St. Matthew's Union Church was formed out of community need for a place to worship. In the 1870s travel was difficult, especially for the children and the elderly. The Rev. Dr. M.J. Alleman provided worship for the community of Pleasent Valley once every four weeks beginning in 1877. They met in the Old School House that remains standing on South Pleasant Valley Road. Rev. Alleman started the movement for a church and a committee was formed, whose members were Samuel Lawyer, John Myers, Emanuel Myers, George Bowers, John Helwig, Samuel Warehime, and Absolem Bankert. Land was purchased that was originally part of the William Devilbiss farm. Mr. Devilbiss was always ready to donate his horse team to haul stone and sand, as well as his hired-hand to help the builders. Samuel Warehime brought timbers for the church from Frizzleburg.

Building a church and having the income to support this was a massive undertaking in 1879. It was recorded that on May 31, 1890, the Church debt was paid in full. It is interesting to note that the joint treasury did not carry a balance from year to year. Almost invariably, cash-on-hand covered the join expenses to the penny.

As time passed the community and congregations changed and St. Matthew's Union Church adapted to those changes. On May 19, 1991, St. Matthew's Lutheran and St. Matthew's Reformed Church merged to become St. Matthew's United Church Of Christ of Pleasant Valley. This blended Congregation is like a family, which is growing, learning, and sometimes struggling to seek the mission of the Church. God has richly blessed St. Matthew in the past, and his blessings still abound as our members continue to worship and flourish as a community of faith.