The History of the Denomination

The Tabernacle was built by members of the German Evangelical Church. This denomination was founded by Jacob Albright, a Pennsylvania farmer of German heritage. Wanting to minister to his German-speaking neighbors and friends, Albright left his own Methodist church (which opposed teaching in any language other than English) in 1796, gave up his farm, and started his own ministry.

Initially Albright tried to have his ministry recognized by the Methodist church. But with the expectation that the need for German-speaking churches would be short-lived as these immigrants assimilated into American life and learned English, Methodist Bishop Asbury refused this request.

Instead of dying out, however, the need for German-speaking congregations grew as migration of German immigrants to the U.S. increased - over 6 million between 1820 - 1952. From 1880 -1920, about 300,000 of those were our own German-Russians. With the large number of German speakers settling in the Dakotas, it was inevitable that a church ministering to German speakers would expand there. The Reverend A.C. Schmidt was the first minister of the Evangelical church to come to the Dakota Territory in 1871, starting regular preaching services in private homes in the Odessa and Big Stone City areas in what is now South Dakota. From there the church spread throughout the German-Russian population in the Dakotas.

The German name of the church (die Evangelische Kirche) is also the name used in Germany and Russia to designate the Lutheran Church. Also, the practices of child baptism and confirmation, as well as the types of prayer meetings and services held, were similar to the Lutheran churches in Russia. For our Lutheran ancestors coming from Russia, this church was a natural home for them.

However, the German Evangelical Church is not associated with the Lutheran denomination. After being an independent denomination since 1796, the German Evangelical Church merged with the United Brethren Church in 1946, and then with the Methodist Church in 1968. Although today you won't find German Evangelical Churches in the U.S., it is one of the "ancestors" that formed today's Methodist Church.