On July 3, 1892, three months before South Milwaukee was incorporated as a village, a group of eighteen Lutherans met for a service at the home of John Ahrens, 1702 10th Avenue, a home near the Bucyrus Erie spur track. After this first service a meeting was held, and Zion Evangelical Lutheran Congregation was organized. After becoming a congregation, the group made plans for erecting a church. Two lots were purchased on the southeast comer of 6th and Milwaukee Avenues. The South Milwaukee Land Company donated two adjacent lots, and a church was erected. It was dedicated on September 18, 1892. The Reverend J. H. Koch became the full-time pastor in the spring of 1893, and a parsonage was erected.

By 1905, the membership of Zion Congregation had increased and more room was needed. It was decided to move the church to face 6th Avenue, and additional length was added to the church. It was placed on a one-story brick foundation. The Christian day school, begun in 1903, occupied the lower level. Pastor Koch left Zion in 1908 after 16 years spent working to build the congregation. In January 1909, Zion extended a call to Reverend O. B. Nommensen. He accepted the call and was installed as pastor of Zion in 1909. Pastor Nommensen would remain with Zion for fifty years. Services were all in the German language at this time. In 1912 an English service was held on a once a month basis, and beginning in 1919, English services were conducted every Sunday.

In 1920, the congregation realized that a larger church was needed, and in 1924, six lots and a house to be used as a parsonage were acquired. On August 3,1924, the cornerstone of the new church was laid at 9th and Michigan Avenues. The first service in the new church was on Sunday, January 25, 1925. (Zion's stained-glass windows are featured online). Due to the increase in enrollment, the congregation voted to build a one-story school across the alley to the north of the new church.

	__	The membership growth of the congregation required more pastoral services, so in the spring of 1959, a part-time secretary was hired, as well as a part-time vicar (seminary student assistant). Due to the increase in enrollment, the school was enlarged in 1950-51 to include six classrooms and a multi-purpose room which also served as a gym. In 1960, a kindergarten room was added.
Old school building

. In 1973 the congregation took steps to provide for future expansion of its physical facilities by purchasing five acres of land on South Chicago Avenue. This property was known as the McCreedy property. This is now the location of Zion Lutheran School. The new school, which includes ten classrooms, day care facilities, and a large fellowship hall, as well as a high school size gymnasium, was dedicated in May of 1996. A day care wing was added in 1999. The old school was sold to Calvary Academy.	__	.
		Our current school building was built in 1996, and a daycare wing was added in 1999

The church remains at 9th and Michigan Avenues, although the church office is now located in the new school at 3600 S. Chicago Avenue. The church building was redecorated and remodeled for the congregation's Centennial observance in 1992. The 75-year-old Wangerin Pipe organ was completely rebuilt and seven ranks of pipes added in 1998. In October of 2008, the congregation voted to, one day, build a new church facility on the same campus as our school.

Many pastors have served the congregation during its long history. Pastor Nommensen's ministry of fifty years was the longest; Pastor Paul G. Hartwig served the congregation for twenty years from 1964 - 1984. Pastor Harlyn J. Kuschel was installed in August of 1987 and retired at the end of 2010. Our current pastors are Aaron T. Weber and Adam E. Zimpelmann. Mr. Fonda Fischer is the principal of Zion School. Zion's faculty includes 9 full-time teachers and a preschool teacher.

.