The list is alphabetical order. However you may be looking for a church that has more than one name. Old churches in this area have a lot of nicknames referring to family names and locations. You may want to try the "Find on this Page" option under "Edit" on your browser taskbar to do a word search.
The following information is summarized from Charles H. Glatfelter's, Pastors and People: German Lutheran and Reformed Churches in the Pennsylvania Field, 1717-1793, Volume I: Pastors and Congregations, published by the Pennsylvania German Society: Breinigsville, PA, 1980, pp.233-265.
Much more information for each paragraph is contained in the Glatfelter book than is presented here, often with detailed lists of Pastors who served the congregations.
Unfortunately the Glatfelter book has been out of print for some time and is hard to buy, but it is available on public interlibrary loan.
Often it is possible to obtain photocopied pages from a book through public interlibrary loan at no cost. All you need to do is provide the information given in a paragraph below and ask the research assistant at your library to get a copy of the whole paragraph from the book in another library.
ALLEGHENY: from about 1766 in Brecknock Township - Reformed not later than 1767. Rev. John Waldschmidt ministered there as early as 1 Jan 1767. Lutherans had Rev. William Kurtz as minister at Allegheny shortly thereafter.
ALLEMANGEL: Lutherans from mid-1740s in Albany Township near Berks-Lehigh County line. Lutherans also came here from Albany Township and from Lynn Township in Lehigh County. In 1746 Rev. H. M. Muhlenberg, pastor at New Hanover, arranged for 50 acres to be used by the Allemangel Lutherans to build a church. The earliest surviving record book was begun in 1768 by Rev. Daniel Schumacher, though it is known that Rev. Tobias Wagner had served the congregation earlier.
The Reformed congregation was extended the right to share use of the Allemangel building in 1768. In 1808 this became a Union Church, shared equally by Lutherans and Reformed congregations.
The Moravians established a church in this area in 1751.
ALSACE: Lutheran and Reformed congregations gathered from early 1740s in what was formerly Alsace Township, and which was later Muhlenberg Township. No church registers or land records exist, but Rev. H. M. Muhlenberg recorded a Union Church existing there in 1747.
AMITY AKA "NEW STORE": Lutheran and Reformed congregations organized in 1753 in Amity Township, and they built a union church by 1754. A register was begun in 1759. The union was disbanded in 1975 and the Reformed congregation retained the property.
ATALAHA AKA ATOLHEO or BEAVER CREEK: Possibly founded in the 1740s. Acreage was laid out prior to 22 Mar 1748 for a church building. Rev. John Caspar Stoever's baptismal record includes about 150 baptisms between 1746-1757 at "Atolheo," considered to be the same location. He was followed by Rev. Nicholas Kurtz, who referred to the location as "Beaver Creek."
BELLEMAN'S AKA SALEM OR SOLOMON: From the late 1750s or 1760s it was located in Bern Township, now Centre Township. The church is sadly lacking in early land documents or registers.
BERN AKA BERNE (also known as "STONE CHURCH" after 1765): Reformed congregation from 1730, and Rev. Henry Goetschy opened a register in May 1738. This church became a Union Church in 1837, with Lutherans probably using the facilities for some time before then.
BLUE MOUNTAIN AKA NORTHKILL (also known as ZION after 1819): From the 1740s, located in Upper Tulpehocken Township. A warrant was obtained in c. 1746-1747 for acreage on which to build a Lutheran church, and which was apparently also used from the beginning by the Reformed, by which it became a union church. Baptisms in the register go back as early as 1743.
COLEBROOKDALE: From the 1730s. Located on both sides of the Berks and Montgomery county line. Founded by Lutherans.
DUNKEL'S AKA ONTELAUNEE OR MAIDENCREEK: From before 1744, located in Greenwich Township. For the Reformed congregation, the register began in 1746. Lutherans used the facilities as early as the 1760s. Sometime before 1861 it formally became a Union Church, which was dissolved in 1969.
EPLER'S: Dating from about 1765 for the Reformed congregation. Early land records and congregational register have not been found. The Lutherans shared use of the facilities as a union church from 1852 until 1949.
FOREST AKA FORREST OR PLOW: Formed in the late 1760s in Robeson Township for Lutherans. Some records are extant from 1767 onward. It appears Rev. William Kurtz was the first pastor, but in 1779 a schoolmaster named George Butler began preaching and conducting sacraments. In 1782 Isaac Pawling, an Episcopalian, conducted services. Following that, Traugott Illing served as pastor. In 1808 a program to build a new church got underway, and after 1810 it became a union church shared by the Reformed. The union continued until 1956.
