St. Paul United Church of Christ

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way out in Falls County, there's a congregation with a story that reaches back to the frontier days of Texas German settlement. In 1894, German settlers founded the St.

Paul Evangelical Lutheran Congregation, and they came with intention. They brought a pastor right from the start, the Reverend F. W.

Ernst Hartmann, and they set about building something meant to last. Two years later, in 1896, they built a school, because these were people who understood that a community needs roots and it needs learning. And that same year they called their first resident minister, a man by the name of the Reverend Dr.

Samuel D. Press, born in 1875, who would go on to live all the way to 1967. Now that's a life.

And what a life. Dr. Press would eventually become head of Eden Seminary in St.

Louis, and he would hold that position for thirty-five years. Think about that. The first man they called to stand in their pulpit went on to lead a seminary for thirty-five years.

The congregation had an eye for talent, or maybe just for character. The original church building served its purpose, and then in 1920 it gave way to the present structure, the one still standing. Then came 1957, when four denominations merged, and the fellowship was renamed St.

Paul United Church of Christ. New name, same deep roots. That congregation, through every change and every decade, has played a vital role in preserving the heritage of the German community that built it.

Some things get founded and fade. This one held.

What the marker says

In 1894 German settlers founded the St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Congregation with the Rev. F. W. Ernst Hartmann as pastor. In 1896 they built a school and called their first resident minister, the Rev. Dr. Samuel D. Press (1875-1967), who was later head of Eden Seminary in St. Louis for 35 years. The first church building was replaced by the present structure in 1920. Renamed St. Paul United Church of Christ after four denominations merged in 1957, the fellowship has played a vital role in preserving the German community's heritage.