SAINT JOHN’S UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

Billingsville, Missouri

Although the town of Billingsville exists only in old photos and memories, the church established by early German settlers continues to grow and thrive, keeping the name of Billingsville alive.

On a Sunday afternoon in the spring of 1855, a small band of recent German settlers met at the home of John Ernest Hoflander. His family and the families of John Peter Stegner and John Paul Stegner comprised the thirteen persons in attendance. This was the beginning of the Saint John’s Evangelical congregation.

These in-home services were discontinued during the Civil War, as were most organized religious services in the county. At the end of the hostilities, in the spring of 1866, services were instituted again, this time in the Oak Grove District School, about a mile northeast of the site of Billingsville. "Father" Greiner, pastor of the German Evangelical congregation in Boonvillle, traveled over muddy and dusty roads twice a month to nurture the fledgling congregation. Frederich T. Kemper, founder of the Kemper Military Academy in Boonville, made the trek each Sunday to hold Sunday School for all the youth in the community.

In 1868 the congregation purchased the school building for fifty dollars. Charter members were: John Zchirpe, George Helmreich, John Hoflander, John Paul Stegner, and John Peter Stegner, and George Rentschler. The beloved "Father" Greiner served the congregation until his death in 1877, and in 1879 his dream of a new church building came to fruition. A plot of ground in Billingsville was donated by George W. Helmreich and the new building was completed and furnished for $1,100. In 1895 the parsonage was built and the congregation became self-sufficient. The present building was built in 1916, at a cost of $7000, a formidable sum to raise at that time.

The town suffered at the loss of the railroad and the popularity of the automobile, but the Church grew, through the merger of the Evangelical Synod and the Reformed Church in 1924. IN 1959 the Congregational Christian Church joined the merger and the Billingsville congregation became officially St. John’s Church of Christ.

In 1980 it was determined to construct an educational building. Through fundraising activities and generous memorials the large addition was added to the south of the Church. It included a new kitchen, classrooms and office space and was completed in 1986.

Each fall many persons from near and afar look forward to attending the annual Harvest Festival and Homecoming.

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