In 1839 the St. Paul Lutheran Church at St. Louisville was organized by the Reverend Simon Ritz in a schoolhouse near the village. It maintained an independent existence until 1857 when the records extant indicate that it was served by the Rev. J. Logan Galbreath who was then Pastor of St. John's church. From 1857 until 1869 a rather tenuous relationship existed between the two congregations.Sometime prior to 1857 Rev. Peter Schmuker, already mentioned as an early pastor of St. John's Church, then also known as "Claylick" Church, began holding services for Lutherans in the community known as Vanattasburgh. Due to the scarcity of ordained ministers, it seems likely that other pastors from St. John's Church continued to serve the Vanatta congregation. When St. Luke's church at Vanatta was formerly organized by the adoption of a constitution on May 5, 1857, that constitution stipulated that the congregation was to be united in a parish relationship with St. Paul's and St. John's congregations and all were to be served by the same pastor who at that time was the Reverend J. Logan Galbreath.At this point it is interesting to note that while pastor E. E. Barclay was serving what was then called the "Newark Charge", he was asked to serve a group of Lutherans living in nearby Newark. This group formally organized as the St. Paul's Lutheran Church of Newark on October 15, 1884. Upon his resignation from the Newark Charge on April 25, 1885, Pastor Barclay was called to become the pastor of the Newark church. This relationship did not work out well and he left Newark in March 1886.Shortly thereafter, Calvin W. Sifferd, pastor of the Newark Charge, was requested by the Board of Home Missions of the Miami Synod to take charge of the Newark mission in addition to his other pastoral duties. Traveling on horseback most of the time, Pastor Sifferd served faithfully the four churches until June 1900 when the original three churches of the Charge called the Reverend E. Luther Spaid to be their pastor, thereby freeing Pastor Sifferd to become pastor of St. Paul's Church in Newark. Since the title "Newark Charge" was no longer applicable, the three congregations adopted the title "The Vanatta Lutheran Parish".After he had assisted the Reverend J. C. Shinde, to organize Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Newark, that congregation called Mr. Spaod to become its first pastor in March 1904. Thus through the sharing of its pastors, the Vanatta Parish played a vital role in the organization of both the St. Paul and the Holy Trinity Lutheran Churches in Newark.Because of disagreements over sharing the pastor's salary, the Vanatta Parish had its problems. When the Parish called Mr. Spaid to become its pastor, St John's church agreed to pay $206.68 of the annual salary of $750.00 while St. Paul's and St. Luke's were top pay $241.66 each. When the Reverend Howard E. Dunmire became pastor in 1919, each congregation agreed to share his salary equally. This arrangement continued until October 10, 1965 when a parish budget was adopted by the Parish Council and payments on the parish budget were based on the confirmed membership of each congregation rather than on an equal thirds basis.In 1924 the three congregations of the parish united in building a parsonage at Vanatta on a lot donated by Mr. John Bline, a member of St. Luke's congregation. It is interesting to note that the pastor, Mr. Dunmire, was asked to pay rent on the completed parsonage at the rate of $20.00 per month until the bathroom was completed, after which he was to pay $25.00 per month.The relationship between the three churches continued through the ministry of Rev. Refus Rings, after whose retirement, St John's petitioned the Ohio Synod to become an independent Lutheran congregation and was granted such permission, the results of which are shared in Chapter II of this history. 
