History of the Moravian Church in Door County & Sister Bay

In the fall of 1850, the church membership arrived at their new home, Fort Howard (now the west side of Green Bay), Wisconsin, where a tract of land had been acquired. Before long, a portion of the congregation journeyed to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, and the remaining, larger group established themselves on Eagle Island under the leadership of Rev. Iverson.  This was May 1853, and before autumn of the same year, sufficient log cabins had been completed to permit the group of 27 communicant members to move to the mainland.  The new settlement took the name of Ephraim. 

      In 1895, it was determined that there were sufficient numbers to form a congregation in Sister Bay, north of Ephraim. The Rev. John Greenfield, then minister at Ephraim and preaching at other locations in Northern Door County, wrote, "The audiences at our services in Sister Bay were large, the English service especially well attended.  A log church owned by a congregation of free Baptists, being offered for sale, a number of members and friends united to purchase the building, as we had no regular place for holding our services in Sister Bay." The response to the financial needs of the congregation was such that the pastor could report at the first annual Church Council in 1897 that "we had not only bought a meeting house but also thoroughly repaired it." About $200 was received, not including free labor.