We are an Open and Affirming Church. "No matter who you are, or where you are on life's journey, you're welcome here." Sunday mornings 10:00 a.m  The First United Church of Christ in Shelby was organized in 1851, as the German Reformed Church. The first members of our congregation met in the Methodist Church, which was located at the corner of North Gamble Street and West Smiley. On January 19, 1852, the congregation met in the Exchange Hotel at West Main Street and North Gamble and started Plans to construct its own church building. The first council elected were Moses Crum and Samuel Nazor, Elders; Jacob Kuhn, Deacon; and Moses Crum, William Hawk, and John Strock, Trustees. A building committee composed of J.H. Hershiser and John Bauchman was also formed. A deed recorded in the Richland County Recorder’s Office on April 5, 1852, shows that Henry and Sarah Whitney sold to the Trustees for $200.00 “lot No. Thirty-Nine in Whitney’s Addition to the town of Shelby, it being sixty feet front and one hundred sixty feet back.” As a result of the hard work of the building committee, the cornerstone was laid in May of 1852.
What is supposed to have been the first reed organ in Shelby was purchased in 1858. The present church bell was purchased in 1862. On September 8, 1867, the members adopted a constitution and the same morning started a church school with, “teachers- 7 males, 5 females; scholars- 28 males, 24 females, and a collection of $1.00.” The house on the lot south of the church was bought for $2,000.00 on September 1, 1911 for a parsonage. In May, 1912 the church celebrated its sixtieth anniversary and organized a missionary society.

In February 1924, under the leadership of Pastor Hassler, whose picture can be seen hanging in the present sanctuary, the congregation decided to remodel and enlarge the existing building. Within thirteen days the chosen committee had received pledges of $14,000.00. The congregation accepted a bid for $21,410.00, excluding heat, seating, interior decoration and stained glass windows. The cornerstone service was held August 17, 1924. Although some use of the new church was made in February 1924, the dedication service was scheduled for Palm Sunday, April 5, 1925. The total cost of the project came to $28,000.00. We all should realize that the original church is inside the walls of the church that we worship in today.
In 1934 the Reformed Church Merged with the Evangelical Church, and became known as the Evangelical and Reformed Church. The Shelby congregation continued to grow and in 1941, it was able to burn the mortgage. After an initial suggestion by Miss Edna Burrer, A Wicks Pipe Organ was purchased for $4,177.00. The Ladies Aid and Missionary society was discontinued, and the Women’s Guild came into being in 1945.
In the mid- 1950’s two important events occurred. A fund was started to build a new Christian Education Annex to the Church. The second was that the Evangelical and Reformed Church merged with the Congregational Christian Churches to form the United Church of Christ. The formal Merger was on June 25, 1957. This merger brought into being the “youngest denomination” on the American scene; however, its roots and history started in the Reformation period. The Reformed Church came into being through the Reformation in Switzerland, while the Evangelical Church was an outgrowth of the German Reformation. The Congregational Church was born out of the Reformation efforts in England and dates back to the Sixteenth century. The Christian churches, the forth denomination in forming the UCC, was distintly an American denomination resembling the Disciples of Christ in origin and development. Therefore, the Shelby Church, which began as the Reformed Church, and in 1934 became the Evangelical and Reformed Church is now The First United Church of Christ.