This oldest Lutheran congregation in the American colonies was established by Germans of the Frankfort Land Co., who met in a log church before 1700. In 1741, this church together with Robert Smith's Zion Lutheran Church (demolished) in Philadelphia sent emissaries to Europe to seek a missionary for their community. Henry Muhlenberg was sent in response. The present gable-roofed building is crudely detailed but reflects the shift toward local Georgian forms that had been incorporated into the Zion Lutheran design of 1766–1769.