The German settlers in Rose Hill were not exclusively Lutheran. Some were Catholic, and others formed a Methodist Episcopal Church in the wake of a widespread Methodist missionary effort directed toward German immigrants. In 1875 Spring Creek was accepted as a mission by the Southern German Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church (North) under the supervision of Rev F. Schuler, District Superintendent of the Waco District.

Reverend Friedrich Ries was sent as a missionary and supervising preacher to the Spring Creek Mission. His annual salary was $386.25. He was able to rent a small log house in the area.

Three men Friedrick Oeft, August Beckendorf, and William Schulze became the first members on February 14, 1875.

Friedrick Oeft, a blacksmith and the only founder who was not a farmer, came to Rosehill at the age of twenty-eight from Wittmarshagen, Germany in 1848. He is listed in the 1850 census. He lived with the family of John Anchenback who was a farmer in the area.

August Beckendorf also came to America in 1848 but from Kalbe an der Muelde, Saxony Province, Germany. He first settled near Braes Bayou in Houston and purchased property nearby. the land he first bought later became the location of Rice Institute. Several years later he moved to the Rosehill area close to his brother-in-law, Frederick Kobs.

William Schulze came from Prussia, was single and lived with his sister and brother-in-law, Caroline and August Beckendorf. He worked on their farm.

The first sermon was given in the home of Brother Oeft, while in a nearby empty house, the first Sunday school was organized.

Trustees for the church property were selected: Frederick (Fritz) Oeft, August Beckendorf, William Schulze, William Milo, and Christian Sanders. Brother Oeft sold five acres of his land on June 12, 1876, to the church for the sum of $20. The deed states: