Immanuel Lutheran Church

Duane's take

The way I tell it, this comes straight from the official marker for Immanuel Lutheran Church, out in Coryell County. Now settle in, because this one starts an ocean away and ends with a sixty-foot cross of native Texas stone. You can't make that up.

Well, I couldn't. The marker did it for me. The story begins with a people called the Wends, coming out of the Saxony region of Germany.

They didn't land in Coryell County right away. First they put down roots in Lee, Robertson, and Fayette counties, neighbors to this part of the state. But in 1891, a group of them picked up again and resettled in what folks then called the Twin Mountain Community, right here in Coryell County.

And with them came their faith. In 1892, a man named the Reverend A. W.

Kramer led these Wends in Lutheran worship for the first time in this new place, gatherin' not in a church but in the home of Christian Jacob, about a mile southwest of where that marker stands today. There's something about a congregation that starts in somebody's living room. Something that says these people meant it.

The congregation was officially organized in 1894, this time under the direction of the Reverend John Paul Ridel. One year after that, in 1895, they had themselves a church building. And the year after that, 1896, that same building was hosting parochial school classes.

They weren't wasting any time. Then in 1899, a man named A. E.

Falke deeded the church properties and cemetery grounds to the congregation. The land was theirs. By 1914, a new church structure was completed at the site.

And in 1915, a youth society was organized, one that would later affiliate with the International Walther League. Now here's where the story gets a little taller, in the best possible way. That youth society, over the years, worked toward something ambitious, something you don't see every day out on the Texas landscape.

In 1939, they saw it through to completion: a sixty-foot cross, built from native stone, standing near the church. Sixty feet. Native stone.

You drive past that and you know somebody believed in something. Then the world shifted. Camp Hood was established in 1942, and as military personnel from Fort Hood began attending services, the congregation's membership grew.

A church that started in a farmhouse in 1892 was now welcoming soldiers. The story doesn't stop there either. Through regional missionary work, this congregation was responsible for the establishment of four Lutheran churches in Central Texas by 1965.

Four congregations, spreading out from one little gathering in Christian Jacob's home, in a community once called Twin Mountain. Some seeds travel a long way from Saxony.

What the marker says

This congregation traces its origin to the emigration of Wends from the Saxony Region of Germany to nearby Lee, Robertson, and Fayette counties. They resettled in this area, then known as the Twin Mountain Community, in 1891. Led by the Rev. A. W. Kramer, the Wends began Lutheran worship in 1892 at the home of Christian Jacob, located approximately one mile southwest of this site. The congregation was officially organized under the direction of the Rev. John Paul Ridel in 1894. A church building, constructed in 1895 became the site of parochial school classes the following year. In 1899 the church properties and cemetery grounds were deeded to the congregation by A. E. Falke. A new church structure was completed at this site in 1914. A youth society, organized in 1915 and later affiliated with the International Walther League, was instrumental in the completion, in 1939, of the 60-foot native stone cross located near the church structure. The congregation's membership increased as military personnel from Fort Hood began to attend services soon after it was established as Camp Hood in 1942. Regional missionary work by this congregation was successful in spreading the Lutheran faith and was responsible for the establishment of four Lutheran churches in Central Texas by 1965.