GIBRALTAR: A deed dated 1791 notes that property "along the road from Reading to Birdsboro, in trust for a church" had "for divers years past" been used as a graveyard in Robeson Township. The "church" to be built on the property was to be open for use by any Christian congregation that contributed to its use, thus it eventually became a union church. No building was erected on this property until about 1809, and probably congregational functions did not begin here until after 1800.
GREENWICH AKA BETHEL: Located in Greenwich Township. A congregation was formed by Lutherans about 1761, mostly from German immigrants who had arrived between 1749 and 1754. Evidently they had built a schoolhouse soon after arrival and used it also for worship. A church building was erected in 1761 and the Reformed shared the facilities on alternating Sundays. Rev. Helfrich Schaum was called as first pastor, and he conducted a dedication service in 1762. Another church was built here in 1803 that was called New Bethel Zion. A full union church was formed by the Lutherans and the Reformed in 1844; it ended in 1969. At that time the Lutherans merged with Dunkel's (AKA New Jerusalem). The merged Lutherans are now known as Mt. Zion located 1/2 mile east of Krumsville. The Reformed congregation became New Jerusalem Zion, located east of Krumsville, about 1/2 mile from Mt. Zion Lutheran.
HAMBURG: Located in the town of Hamburg, congregations were formed just before or in 1790 by Lutheran and Reformed inhabitants of the town. This union church lasted until 1898. The Lutherans went into St. John's at Pine and Church Streets. The Reformed went into the church at South Third and Pine Streets, which is now a UCC congregation.
HEIDELBURG AKA ST. DANIELS OR ECK: Located in Heidelberg Township. A Lutheran congregation was organized about 1750 with Rev. Nicholas Kurtz as their pastor. The cornerstone for their building was laid in 1751 and it was noted as a "well-built new church" in 1754. When a new building was erected c. 1814-1817 it took the name of St. Daniel's church. Another local name for the church was the "Eck" church. It served as a union church with the Reformed from 1876 until 1905.
HEIDELBERG AKA CACUSI OR HAIN'S: Located in Lower Heidelberg Township. Began in the late 1730s for the Reformed congregation. Around 1739 to 1740 it appears in documents with the name Cacusi. A register was begun for the congregation on 26 Apr 1746. Their tract of land was enlarged in 1752 and included a cemetery. In 1766 a stone church was built, which was still there in 1980. Apparently this same church was called Haehn's church in a 1905 document. It is now called St. John's, Hain's and is located near Wernersville.
LONGSWAMP (AKA MACUNGIE? OR LITTLE LEHIGH?): Located in Longswamp Township. Congregation dating from the 1740s. Jacob Weymer, a later pastor, recorded that the Reformed congregation in this place had resolved to build a house of worship in 1748. In 1753 land was secured for a church and cemetery, and in 1791 a second church was built on the property. In 1817 a Lutheran congregation was formed, and with the earlier Reformed congregation a union church was formed at Longswamp in 1852.
MAXATAWNY AKA KUTZTOWN: Located in Maxatawny Township. A Reformed congregation was organized in the 1730s, a church was erected in the 1750s. A Lutheran congregation was formed here not later than 1789, though a Lutheran minister, Daniel Schumacher, recorded baptisms here in 1756, 1758, 1766, 1767, and in 1770. In 1789 the Reformed and the Lutheran congregations in this area agreed to build a union church together in Kutztown on a lot that had been provided for that purpose when the town was laid out in 1780. In 1980 the Lutheran congregation was St. John's at 201 East Main Street, and the Reformed are included in St. John's UCC Church at Walnut and Whiteoak Streets in Kutztown.
MAXATAWNY AKA DE LONG'S AND BOWERS: The old Maxatawny congregation split in 1759, giving rise to this congregation named after the donor of land for a new church and school. A church register was begun for the Reformed in 1765. A union church with Lutherans existed here from 1871 to 1900. In 1980 the church was known as Christ UCC, Bowers.
MICHAEL'S AKA ST. MICHAEL'S: Located in what was formerly known as Bern Township, now Tilden Township. Formed in the mid-1760s. As early as 1766 a survey shows that the Lutherans had church land at this place. In 1768 adjacent land is transferred to the Lutheran and Reformed congregations. The church building at this site was dedicated in 1769. In 1781, the Lutherans sold a half-interest in the property to the Reformed congregation. The earliest surviving parochial acts record dates from 1810. In 1980 St. Michael's Church, with Lutheran and UCC congregations, was situated about four miles west of Hamburg.
