DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about St. Paul Lutheran Church in Austin County. Now settle in, because this congregation's got more chapters than most folks realize when they drive past.
April 26, 1903. Fifteen members of a local church called Die Friedens Gemeinde gathered themselves together and decided they needed something new. What they built was a mouthful — Die Deutsche Evangelische Lutherische Saint Paulus Gemeinde — which, in plain American, means the St.
Paul German Evangelical Lutheran Congregation. Fifteen people. That's it.
That's your founding roster. Small enough to fit in a parlor, but they had plans. Their first pastor was the Rev.
Albert Julius Fuenning, a man who apparently didn't believe in doing just one job when he could do two — he was also serving a church over in Haw Creek, southwest of Shelby. Fuenning held the congregation together until the fall of 1904, when St. Paul called the Rev.
A. Wenzel of the Missouri Synod. And that same year — 1904 — the church trustees got to work and built a sanctuary right here on this site, on land purchased from C.P. and Anna Vogelsang.
They also needed a parsonage, and for that land, they had Mrs. Charles Siebel to thank. Now, a congregation that young is still figuring out where it belongs, and St.
Paul did some wandering. They joined the old Texas Synod. Then the Iowa Synod.
And it was from the Iowa Synod that they called the Rev. Julius Bosshard in 1908. Bosshard, it turns out, was the kind of man a church holds onto.
He stayed until 1920 — then, as if he couldn't quite let go, he came back in 1930 and served this congregation until his death in 1947. Nearly thirty years combined. Some pastors pass through; Bosshard practically put down roots.
During the first half of the twentieth century, the Revs. M.C. Hoermann and E.J.
Scheffel also served St. Paul. And through all those decades, the congregation was building more than just a roster of ministers.
They formed a Luther League. They put together a church choir. Come the 1950s, they organized a Brotherhood and a Women's Missionary Society.
Now here's the part worth pausing on. For much of its first fifty years, St. Paul was a German-speaking congregation — and it followed certain endorsed Lutheran practices that tell you something about the world those early members lived in.
Men sat on the left side of the sanctuary. Women sat on the right. And women were not permitted to vote in congregational decisions.
Those practices held for decades. They were revised in the 1940s — quietly, but they were revised. As the congregation grew, it joined the Texas District, and later the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, adding facilities along the way.
Over a century after fifteen people sat down together and decided to build something out of nothing, St. Paul Lutheran Church is still there, still serving its community. Fifteen members in 1903.
A century-plus of Sundays later. That's not nothing — that's a story still bein' written.
What the marker says
(Die Deutsche Evangelische Lutherische Saint Paulus Gemeinde) On April 26, 1903, fifteen members of local church Die Friedens Gemeinde organized a new church called Die Deutsche Evangelische Lutherische Saint Paulus Gemeinde, or St. Paul German Evangelical Lutheran Congregation. The Rev. Albert Julius Fuenning was the congregation's first pastor, also serving a church in Haw Creek, southwest of Shelby. Fuenning pastored until fall of 1904, when the St. Paul congregation called the Rev. A. Wenzel of the Missouri Synod. That year, church trustees built a sanctuary at this site on land purchased from C.P. and Anna Vogelsang. Mrs. Charles Siebel sold the church land for a parsonage. The congregation later joined the old Texas Synod and then the Iowa Synod, from which it called the Rev. Julius Bosshard in 1908. Bosshard remained until 1920, then returned in 1930 to serve until his death in 1947. Other St. Paul pastors during the first half of the 20th century included the Revs. M.C. Hoermann and E.J. Scheffel. During that time, the congregation formed the Luther League and a church choir. In the 1950s, church members organized a Brotherhood and Women's Missionary Society. A German-speaking congregation for much of its first fifty years, St. Paul also followed endorsed Lutheran practices, which included seating the men on the left side of the sanctuary and women on the right. Women were also not permitted to vote in congregational decisions. These practices were revised in the 1940s. As the congregation grew, it joined the Texas District and later the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, also adding facilities to its property. Over a century after its founding, St. Paul Lutheran church continues to serve its community. (2003)