The Germans who settled in Lyme Township were a religious people, chiefly Protestant. Philipp William Heyman, though he came to own 480 acres of the coveted land, often told his family and friends, “The best we have in life is religion.” Each family brought to the new world not only a Bible but also a book of sermons and a Bible commentary. The books were put to good use in religious services held in various homes by family members. Others were welcome to attend these little services.
By 1858 enough Germans had arrived in the Hunt’s Corners area of the township so that it seemed possible to organize formally as a church. Accordingly on August 14, 1858, eighteen people joined in the selection of John George William Heimann as president and Rev. C. Kuss as secretary. They voted to “carry the name ‘Evangelical Reformed Church’” and to apply for membership in the Reformed Synod in Ohio. The following additional church officers were chosen:
Elders: William Conrad Heimann, Charles Mohr
Deacons: J. G. Heimann, Sr., J. G. Heimann, Jr.
Rev. Kuss was elected to serve as pastor. The very next day, August 15, 1858, at a home in Sherman Township, was held the first Sunday service of the new German Evangelical Reformed Church.
The new organization moved steadily forward. A month later a constitution was adopted and signed by twenty-members and Rev. Kuss. For the list of charter members see Appendix IX. Five years later, March 28, 1863, incorporation papers for the church were drawn up. During this time services had been held alternately in homes in Sherman Township and in the Hunt’s Corners area of Lyme Township. Also, for a time worshippers met in the Hunt’s Corners schoolhouse which stood on the corner across from the site of the present church.
Finally on January 6, 1866, it was voted to erect a church building. This was an ambitious project for that small congregation! However, John George Heymann donated the necessary land for the building and William
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Conrad Heymann of Weavers Corners donated some of the timber. Members of the congregation gave liberally of money and labor; and when the church was completed that same year (1866), it was fully paid for. As the years went on, necessary repairs and improvements were paid for as made; and the church would be able to claim proudly on its 100th birthday, “No debt has ever been on the church as far as the members of the history committee were able to ascertain.”
The new church building in 1866 was somewhat different in appearance from that of today. Above the present square cupalo rose a spire 20 to 30 feet high (because of the expense of repairs, the steeple was taken down in 1929). A similar steeple had been a familiar sight rising above the old stone church in Kaltenholzhausen in the Duchy of Nassau, Germany, from which so many Heymanns and others had come to Lyme. Also reminiscent of the old church in Kaltenholzhausen were wooden window shutters, the upper section of which when closed formed pointed Gothic arches similar to those of the Gothic windows shown in pictures of the Kaltenholzhausen church. Though both steeple are long since gone, in the early days of the church it must have meant a great deal to members to see in the little frame building reminders of the stone church of their youth in the “old country.”
As has already been pointed out, records of the new church were kept in German as long as the older members served as secretary; and services at first were entirely in German, later alternating between German and English, until such time as the German could no longer be understood by members.
The minutes of the church, when translated into English, often make interesting reading as significant of be-gone days. For example members evidently felt they had been giving to an overly-large number of requests for money for missions and benevolences: in 1893 a motion was passed that there should be “no more donations… except for church necessities” that year. However it was also voted that “every farmer member shall give the pastor one sackful of oats or corn for his pony”… Also “one ham or sausage shall not be scorned or despised.” Evidently the minister’s salary was small. A treasurer’s report of 1881 shows $205.50 paid for pastor’s salary and $70.38 for missions.
This German church in Lyme, like the earlier Lyme Congregational church, took seriously the task of seeing to it that their members followed certain standards of morality and behavior. Minutes show that sometimes members were asked to appear before a church body to explain themselves when misconduct had been charged; or a committee was appointed to go to the offender in an effort to get him to change his ways. Eventually some members were dropped from the list, but forbearance was also shown. According to minutes for 1881, it was voted “to warn” a certain member “about his drinking… but to continue patience with him a little longer until betterment has begun to be seen.”
This church, which was eventually to be known as Hunt’s Corners United Church of Christ, had several previous names. Originally the German Evangelical Reformed Church, in 1866 it became the German Evangelical Reformed St. Paul’s Church; and in 1872 it became the German Evangelical Reformed Zoars Church. Sometimes people found it simpler just to say, “The Heymann Church!”
The early pastors of the Hunt’s Corners Church were the following:
1856-1866 Rev. Charles KussMost of these pastors also served the Reformed church in Bellevue. Hence, much of the time, services in the rural church were held every other week, but with Sunday School classes every Sabbath.
1866-1873 Rev. Eli Keller
1873-1876 Rev. Joshua Derr
1876-1886 Rev. William Renter
1886-1889 Rev. Gerhard Kuhler
1889-1891 Rev. Henry Gramm
1892-1894 Rev. Rev. George Loose
1896-1902 rev. A. H. Zechiel
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