The German Evangelical Church Society of the West (Der Deutsche Evangelische Kirchenverein des Westens) was founded on October 15, 1840, at Deutsche Evangelische St. Johannes Gemeinde Zu Gravois Settlement Missouri. St. Johns Evangelical United Church of Christ (as it is known today) had been founded in 1838 by newly arrived German immigrants. They were living in a wilderness farming community a day's journey south of St. Louis. The small congregation built a church out of logs by hand on this hill. A memorial was erected in 1925 commemorating the founding of the Evangelical Synod of North America and still stands today in front of the church.
"At the 1866 General Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, the name Evangelical Synod of the West was adopted. In 1868, the governance was changed to one in which delegates to the convention were elected by district. Previously, the full membership attended each convention.
"In 1872, the synod merged with the German Evangelical Synod of the East (covering western New York and Ohio) and the German Evangelical Synod of the Northwest (covering Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and several Kentucky cities on the Ohio River), becoming the German Evangelical Synod of North America. By 1877 the synod had 324 pastors.
"The denomination established Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, for the training of its clergy; today, Eden remains a seminary of the United Church of Christ.
"In the early 20th century, the ESNA became active in the ecumenical movement, joining the Federal Council of Churches and pursuing church union. In 1934, it had 281,598 members and 1,227 pastors. At that time it joined with another denomination of German background, the Reformed Church in the United States, forming the Evangelical and Reformed Church.[1] A mere generation later, this church united, in turn, in 1957, with the General Council of Congregational Christian Churches to form the United Church of Christ." ~ Wikipedia