Who we are

St. Paul’s is known as the brick church at the crossroads.
Our congregation includes farmers, factory workers, teachers and commuters. 
In 1867, sixteen immigrant families organized a church to serve the German-speaking community. This ministry is wherever there are hungry bellies or souls; where there is injustice or despair. 
Our ministry is at the crossroads where Christ places us to serve Him.

Who We Are

We strive to integrate our faith into our everyday living. We commit to being the same person on Sunday as we are every other day of the week.

Here we welcome all regardless of where you are on life’s journey.

Our Mission

To love God, to love others, to find joy in the journey, and to have fun doing it all!

Aspirational Vision

We aspire to love God with the whole of our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

We aspire to love ourselves, by regularly exercising self-care and taking Sabbath (rest).

We aspire to prayerfully listen for those places God invites us to be on mission with God at the crossroads of our faith and life.

We aspire to grow and mature in our faith in God by intentionally committing to regularly practice our way of life together and apart.

We aspire to collaborate with others—with other churches and other organizations in our community—to uncover the kingdom of God in our midst and to work with God to bring healing to our world.

Finally, in all things, we aspire to have fun, enjoy the good life, and laugh often.

Covenant

Believing that together we are stronger, we promise to grow in our faith maturing in our ability to be more like Christ. We promise to work with God to bring God’s healing love, transformational activity, and God’s salvation to our community, our region and our world. We pledge to be one in Christ, bound by God’s love, called together by God’s Spirit, and empowered to live faithfully by God’s holy presence.

St. Paul’s UCC hymn

“Little Brick Church at the Crossroads ©” was written by Martha T. Fischer, January 17, 1941, for the 75th Anniversary of St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Ellsworth, Wisconsin. Click here for sheet music.

A Church History

On February 24, 1867, sixteen German immigrant families met and organized a church to serve the German-speaking people in the Ellsworth area. At a congregational meeting on May 5, 1867, the name of St. Paul’s German Evangelical Lutheran Church, was adopted with the motto, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is a power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.”

For several years worship services were held in the “Langbein School,” but by 1870 the congregation began to make plans to build a centrally located church. In 1872 a frame church 26 by 36 was completed and the first service was held in the new structure on September 1.

In 1914 it was decided to build a new church. The old church was moved back in order to build on the original site. The cornerstone was laid on June 13, 1915 and sealed in it was a tin box containing a brief history of the church, in both English and German, along with a catechism, photographs of the old church and parsonage, the Bible which was used when the old church was dedicated and other records. On June 27, 1963, ground was broken for a new educational wing, which was dedicated on May 4, 1964.

St. Paul's history of affiliations is varied. The Evangelical constitution was adopted and the congregation became a part of the Evangelical Synod of North America during the pastorate of Reverend Bierbaum in 1874. The name then became St. Paul’s German Evangelical Church. With the merger of the Evangelical and Reformed churches in 1934, a new name, St. Paul’s Evangelical and Reformed Church was chosen. The present name began to be used when the church and the Congregational Christian Church merged in 1961. In 1962 we voted to transfer our church membership from the Northern Synod to the current Northwest Association of the Wisconsin Conference of the United Church of Christ.