St. Paul’s Lutheran Church of Serbin

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church is unique in that it was actually organized in Europe. In fact, it was organized before Serbin actually existed!

The impetus for the organization of the congregation was the preparations being made for eventual immigration by the Wends in Prussia and Saxony who planned to sail for Texas in the fall of 1854. Already on March 25 an association had been created to coordinate those efforts, and its leaders recognized the need for the spiritual care of those who would be making the long journey to the new world, and on May 23, they issued a call to Pastor Jan Kilian, who had been serving many of the independent Wendish “Old Lutheran” congregations in the Prussian portion of Lusatia. Kilian would be responsible not only for the spiritual care of his parishioners but also for the education of their children.

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St. Paul’s Lutheran Church of Serbin

Image © Copyright 2018 Jeremy Clifton. All rights reserved.

The First St. Peter’s Lutheran Church of Serbin

German Methodists began preaching in the area around Serbin beginning in 1856. Some Wends, particularly those who had been involved with the conventicles in Saxony, found that they preferred the more pietistic form of worship of the Methodists. Pastor Kilian did try to appease them by holding small group prayer meetings for about six months, but these ended around Easter in 1858. That May a group calling themselves “the little flock” wrote to the Kilian and notified him of their intention to withdraw from the congregation. This group organized themselves as St. Peter’s Lutheran Church of Rabb Creek and requested a pastor from the Texas Synod.

The new St. Peter’s church did not grow, though it did have the honor of hosting the Texas Synod’s convention in May 1866. At first, the congregation was served by the Rev. George Lieb, who was also serving a Texas Synod congregation there. In 1864, Lieb took a call to Austin. Following that, St. Peter’s was unable to obtain a pastor from the Texas Synod due to a shortage, though it was served by Karl Christian Rudi, who had not yet been ordained.

In late 1866, Rudi took a call to East Navidad, and since the Texas Synod was still unable to provide a pastor, some within the congregation sought to reunite with the congregation in Serbin. In January of 1867, a delegation made the request officially, and the following month the leaders of the congregation sent a notification to the Rev. Johan Conrad Roehm, the president of the Texas Synod, notifying him that they were withdrawing from membership. That May the Texas Synod met in Meyersville and officially granted the request.

The Second St. Peter’s Lutheran Church of Serbin

The return of the dissidents from the first St. Peter’s did not mark the end of the strife in Kilian’s congregation. As other German-speaking Lutherans settled in the area, many naturally joined the church. And even among the Wends who had immigrated with Kilian some preferred German to Wendish. In 1868 the congregation called a teacher so that Kilian could focus solely on pastoral duties. This teacher, Ernst Leubner, was also to serve as organist and cantor, but was unable to do so for the Wendish services because he did not know the languages and melodies. Things came to a head in 1870 when the congregation split, with many members who preferred German (as well as some of the members of the original St. Peter’s) setting up a competing congregation, which they called St. Peter’s Lutheran Church.

The second St. Peter’s located itself on the other side of the cemetery from Kilian’s congregation, which soon became known as St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. This congregation applied to the Missouri Synod for a pastor, and the Synod granted the request, angering Kilian. Although the split was not purely about German vs. Wendish, over the years that St. Peter’s existed, Lutherans in Serbin who preferred German tended to join St. Peter’s while Lutherans who preferred Wendish tended to join St. Paul’s.

In 1914, St. Peter’s and St. Paul’s Lutheran Churches reunited, with St. Peter’s dissolving and its members re-joining St. Paul’s.

Image from the Archives of the Texas Wendish Heritage Society

Holy Trinity Lutheran Church of Fedor

A few years after the Wends arrived in Texas in 1854, some members of Kilian’s congregation began to settle north of present-day Giddings in what was then called West Yegua (today Fedor). Traveling to Serbin for Divine Services and for school was burdensome, and they desired a Lutheran congregation of their own.

In March of 1870, the Missouri Synod sent the Rev. Theodore Brohm from New Orleans to attempt to adjudicate the dispute between the two groups in Kilian’s congregation. While he was there, he rode to West Yegua along with Ernst Leubner, the teacher at Kilian’s congregation, and helped organize Holy Trinity Lutheran Church.

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Holy Cross Lutheran Church of Warda

On March 17, 1873, members of both St. Peter’s and St. Paul’s Lutheran Churches in Serbin who lived near the community of New Start (about four miles southeast of Serbin) organized Holy Cross Lutheran Church. Originally, the church was affiliated with the Texas Synod, but in 1874 the congregation severed this connection and joined the Missouri Synod. Soon the congregation had outgrown its facilities at New Start and it constructed a new building a few miles down the road in Warda in 1882.

