St. Paul Lutheran Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm passing it right along to you. Lutheran missionary work in the Wichita Falls area got its start in 1886. Now, nobody built a church right away.

No sir. For years, folks gathered where they could, private homes, borrowed rooms, whatever space a willing neighbor might offer. That's the kind of faith that doesn't wait on fine architecture.

Then, on September 2, 1894, the Reverend Robert L. Mehlhorn, the first resident missionary in these parts, officially organized the congregation that would become St. Paul Lutheran Church.

A founding moment, quiet as it may sound, that set a whole lot of history in motion. The congregation still had no permanent home, though. Services kept moving from house to house, from borrowed facility to borrowed facility, until finally, in 1904, under the pastorate of the Reverend G.

A. Obenhaus, the first church building went up right here on this very site. Something solid.

Something theirs. Ten years after that, in 1914, St. Paul added a Christian day school, and it has been running ever since.

Then 1919 brought another milestone: the congregation became self-sustaining. No longer dependent on outside missionary support. Standing on its own.

And if that's not enough of a story for one church, well, by 1927, the original building had been replaced by a larger brick structure. From borrowed parlors in 1886 to a brick church by 1927. That is a community that kept building, kept going, kept the faith.

Literally.

What the marker says

Lutheran missionary work in the Wichita Falls area was begun in 1886. This congregation was organized September 2, 1894, by the Rev. Robert L. Mehlhorn, first resident missionary. Worship services were held in private homes or borrowed facilities until the first church building was constructed at this site in 1904, during the pastorate of the Reverend G. A. Obenhaus. St. Paul has operated a Christian day school since 1914. The congregation became self-sustaining in 1919. A larger brick church building replaced the original structure in 1927. (1981)