. and Linden Ave. The church has had two buildings at this location. The first was a 2-story building with a basement and spire which stood from 1863-1900. In July of 1900, this building was razed and the present structure was built. In 1959, an educational wing was added.

Throughout the past 192 years, 19 pastors have been called to serve this congregation in a regulart full time position. They are as follows:

Rev. David Winters 1824-1833
Rev. Jacob Decombes 1835-1837
Rev. Elijah Kuhns 1836-1838
Rev. George Long 1840-1851
Rev. William Zieber 1852-1854
Rev. Isaac Reiter 1854-1874
Rev. William McCaughey 1875-1881
Rev. Henry H. Herman 1881-1912
Rev. Henry N. Kerst 1912-1918
Rev. Nevin B. Mathes 1919-1929
Rev. George Longaker 1929-1934
Rev. H. Grady Shoffner 1935-1964
Rev. James G. Deitz 1964-1973
Rev. John M. Clausing 1974-1981
Rev. Rodney J. Crowell 1982-1985
Rev. Eddie A. Bray 1986-1995
Rev. Craig E. Showalter 1997-2000
Rev. Julie G. Olmsted 2005-2010
Rev. Joel L. Getts 2012 - present

In addition to this congregation having four distinct meeting places at three different locations within a two block area, it has also gone through several name changes. From its earliest years, the members were collectively known as the German Reformed Church or Congregation. Shortly before the official dissolution of the “union” arrangement with the Lutheran congregation in January of 1861, the congregation was officailly incorporated as the First German Reformed Church of Miamisburg, Ohio on Aug. 7, 1860. By 1869, the word German” was dropped from the name and the congregation became the First Reformed Church of Miamisburg. In addition, the Miamisburg Congregation was linked with three other Reformed Church Congregations; St. John’s (Gebhart’s), Salem at Springboro, and Farmersville in what was known as the” Miamisburg Charge “. One minister served all four congregations and preached on a rotating basis. By 1870, the First Reformed Church of Miamisburg became a “charge” in itself. Rev. I. H. Reiter was instrumental in dissolving the “union” church and establishing the Miamisburg Church as an independent congregation, requiring a full-time pastor.

The congregation continued to be known as the First Reformed Church for the next 64 years. With the merger of the Reformed Church of the United States and the Evangelical Synod of North America, the name became First Evangelical and Reformed Church of Miamisburg, Ohio. A movement within the local church created a name change on May 25, 1945, to the Trinity Evangelical and Reformed Church of Miamisburg, Ohio. The present name originated on June 25, 1957, with the merger of the Congregational Christian denomination and the Evangelical and Reformed denomination, thus creating Trinity United Church of Christ, Miamisburg, Ohio.

The congregation has experienced six identifying names over the entire history of its existence. They are as follows:

German Reformed Church 1820-1860
First German Reformed Church 1860-1869
First Reformed Church 1869-1934
First Evangelical and Reformed Church 1934-1945
Trinity Evangelical and Reformed Church 1945-1957
Trinity United Church of Christ 1957-2014
Trinity Church of Miamisburg - 2015 - present

In summary, over a period of 190 years, in Miamisburg this Congregation has been situated in three distinct locations, has been served by nineteen regularly called pastors, and has had six names.

Dale E. Schmolinsky

Trinity Church Archivist