MOLATTAN, AKA AMITY: Located in Amity Township. A large tract of land was granted by William Penn in 1701 to the Swedish Lutheran pastor, Andrew Rudman, and his countrymen. Swedes began moving onto the tract. A log church was built here in c. 1736-1737 and called Molatton. It is located in what is now known as Douglasville. Preaching and sacramental services were intermittent as there was no regular pastor. Germans, English, and Irish also settled in this area making it difficult for ministers to preach sermons that all could understand. When a Swedish pastor came to conduct regular services, the Lutherans and the Reformed organized their own German church and called it Amity Church. After the regular Swedish pastor left, only occasional ministries were conducted there. Eventually it became an Episcopal Church, known in 1980 as St. Gabriel's, Douglasville.
MOSELEM AND ONTELAUNEE: Located in Richmond Township, "The two Moselem churches are believed to be the oldest Lutheran and Reformed congregations in Berks county." The Lutherans began a church register in 1741. After 1744 there are many baptisms and marriages entered in chronological order. Building of a church began in 1740. After its dedication in 1743, it was called Sebastian's Church. When a new church was built on the site in 1761, it was called Zion's Church. A register begun in 1764 for the Reformed congregation refers to itself as "Peter's Church in Richmond Township." Evidently there was a place where Reformed ministers preached before 1760, but without a formally organized congregation. In 1980 the Lutheran congregation is Zion Church four miles west of Kutztown, and the Reformed congregation came into St. Peter's UCC three miles north of Fleetwood.
NEW ALLEMANGEL AND FRIEDENS: Located in Albany Township. Organized in 1770. New Allemangel was formed after a split from the old Allemangel Church. They completed a new building which was dedicated in 1771. Lutheran Daniel Schumacher and Reformed Frederick Berger provided the pastoral support for the breakoff congregation and a new union church register was begun on 20 May 1771. It was widely known as White Church. The Reformed withdrew from the union in 1960. The Lutheran Congregation in 1980 was known as Friedens Lutheran. It is located at Stony Run, 12 miles north of Kutztown.
NORTHKILL OR BERN Township: Located in what was formerly Bern Township, now Penn Township. Organized about 1745 by the Lutherans, One should not confuse this churh with the Blue Mountain Church located about 5 miles northwest, also located along the Northkill stream, and sometimes referred to as the Northkill Church. It is also easy to confuse Northkill Church with Little Tulpehocken about a mile and half to the southwest. John Caspar Stoever may have included some pastoral acts done at Northkill in his records, but Nicholas Kurtz came there December 1746 and was their regular pastor after July 1747. Christ Church, Tulpehocken, joined with Northkill in the call issued to Pastor Kurtz, and these two churches became the very large Tulpehocken parish until Northkill withdrew in 1808. The first church building was replaced by a brick building in 1791. From 1834 to 1897 the church served a union congregation. In 1980 the congregation became Lutheran. It is now known as Friedens and located at 533 North main Street, Bernville.
OLEY: located "east of the Schuylkill River and north of the mouth of the Manatawney Creek at Pottstown." Reportedly a Reformed congregation was established here in 1736 by Rev. John Philip Boehm, but he returned to preach and administer sacraments only twice a year. Difficulties plagued this congregational organization and a list of pastors who came and went is unreliable. Pastors John Loescher and Casper Griesemer followed on an occasional basis, and by 1755 a stone church was almost completed. The earliest surviving register dates to 1763. The last mention of Oley as a Reformed church occurs in coetus minutes in 1765. This church was never union, only Reformed, the Lutherans building their own church nearby in 1821.
OLEY AKA HILL CHURCH: Lutheran activity at Oley prior to organization of a congregation included baptisms by John Caspar Stoever, and preaching by Valentine Kraft. There is reference in a 1745 letter to the "Lutheran congregation" which met in a house at Oley. Rev. Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg reported in 1747 that he had conducted services "in the Oly mountains," and a later report indicates a rude log church was built there in that year. Land for a Lutheran cemetery was obtained at Oley in August 1747, but it was not surveyed until 1750. In 1754, a student pastor named Lucas Raus began a church register for the Lutheran congregation in the hills of Oley at Colebrookdale. In 1786 a stone church was dedicated which was shared by the Reformed who had been using the cemetery for some time earlier. It was called the Hill Church. A clear title to this land was obtained in 1829 by the trustees of the Lutheran and Reformed congregations in Pike Township. The union church, situated 3 miles north of Boyertown, continued to exist in 1980, with each congregation having its own name, viz., St. Joseph's Lutheran and St. John's Reformed.
