Ulrich Zwingli was a Swiss theologian who was a significant leader of the Protestant Reformation in Europe in the early 1500s.
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Mount Zwingli was chosen as the name of the Reformed Congregation at Rhodes Corners on December 4, 1859. Reverend J. Schlosser, of Sandusky, had been preaching in the schoolhouse at Rhodes corners for about eight months prior. Elders and Deacons were named, and the small group of seventeen members continued to meet at the school house, and continued to grow.

Mt. Zwingli's first building was erected only ten years after our young congregation had first formally organized. The 1869 structure was a one-room wooden building with permanent pews that were divided by an aisle. As was the tradition of the day, one side of the church was for men, and the other for women and children. This building stood for forty years, until a springtime lightning strike caused the structure to burn to the ground. Before the end of the same year, 1909, a block structure was built as a replacement. This building stands today as it did when it was dedicated nearly 100 years ago. We now use this beautiful old building as our chapel.

Hard times lay ahead for our church though, and the Great Depression brought harder times still. Our church had no connection with the parent Reformed Church for fifteen years, starting in 1921. Mt. Zwingli even ceased to have regular services for several years except for an occasional community service.

In 1936, a lay pastor, P. E. Stover, reorganized our church with 24 members and reestablished ties with the parent church, now known as the Evangelical and Reformed Church. For the next 45 years, Mt. Zwingli continued to grow and serve the community while sharing part-time pastors with other area churches. This was a common practice, as most rural churches couldn't afford to support a full-time minister.

One Hundred years after the first group of faithful chose the name Mt. Zwingli, our congregation began the construction of "Centennial Hall." Through community outreach and personal sacrifice, our church completed this project in the early 1960s giving us the fine facility that we have today for fellowship and learning.

In 1981, part-time pastor Edward Bray and congregational leaders sought the support of the parent church, now the United Church of Christ, to "redevelop" Mt. Zwingli by hiring a full-time pastor to help lead our church toward continued growth. On September 1, 1981, for the first time in history, Mt. Zwingli had a full-time minister, Reverend Jerry Baker.

Rev. Baker led our church into a growth spurt never before seen at Mt. Zwingli. Our little church family grew from 115 members to 175 members in less than two years, and we were named the "fastest growing renewal church in the UCC.". The little church was bursting at the seams every Sunday with people sitting in the aisles, the choir room and the vestibule! Something had to be done! It was decided that we would undertake the construction of a new 8,000 square-foot building.

We broke ground for our new building in July, 1983 and held the first service in our new (but unfinished) sanctuary on Thanksgiving Eve that same year. The building was formally dedicated in February 1984.

Our membership growth leveled off in the 1990s, but has begun to increase again of late. Our membership now is just over 275 people. In 1994 Rev. Baker retired, and in 1996 we called Reverend Keith Hejnal to be our new leader. Pastor Keith continues to serve and facilitate our growth both as a congregation of faithful believers and as spiritual individuals.