German immigration into Colorado begin during the 1870s and 1880s, but it was not until about 1900 that the first “German Russians” arrived in Northern Colorado. Though these immigrants technically came from within Russia’s geopolitical borders, they had long maintained their German culture and language. They first came to the Berthoud area as seasonal workers, but many ultimately settled in the area and began their own farms. In 1908, these German-speaking immigrants formed the German Congregational Church. On December 1, 1908, the trustees of the church bought land for the construction of a church and by December 20, 1908, a frame church building and belfry were ready for their inaugural worship service.

In 1917, owing to a rift within the church, a portion of the members of the German Congregational Church left to form the Bethlehem Congregational Church. In 1921, owing to anti-German sentiments after World War I, the name of the German Congregational Church was changed to First Congregational Church and worship services were no longer held in German. In 1926, the First Congregational Church and Bethlehem Congregational Church merged to form the Salem Congregational Church. The church continued out of the same 1908 church building until 1962 when the congregation dissolved and the building was sold to the Church of Christ.