About
Zion is the daughter church of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne. Pastor Freidrich Wyneken first visited Columbia City in 1840. At this time he was preaching, baptizing, doing weddings at homes in the community. He would be in the county every four weeks or so. There was an improvement in services when Pastor Wyneken was able to elicit the help of Lutherans who remained in Germany. In 1842, Rev. Wilhelm Loehe of Neuendettelsau, Bavaria, joined the effort by sending two young men, that he had started training to serve in the ministry. At St. Paul's in Fort Wayne these young men were further instrumental for ministry and sent out to work in churches like Zion in Columbia City (this was the beginning of Concordia Theological Seminary). During these years, Zion was not an organized congregation and was referred to as a Preaching Station that was served by J.N.G. Streckfuss, John Miller and others during the time they were students and provided many services for believers in Columbia City.
