The year was 1866. Families had settled near the Pacific Railroad’s Webster Flag Stop. Wanting a church close by and seeking fellowship in the tradition of the Puritans, some of these families decided to form the Congregational Church of Webster Groves. The founders, who signed the covenant marking the formal organization that January were ten in number, five men and five women, with the names of Plant, Studley, Connon, Martling, Monroe and Porter.
Services were held in the small Chapel Grove Seminary, used as a school for girls during the week. Our church bell, given by William Plant and friends, first rang in this building.
As the congregation grew, plans were made to erect a stone church. The cornerstone was laid October 1870. This structure today is the northwest section of our edifice. Not until 1879, was the bell moved and placed in a frame tower at the rear of the church. There it hung until 1892-3 when the sanctuary addition gave it a permanent place in the steeple from which it rings today. The cornerstone of this new structure contains documents of that year and those taken from the 1870 stone. This new structure included a sanctuary arranged on the diagonal, room for a public library, a minister’s study, dining room, kitchen and Sunday school space.
A narthex was added in 1922-3 and the sanctuary was rearranged and renovated with carved wood paneling and an enclosed organ. By 1929, crowded Sunday school conditions spurred plans for an educational building considered suitable for progressive religious education.
The church and Sunday school had grown so much by the mid-1950s that a building committee was set to work. The result, in 1956, was the wing that houses Memorial Hall, Sample Chapel with adjacent Sunday school rooms and lower-level activity rooms. Construction of our new sanctuary, replacing the 1892 structure, began in 1993.
A banner was created to commemorate the 125th year of the church. It was designed by a Webster Groves artist, Carolyn Lesser, and hangs in the sanctuary. For 50 years it has been a tradition to light a globe in the sanctuary in celebration of births, to memorialize death, recognize holidays and special events or efforts.
Our church reflects more than 140 years of devotion, perserverance, sacrifice and hard work by countless people. In 1961, our church ratified the agreement to join the United Church of Christ. This was the result of the merger in 1957 of the Evangelical and Reformed Church with Congregational Christian Churches. Throughout our history, our church has been known as home to a diversity of beliefs, for its respect for individual spiritual growth and for active participation in the local and broader community. In 2008, a resolution was adopted by the congregation which defined our church as open and affirming to everyone regardless of ability, age, ethnicity, gender identity, race, sexual orientation or socio-economic background thereby continuing the legacy of a church dedicated to sharing, in word and deed, the love of Christ.