St. Peter Lutheran Church

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about St. Peter Lutheran Church up in Montague County. Now settle in, because this story starts the way a lot of good Texas stories start: with folks a long way from home, trying to put down roots in unfamiliar ground.

German Lutheran immigrants had made their way to this part of North Central Texas in the late 1800s, and somebody had to tend to them spiritually. That somebody was the Reverend John C. Schulenberg, who added these settlers to his North Central Texas Mission itinerary in 1893.

One year later, in 1894, St. Peter Lutheran Church was organized. And that very same year, a small wood frame sanctuary went up on land donated by a man named Henry Husfeld, about five miles northeast of where the church stands today.

Now think about that. A congregation organized, land donated, a building raised, all in a single year. These were not people who dawdled.

Then came 1903, and with it the Reverend H. B. Wurthmann, who stepped into a role nobody had filled before: St.

Peter's first resident pastor. Up until then, the congregation had made do. Now they had someone who stayed.

The years kept rolling, and in 1919 a new sanctuary and school building was erected, the kind of investment that says a community intends to last. And here is a detail worth savoring: one service a month was conducted in German, all the way until 1940. Decade after decade, those old words hanging in the air of a Texas church, a thread kept alive a long way from wherever those first families had started.

In 1948, the church facilities were moved to the present location. Same congregation, new ground, still serving. St.

Peter Lutheran Church never did stop. That is the mark of something built to endure.

What the marker says

German Lutheran immigrants who settled in this area in the late 19th century were added to The Rev. John C. Schulenberg's North Central Texas Mission itinerary in 1893. St. Peter Lutheran Church was organized in 1894. That year a small wood frame sanctuary was built on land (5 mi. NE) donated by Henry Husfeld. In 1903 The Rev. H.B. Wurthmann became St. Peter's first resident Pastor and in 1919 a new sanctuary/school building was erected. One service a month was conducted in German until 1940. Church facilities were moved here in 1948. The church continues to serve the local community. (1993)