St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church (Millvale, Pa.)

St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church of Millvale, Pennsylvania was founded in 1873. The congregation split from the German Evangelical Protestant Church of Etna and formed the German Reformed Congregation of Girty's Run. Shortly thereafter the church closed due to "hard times." In 1877, with a donation from the Reformed Synod, the church formed again as the German Reformed Congregation. They then split from the Reformed Synod and changed their name to the German Evangelical Lutheran Congregation. A split from this church caused the formation of the First United Church of Christ, also located in Millvale. Sometime before 1903 the church was renamed to the German Evangelical St. John's Church of Millvale. In 1925 the name was changed to St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church. Congregants in St. John's were mostly of German, especially Bavarian, descent. For many years services were held in German. In the early 20th Century bi-monthly English services were introduced and it was not until the 1960s that all services were performed in English. Further information on the history, pastors, congregation, schools, and the St. John's Ladies can be found in a printed history of the church written in 1977.