Saint Paul Lutheran Church

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Saint Paul Lutheran Church. Now settle in, because this is one of those stories that starts small, real small, and just keeps on growin'. We're talkin' about a congregation that came into this world in Pharr, Texas, in 1916.

The Reverend Paul Birkman and five charter members. Five. You could fit the whole congregation in a single pickup bed with room left over for a cooler.

But don't let that fool you. Those six folks had plans. The very next year, 1917, the church picked up and moved to McAllen.

Barely had time to learn everybody's name before they were setting up somewhere new. And where did they hold their early worship services? In the First Methodist Church.

The Lutherans worshippin' in a Methodist house. There's a kind of beautiful Texas practicality in that, isn't there. Services conducted in German, echoing through borrowed pews.

Then in 1919, the congregation purchased the former McAllen Christian Church building. A Lutheran church, meeting in a former Christian Church building. They made it work, and they kept making it work all the way into the 1940s.

By then, something bigger was taking shape. A brick building was constructed, sturdy and permanent, built to house both the church and a parochial school that was established in 1943. Brick walls.

A school. Now we're talkin' roots going into the ground for real. But even that wasn't the end of the story.

In 1952, a twenty-acre site was purchased right here, and a new sanctuary and school were erected on that land. Twenty acres. From five charter members to twenty acres.

The Reverend Birkman and those five folks back in 1916 could not have pictured it. Saint Paul Lutheran Church, still serving the area with several programs. Small beginnings, long reach.

That's the Texas way.

What the marker says

Organized in Pharr in 1916 by the Rev. Paul Birkman and five charter members, St. Paul Lutheran Church moved to McAllen in 1917. Early worship service, conducted in German, were held in the First Methodist Church. The Lutherans purchased the former McAllen Christian Church building in 1919 and met there until the 1940s. A brick building was constructed to house both the church and the parochial school established in 1943. A 20-acre site was purchased here in 1952, and a new sanctuary and school were erected. The church serves the area with several programs. (1996)