DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about St. John Lutheran Church in Coryell County. Now settle in, because this story starts the way a lot of good Texas stories do — with people a long way from home, holding on to something they brought with them.
In the 1880s, German immigrant families were putting down roots in the area around Coryell City. And one of the things they weren't about to leave behind was their language — especially when it came to worship. So they did what folks do when there's no church yet: they gathered in each other's homes.
The Rev. Johannes Barthel of the Lutheran Church came around occasionally to conduct services for the settlers. That was a start, but just a start.
He was succeeded by the Rev. R. Seils, and it was Seils who made it official.
On December 7, 1889, in the home of Fritz Wiede, Rev. Seils organized St. John Lutheran Church.
A congregation formally born, right there in somebody's parlor. They didn't stay in parlors for long. The congregation purchased two acres of land and built their first sanctuary in 1890.
That building served them for a season, then was replaced by a larger structure in 1908. Now here's where the story takes a harder turn. That 1908 building, the one they'd grown into and filled with years of worship — it was destroyed by fire in 1921.
But a congregation like this one doesn't stay down. A new sanctuary was built that very same year. And then in 1959, that one gave way to a red brick structure, the kind that says we're still here, and we mean it.
Through all of it — through the building and the burning and the rebuilding — they kept worshipping in the German language. Periodically, right on through 1952. Now, that wasn't always easy.
During the years of World War I, that practice caused some ill feeling. The marker doesn't look away from that. They felt it.
And they kept going. Right next to the church sits the St. John Lutheran Cemetery, dating back to the 1890s.
It holds church members and community members alike — and among them, veterans of World War I, World War II, and Vietnam. Three wars. One small piece of Coryell County ground.
From a circle of families meeting in homes to a red brick church standing beside a cemetery full of people who helped build this place — that's the whole of it, right there on the marker, and it's more than enough.
What the marker says
The area around Coryell City was settled in the 1880s by a number of German immigrant families. Desiring to worship in their native language, a group of settlers began meeting together in homes. The Rev. Johannes Barthel of the Luthern Church occassionally conducted services for the settlers. He was succeeded by the Rev. R. Seils, who officially organized St. John Luthern Church on December 7, 1889, in the Home of Fritz Wiede. The congregation purchased two acres of land and built their first sancturary in 1890. It was replaced by a larger structure in 1908, which served the congregation until it was destroyed by fire in 1921. A new sanctuary built that year was replaced by a red brick structure in 1959. Worship services were periodically conducted in the German language until 1952, despite some ill feeling the practice caused during the years of World War I. Adjacent to the church is the St. John Lutheran Cemetery. Dating to the 1890s, it is the final resting place of many church and community members, including verterans of World War I, World War II, and Vietnam.