READING: A congregation was organized by Lutherans as early as 1751, and a Reformed congregation was formed as early as 1752. Neither congregation held regular pastors for long. The Lutherans had 11 pastors between 1751 and 1796, including Andrew Krug who served seven years. The Reformed had 9 pastors between 1752 and 1815, including William Boos who served a total of 15 years on two separate occasions. In 1980 the Lutheran church at 527 Washington Street was called Trinity, and the Reformed at 611 Washington Street was called the United Church of Christ.
ROCKLAND AKA MERTZ: Located in Rockland Township. Organized by Lutherans about 1747. They built a church on land of Henry Mertz beginning in 1747, and built a stone addition in 1764, at which time the church was named Trinity. The church register was begun about 1749 under Rev. Tobias Wagner, with baptisms recorded back to 1738. The name Mertz Church first appears in a record dated in 1800. The congregation is named Christ Church, and is located 5 miles south of Kutztown.
ROSENTHAL AKA BETHEL: Lutheran and Reformed congregations organized in 1761 in Albany Township, only a mile or so from Allemangel Church. They built a union church beginning the same year. This building was rebuilt or replaced 30 years later. When a clear deed was issued by Pennsylvania in 1806, the land was referred to as belonging to Bethel Church. Many different hands made entries in the baptismal record, beginning in 1762 for the Lutherans and in 1767 for the Reformed. Located 2 miles west of Kempton and known as New Bethel, this union church still had Lutheran and UCC congregations as late as 1980.
SCHWARTZWALD: The Lutheran and Reformed congregations located in Exeter Township probably date from the early 1740s, but early historical information is scarce. The church is not mentioned by early pastors whose writings have survived, and there is no early register. The earliest mention of Schwartzwald in the Reformed coetus or the Lutheran ministerium is in 1793. Its existence in the early 1740s is known from a diary entry in 1745 and from a 1754 letter by H. M. Muhlenberg who states that he dedicated this union church in the first years of his service in Pennsylvania. A communion tankard dated 1744 in the church supports Muhlenberg's statement about the dedication date. A sturdy building served the two congregations until 1811 when a new building was erected. A register begun by Rev. William Boos in 1781 survives. It contains some 3600 baptisms and 2000 marriages performed between 1781 and 1811. It appears that during much of the time between its founding and 1793 pastors from Reading served Schwartzwald. The union arrangement was dissolved in 1954, with the Lutherans continuing to use the name Schwartzwald Church located 5 miles east of Reading on Rt. 562. The Reformed are known as Schwartzwald Church of Christ, Jacksonwald.
SINKING SPRING: Organized by the Reformed in Spring Township about 1793. Land was given by a member of the Cacusi congregation and the cornerstone of the building was laid on 3 May 1794. Between 1812 and 1897 Lutherans shared the facilities and this was a union church. In 1980 the Reformed congregation was St. John's UCC at 600 Penn Avenue, Sinking Spring.
SPIES AKA ZION: Organized by the Lutherans and the Reformed probably in the early 1770s. Questionable evidence points to a building erected by both congregations in 1757, with an earlier building on the same property supposed. Traditionally Victor Spies sold the property upon which the building was erected, but no evidence of this is found. A more recent building was erected in 1810. A clear deed was not obtained until 1818; it was granted by heirs of the Penn proprietors. Located 6 miles east of Reading, the union church dissolved in 1946-47, with the congregations being called Zion Lutheran and Zion UCC.
TULPEHOCKEN: German families from the Schoharie Valley in New York migrated in 1723 to the upper waters of the Tulpehocken Creek in present-day Berks County, 9 years before a treaty with the Indians formally opened the area for settlement. Other settlers followed in subsequent years. This settling was accomplished mainly through the friendly ties one of the settlers, Conrad Weiser, had with the Indians. These resolute farmers established or helped to establish six Lutheran and/or Reformed churches in the Tulpehocken Valley, viz., Reed's, Host, Trinity (in Lebanon County), Christ Little Tulpehocken, and Millbach (in Lebanon County)
TULPEHOCKEN - CHRIST: A major Lutheran congregation in Marion Township, 1/2 mile west of Stouchsburg, begun in 1743 by members from Reed's Church who lost their property to the Moravians. It is this congregation which is generally meant when the simple term "Tulpehocken Church" is used today. the parsonage erected in 1771 and a massive stone church begun by this congregation in 1786 are still standing. Two pastors served this church over a period of 63 years. They recorded some 3300 baptisms and 2000 marriages. They were Nicholas Kurtz and Emanuel Schultze.
