DUANE
Get the App
Duane's take
The marker's the word on this one, and here's how I tell it. Way back in 1897, a congregation took root in Llano, Texas, and they called it St. Jakobi Evangelish Lutherisch Kirche.
That's a name that carries some weight just saying it out loud. It was organized to serve German Lutherans in what was then a growing community, and from the very start, this congregation was on the move. Not by choice, mind you, but because that's what you do when you're building something from nothing.
Pastor Hugo Krienke was the man holding it all together, and here's the thing about Pastor Krienke: Llano wasn't his only stop. He was also serving churches over in Mason and in Leiningen, riding that circuit and keeping the faith lit in multiple towns at once. So when his congregation in Llano needed a place to gather, they made do with what was available.
First it was the northside school. Then a small frame house on the south side of the river. And when that wasn't enough, they found themselves worshipping inside the First Presbyterian Church, which says something about the spirit of both congregations.
That went on until 1908, when land was finally purchased. By 1910, the Lutherans had a building to call their own, small as it may have been. And then came another quiet kind of change.
After 1920, services were conducted entirely in English. The language had shifted, but the congregation held. Decades passed, membership grew, and in 1958, the members of St.
James Church dedicated a new building. From a borrowed schoolroom to a house on the river to a shared Presbyterian pew, and finally, a place of their own. That's a congregation that knew how to stay the course.
What the marker says
Founded in 1897, St. Jakobi Evangelish Lutherisch Kirche was organized to serve German Lutherans in the growing community of Llano. Pastor Hugo Krienke, also serving churches in Mason and Leiningen, held German-language services first in Llano's northside school, then in a small frame house on the south side of the river, and later in the First Presbyterian Church until land was purchased in 1908. By 1910, the Lutherans had a small building, and after 1920 services were conducted entirely in English. The members of St. James Church dedicated a new building in 1958. (1997)