Photo from the Archives of the Texas Wendish Heritage Society

Ebenezer Lutheran Church of Manheim

Not long after Holy Trinity Lutheran Church of Fedor was established in 1870, a controversy arose in the congregation. It would appear that this controversy related to the use of Wendish versus German in the church, because in 1875 the Rev. John Proft, who was Wendish, resigned from Holy Trinity. The Wendish minority reached an agreement with the German majority that they would be allowed a peaceful release if Holy Trinity could not obtain a pastor who spoke Wendish.

Holy Trinity’s second pastor was the Rev. Gotthilf Birkmann, who was not Wendish, and the Wendish minority withdrew and organized Eben Ezer Lutheran Church on the San Antonio Prairie (between Fedor and Lincoln).  Eben Ezer calls Prof as their pastor. In 1889, the congregation relocated to the Manheim community. Today only a few tombstones remain the cemetery that Eben Ezer established at the original location, though the building, which is now used as a house, still stands.

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Zion Lutheran Church of Walburg

The area around Walburg was first settled prior to 1880; soon thereafter Wends from around Serbin moved to the area. Zion Lutheran Church was organized in 1882; at the time it was the first Lutheran church in Williamson County. The Rev. J.H. Maisch served as Zion’s first pastor.

Photo from the Archives of the Texas Wendish Heritage Society

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church of The Grove

Services were being held at The Grove as early as 1878; initially folks there were served by Rev. Gotthilf Birkmann of Fedor, Rev. J.J. Trinklein of Perry, and Rev. J.H. Maisch of Walburg. In 1883, the congregation was formally organized. From 1883-1888 the Rev. Louis Ernst of Walburg came out once a month to hold services.

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Immanuel Lutheran Church of Giddings

Soon after the town of Giddings sprung up around the railroad, Wends began to move there. The Rev. A.D. Greif of Serbin first held services in Giddings, and things really began to take of later under the guidance of Rev. Gottfried Buchschacher of Warda. Immanuel Lutheran Church was organized in 1883.

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St. John’s Lutheran Church of Lincoln

In 1886, some members of Eben Ezer Lutheran Church (at the time located on the San Antonio Prairie between Fedor and Lincoln) that lived further to the east wished to have a school neared to their homes in Lincoln. They began constructing one, but later decided they might as well have a church as well.  The congregation was formally organized that year.

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St. Michael’s Lutheran Church of Winchester

The first attempt to establish a Lutheran congregation in Winchester began in 1876 or 1877, and the congregation only existed for approximately one year. The Rev. Gottfried Buchschacher from Holy Cross in Warda began to hold services there several years later, though he was told that nothing would ever come from his efforts. The naysayers were wrong, however, and on St. Michael’s Day in 1887 (September 29) a new congregation was organized there that took its name from the festival day.

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St. Paul’s Lutheran Church of Thorndale

Between 1874 and 1876, the International & Great Northern Railroad extended its tracks from Rockdale to Austin. The town of Thorndale grew up along the tracks, originally a few miles west of the current location. Soon families from Fedor began to relocate to the new town, and the Rev. Gotthilf Birkmann began holding services there and a few miles west in Noack. St. Paul’s Lutheran Church was organized in 1890.

Photo from the Archives of the Texas Wendish Heritage Society

Christ Lutheran Church of Noack

The town of Noack was established around 1870 when Peter Zieschang, a Wend, relocated there. Originally, the community was called Hochkirch. Zieschang had originally immigrated to Australia, where he helped establish a community there, also called Hochkirch. After some time, Zieschang returned home to Lusatia and then immigrated to Texas.

Services were first held at Noack by the Rev. Gotthilf Birkmann of Fedor. The congregation was formally organized in 1890.

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St. Paul’s Lutheran Church of Austin

The story of this congregation is a bit different than some of the others; it got its start after the Heiermann family moved to Austin from Ohio. There they had been a part of an Ohio Synod Lutheran congregation. At the time the Ohio Synod was in fellowship with the Missouri Synod. But in Austin they could find no Lutheran congregation affiliated with any synod that was also in fellowship with the Ohio Synod.

After some time, Mrs. Heiermann became ill, and it happened that her nurse was from Serbin. She told the Heiermanns of the Missouri Synod congregation there. The family wrote letters to Revs. Gotthilf Birkmann and Herman Kilian, and soon services were being held in the Heiermann home in Austin. St. Paul’s Lutheran Church was formally organized in 1891.

Image © Copyright 2016 Jeremy Clifton. All rights reserved.

Immanuel Lutheran Church of Copperas Cove

Wendish families from Fedor first settled in and around Copperas Cove in 1890. This congregation was formally organized in 1894.

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Bethany Lutheran Church of Green’s Creek

This congregation was organized in 1895 thanks to the efforts of the Rev. Gottfried Buchschacher of Warda, who began holding services in the area several years earlier. The Rev. Herman Kilian’s grandson, the Rev. Theodore Kilian, was pastor from 1918 until his death in 1925. Following that the congregation was served by pastors of nearby congregations until it disbanded in 1964.

Photo from the Archives of the Texas Wendish Heritage Society