The German Church

Many of Manchester’s early settlers came from Wittenberg, Germany. Since there was no Evangelical church in Manchester, the immigrants worshipped at Bethel Church in Freedom Township. In 1862 the Reverend J. G. Hildner established an Evangelical congregation in Manchester. Services were conducted in German and held in houses until the congregation purchased an unused school in the 1870s. The Reverend S. Edelstein became the first resident pastor. In early 1882 the congregation purchased an entire city block and the present Gothic Revival church, designed by Detroit architect Carl Schmid, was built and named the Immanuel United Evangelical Church. In 1936 the congregation joined the Evangelical and Reformed Church and it became part of the United Church of Christ in the early 1960s.