County of court: Gasconade County
Location of court: W. St. Louis St. & N. Sycamore St., Bland
Pastor: Mark Farran
Phone: 573-646-3944
Architectural Style: Gothic Revival
This church started as an Evangelical (German) church became a Church of Christ, then, in 2004, left the Church of Christ organization and became attached to the Evangelical Free Church of America.
This church must have once had a good repour with youth, because of a permanent basketball court, which is now turning to rust.
Another odd fact, this church had a short tower on the SE corner, now removed.
"The Zion Evangelical Church was established in 1883.
"The Zion Church of Christ is constructed of brick with a concrete foundation. The cornerstone
reads 1929. It has a shingle roof and square battlement towers. This building is an example
of Gothic architecture." ~ DNR Historic Survey PDF pages 132-136
"The Zion Evangelical Church was started in the 1860’s by a group of immigrants from the Evangelical Synod, which was a break off group from the German Lutheran Church. They built a building and cemetery in what is now “Old Bland”. When the train line came through at the top of the hill, the town now known as Bland started to build up with stores and restaurants and homes. In the late 1920’s the church building in Old Bland burned down and so the church built in Bland. It was a brick building that now stands on the corner of Sycamore and St. Louis Streets. Two additions have been built to it in the ensuing years. In 1954 an educational wing was added and the expansion of the sanctuary, which now seats over 350 people. In the 1983 an annex was added to provide fellowship room for the youth and other church activities.
"In the 1940’s the Evangelical Synod merged with the Reform Synod, another branch off of the German Lutheran Church, and formed the Evangelical and Reformed Church. In the late 1950’s the Evangelical and Reformed Church merged with two other denominations to form the United Church of Christ. In the early 2000’s the Zion Church withdrew from the United Church of Christ and in 2004 became a member of the Evangelical Free Church of American, Central District.
"The Zion Evangelical Church is now active in children’s ministries, missions both locally, nationally, and internationally. We have an active women’s ministry and a men’s group that meets for breakfast once a month. Our Sunday School offers a class for each member of the family and the worship service is a blend of traditional and contemporary styles. We are open for all visitors and welcome them with open arms." ~ Zion Evangelical Church
"The Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA) is a Christian denomination in the evangelical Protestant tradition. The EFCA was formed in 1950 from the merger of the Swedish Evangelical Free Church and the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Free Church Association.
History
"The Swedish Evangelical Free Church formed as the Swedish Evangelical Free Mission in Boone, Iowa, in October 1884. Several churches that had been members of the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Ansgar Synod and the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Mission Synod, along with some independent congregations, were instrumental in organizing this voluntary fellowship. In the same year, two Norwegian-Danish groups in Boston, Massachusetts, and Tacoma, Washington, began to fellowship together. By 1912, they had formed the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Free Church Association. The Swedish and Norwegian-Danish bodies united in June 1950 at a merger conference held at the Medicine Lake Conference Grounds near Minneapolis, Minnesota. The two bodies represented 275 local congregations at the time of the merger.
"The EFCA shares some early ties with those who formed the Swedish Evangelical Covenant Church. It has been a member of the National Association of Evangelicals since 1943, the year after that organization was formed.
Doctrine
"In its Statement of Faith, the Evangelical Free Church of America affirms the authority and inerrancy of the Bible; the Trinity; atonement through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ; original sin; Christ as head of the church and the local church's right to self government; the personal and imminent return of Christ; the bodily resurrection of the dead; and the two ordinances of water baptism and the Lord's Supper.
"The EFCA passed a substantial revision to its Statement of Faith on June 26, 2008, the first revision since the Statement was first adopted in 1950. This revision was proposed in order “to update archaic language, to clarify some theological ambiguities, to seek greater theological precision, to address new issues, to have a SoF that would be better suited to be used as a teaching tool in our churches.” Specific beliefs based on biblical interpretation can vary somewhat due to the congregational governance system that gives autonomy to individual local EFCA churches.
"The EFCA does not ordain women. The church describes its stance on homosexuality and same-sex marriage as "welcoming but not affirming," stating that the church "will not credential one who engages in homosexual conduct or one who does not believe that homosexual behavior is sinful, even though remaining celibate." ~ Wikipedia