Friedens Evangelical and Reformed United Church of Christ

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Friedens Evangelical and Reformed United Church of Christ, out in McLennan County. Now settle in, because this one's got mules in it. German immigrants helped settle the town of Riesel in the late nineteenth century, and in July of 1903, eight families decided that was enough of a foundation to build something lasting.

They organized the Friedens Church. Friedens, meaning Peace. They started the way a lot of frontier congregations did, meeting in a schoolhouse, making do, making community.

But they had bigger plans. The congregation built its own sanctuary two miles east of Riesel, out at what is now Friedens Cemetery. Pastors H.

J. Leemhuis and H. S.

Schulz officiated the dedication service in April of 1904. A proper house of worship, raised and blessed. Now here's where the story takes a turn that only Texas could give it.

Four years after that dedication, somebody looked around and decided the church needed to be somewhere else. So they put the whole church house on skids, hitched up the mules, and moved the building to the current site. The whole building.

On skids. Pulled by mules. The congregation did not move the congregation to a new church.

They moved the church to the congregation. In 1929, Reverend D. A.

Jud became the first resident pastor. Services continued in German all the way through the 1940s, a living thread back to those founding families and their mother tongue. Then in 1952, the congregation built a new sanctuary on that same ground.

More than a century after eight families gathered and called it a church, Friedens is still there, still standing, still part of the community. Peace, it turns out, is something worth moving mountains for. Or at the very least, worth moving a church house down the road behind a team of mules.

What the marker says

German immigrants helped settle Riesel in the late 19th century. In July 1903, eight families organized the Friedens (Peace) Church. After meeting in a schoolhouse, the congregation built its own sanctuary two miles east of riesel (Present Friedens Cemetery). Pastors H. J. Leemhuis and H.S. Schulz officiated a dedication service in April 1904. Four years later, the church house was put on skids and moved by mules to the current site. Rev. D.A. Jud became the first resident pastor in 1929. Services continued in German until the 1940s, and in 1952 the congregation built a new sanctuary. More than a century after its founding, Friedens Church continues to impact the community.