TULPEHOCKEN - HOST AKA LOWER TULPEHOCKEN: Organized by a German Reformed congregation in Tulpehocken Township in 1738. But, existence dates from the 1720s congregation at Reed's Church in the center of the settlement when the size of the settlement demanded establishment of additional places of worship. They dedicated a well-built frame church in 1743. The name "Host Church" appears in the register of this congregation as early as 1753. The congregation was served by intermittent pastors until Dominicus Bartholomae was installed as their regular pastor in 1748. A register begun in 1748 survives; and a second register begun in 1753 was used for about 100 years. In 1775 the congregation built its third church of stone. In 1980 the Host Church was St. John's UCC, located 4 miles north of Womelsdorf.
TULPEHOCKEN - TULPEHOCKEN NEAR NORTHKILL AKA LITTLE TULPEHOCKEN: Organized by the Lutherans in 1742 after the Reed's Church property was lost to the Moravians. It was in Tulpehocken Township, now in Jefferson Township. The term "Tulpehocken near Northkill" was used in the 18th century to distinguish this church from the larger Christ Church, Tulpehocken, near Stouchsburg. The term "Little Tulpehocken" is a relatively new term and is used nowadays to distinguish it from the same Christ Church, Tulpehocken. A church register was begun here by Rev. J. Caspar Stoever in 1742, with entries that went back to 1730, some of these early pastoral acts having been performed at other locations. A church was built at Little Tulpehocken in the 1740s, with record of a marriage performed in it in 1749. A Reformed congregation began sharing the facilities in 1853 and continued at least through 1980. It is located about one mile southwest of Bernville.
TULPEHOCKEN - REED'S (RIETH'S): Organized by Lutherans between 1723 and 1727, at which time a church was built according to the earliest extant register. Worship services were conducted during the earliest years by laymen who read sermons written by ordained clergymen. Occasionally they were visited by an ordained clergyman and recieved the sacraments. It is probable that the Reformed used this building when they were visited by an ordained pastor. Difficulties obtaining a regular pastor and disagreements tore at the fabric of this congregation until the Moravians moved in and at least two Lutheran congregations were offshoots. While Moravian pastors from Bethlehem were serving this congregation from 1742-1747, they built a new stone church. Lutherans again held the building after 1747. The earliest extant register begins with entries in 1742 and is in the Moravian archives in Bethlehem Pa. The next extant register begins in 1764. The term "Reed's" is used in 1795 to identify this church, probably named for Leonard Rieth who owned property adjacent to the church property. This congregation moved into town in 1895. In 1980 it was known as Zion-St. John's Church, East Main Street, Stouchsburg.
WINDSOR: Organized as a union church about 1758 by German Lutherans and Reformed in what was Windsor Township, now Perry Township. Its membership was composed by those who left the Moselem Church which was 4-5 miles southeast of the new location. A register begun in 1762 survives. It appears that an original building was replaced by a stone building in 1771, which in turn was replaced by a brick building in 1804. The union church relationship was ended in the late 1960s, at which time the Lutherans moved to Zion Lutheran, a new site four miles southeast of Hamburg. The Reformed congregation became Zion UCC, two miles northeast of Shoemakersville.
WINDSOR AKA LEBANON OR SMOKE: Organized by Lutherans in the mid-1750s "near the Blue Mountains." The register, begun in 1766, mentions a dedication in 1756. The threat and reality of hostilities from the Indians drove the congregants away for a time and perhaps their first church building was burned. The congregation returned to build a church which was dedicated in 1769. An entry in the church register for that year calls the church the "Lebanon Church," while later it becomes popularly known as the Smoke church. There is an entry in the register for a baptism by a Reformed pastor in 1766, but the church was not a union church until a third building was built in 1832. The union was ended in the 1960s and the Lutheran congregation became St. Paul's, two miles east of the town of Hamburg on old Rt. 22.
WOMELSDORF: Organized by the Lutherans and the Reformed in Heidelberg Township in 1792. Their building was dedicated in 1793. The union was dissolved in 1915, with the Lutherans becoming Zion Church at 300 West High Street, Womelsdorf, and the Reformed becoming Zion UCC Church at Second and High Streets, Womelsdorf.
Contributed by Nelson R. Sulouff.
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