The history of Elmendorf Christian Community goes back to the times of the Protestant Reformation, when Anabaptists under the leadership of Jakob Hutter established community of goods in Moravia in the 1530s.

After a long and complicated history of migrations in Eastern Europe, Hutterites arrived in America in 1874, forming three communities, that practiced community of goods, of which one was Bon Homme Colony, the mother colony of all Schmiedeleut Hutterites.

In 2003 Elmendorf was excommunicated from Schmiedeleut affiliation with the Huttterites and became an independent colony.

In 2006 Elmendorf Christian Community started a new community, named Rocky Cape Christian Community, between Smithton and Wynyard on the Australian island of Tasmania.

In 2013/14 they started another new community, named Grand River, near the town of Jamesport in Missouri.