Zion Church | Des Peres, Saint Louis County, Missouri

 

Also known as: Deutsche Evangelische Gemeinde, German Evangelical Church, Deutsche Evangelische Zions Gemeinde, Zion German Evangelical Church, Zion Evangelical and Reformed Church. “Zion“ was adopted about 1870. “Parkway” dates from 1958.

 

Locations: Ballas Road between Manchester and Clayton Roads, 1848 – 1861; Ballas Road north of Clayton Road, 1861 – present. The present church, built in 1998, is located at 2840 N. Ballas Rd. across the street from the congregation’s 1871 church building.

 

Other information: A group of German families that began meeting for worship in 1837 constituted itself as the Evangelical Protestant Manchester Road Church in 1846 and built a log church near Manchester and Ballas Roads. When the congregation split in 1846, a faction established a church on Ballas Road between Manchester and Clayton Roads was later known as Zion and then Parkway Church. The remaining faction became the present-day St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church at 12354 Manchester Rd. Zion (Parkway) was the mother church of six other German Evangelical congregations in St. Louis County.

 

Cemeteries: The original cemetery established in 1846 is still maintained by St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church. The congregation that would become Parkway maintained a cemetery on Ballas Road near Clayton from 1848 – 1850. The church’s current cemetery is located at 2840 N. Ballas Rd. next to the congregation’s 1871 building. For early burials see, Richard Seiler, “Some Early German Burials in St. Louis County” in St. Louis Genealogical Society Quarterly, 37, no. 2 (Summer 2004): 63 – 77. 

 

See also: “Generations of Faith, 1838 – 1988: 150 Years, Sesquicentennial, Parkway United Church of Christ,” R 285.834 G326

 

Film notes: The contents of Roll 1 (FHL 1433226) are repeated on Roll 57 (FHL 1976581).

 

Text in German and English.

 

 

Roll	Item	Ministerial Act	Years	Index	FHL Roll	Comments
1	2	Church Records			1433226	Film incorrectly lists as Item 1
1	2	Index to Baptisms			1433226
1	2	Baptism	1838–1898	Y	1433226	p. 60–141
1	2	Confirmation	1851–1894		1433226	p. 142–165
1	2	Marriage	1839–1906		1433226	p. 168–197
1	2	Communicants	1850–1909		1433226	p. 198–277
1	2	Burial	1839–1909		1433226	p. 322–361
1	2	Financial Records	1888–1899		1433226	p. 384–392
1	2	Register of Families	1859–1901		1433226	p. 393–450
1	2	Chronicle			1433226	p. 592–596
1	2	Additional Index to Baptisms			1433226	p. 600–607
1	2	Financial Records	1903–1905		1433226	p. 608–609
1	2	Baptism	1898–1909		1433226	p. 616–629
1	2	Marriage	1907–1909		1433226	p. 631
1	3	Baptism	1909–1961		1433226	p. 1–47
1	3	Confirmation	1909–1961		1433226	p. 133–151
1	3	Marriage	1909–1961		1433226	p. 157–179
1	3	Burial	1909–1961		1433226	p. 193–220
1	3	Statistics	1909–1956		1433226	p. 241–244
1	3	Family Register			1433226	p. 245–300
1	3	Financial Records	1909–1950		1433226	p. 301–331
1	3	Chronicle and Loose Papers			1433226	p. 341–359