The Zion Evangelical Church records go back to 1866 but there is reason to believe the church was in existence before that time.  The members of the church built a church (with a cemetery) and school in Old Bland. A town consisting of a mill and a store.  New Bland started to take the place of Old Bland when the railroad came through in 1902.  When the new shoe factory started many of the people moved to new Bland and the church felt a need to move to where the people were, so in 1929 a new church was dedicated on the present site.  The church maintained the cemetery in the Old Bland site where is now a separate corporation.  This church was part of a four point charge shared with churches in Cooper Hill, Woolham and Ryors.  The Ryors church merged with the Chamois church and the three remaining churches shared a pastor for many years. 

            In 1948 a new parsonage was built and an educational addition was built in 1959.  An annex was added in the 60’s and ramps were installed to accommodate the handicapped. 

            The church was originally a part of the Evangelical Synod, a break off group from the German Lutheran Church.  The original services and records were in German.  In the 40’s the Evangelical Synod merged with the Reformed Synod and formed the Evangelical and Reformed Denomination.  In 1957 they merged with two other denominations and formed the United Church of Christ.  In the 1990’s the Zion Congregation began feeling that he UCC had moved away from where they were in spiritual and social convictions and in 2001 they started the process of separating from the UCC.  In 2002 they felt the isolation of being an independent church and sought a denomination that they would feel at home with.  They found such in the Evangelical Free Church of America nad started the process of becoming a member of that denomination in 2003 and was officially welcomed in the Central District to f the EFCA in 2004.  The fellowship and common faith with this group has been an encouragement for their recent growth.