Back on the country roads

One thing Texas has is LOTS of roads and believe me, it seems like we've been on most of the country roads in these parts!  Lexington, Lincoln, Dime Box, Loebau, Manheim, Fedor, Noack...... 

St. James has really beautiful stained glass windows in their new building (1963)

And, more beautiful windows at St. John, Lincoln.  When we went to St. John the other day we were not able to get inside.....today we went in.  Our friend John went with us today.  He had taught at St. John School back in the 80's and enjoyed getting back out in the country and seeing these churches with us.

Playground equipment from back in your day, John?

                                           Trinity Lutheran Church, Old Dime Box, TX

We could not find Manheim on the map....but we finally did find Manheim and this is what is left of the town:

 .....AND Ebenezer Lutheran Church with its cemetary alongside and a parish hall across the road.  It was founded in 1876 and they built a school in 1914.  We are guessing that the parish hall across the road was the church and school prior to this one being built. 

 

Now, anyone who thinks the road to Funny River is curvy and remote, y'all ain't seen nothin' 'til you take the road to Christ Lutheran, Loebau!  And you would not believe their grounds.  I would guess 40 acres with, get this Gerry, two big barbequers and quite a few grills under a big covered area, a large covered picnic area and, of course, a cemetary.  Oh, forgot to mention, Loebau is not on the map either.  The church was founded in 1892 and this new one was built in 1987.

On our way to Noack (also not on the map) we passed by Trinity, Fedor, and could not resist another picture.

It got dark on us, but this church in Noack is really pretty and a different architecture from the others.  It would be nice to go back in the daylight but our days here are coming to an end soon.

Christ Lutheran Church, founded 1891

Austin

We attended Bible class and worship service today at St. Paul Lutheran in "downtown" Austin.  The church was founded in 1891; the new church was dedicated in 1959.  It is a very large church with an elementary school and also with Concordia High School on the grounds.  John, who knew brother Andy in Juneau, attends here and invited us to join he and his family. I had been in email-contact with him prior to our coming here and he did a bit of 'ground work' for me.  After church they had a special dinner and the pastor from Jesus Lutheran Church for the Deaf gave a presentation about the deaf ministry here in Texas.  Then, after they took their daughter and granddaughter home, John and Luan picked us up and took us on a guided tour of some of Austin - it's a big city and we didn't quite cover all of it!  We topped the tour off with a good ol' Texas dinner (I can't remember the name of the place right now) and then bid our new friends good night.  It was a wonderful day!
Oh, and get this!  John was the school administrator in Nunapitchuk when the VBS team first went out there!

Palm trees in Austin?  You bet!  And the temperature to go along with them.  It has been really nice weather since we have been here.  It was 67 this morning here at church!

As I said, St. Paul is a very large church.... with a pipe organ to fill it.  And, this morning we had brass accompaniment as well - Jahna and Karen know how much Mom likes that!

Following the Wends.......

It wasn't long before the Wends discovered the original land they had purchased in Lee County was not the best farmland to be had.  And so it was for this reason they began to move further north.  These churches further north are the ones we visited today.  We began with Zion in Walburg, TX. 
As to the land issue, it was obvious even to a couple of non-farmers that these northern farms were far more productive.

This beautiful new church in Walburg, TX, also had its roots with the Wendish settlers in 1882.  The present church complex includes the church, a large school and an auditorium/gymnasium.  I might mention here that all of these Wendish congregations had the foresight to set aside large tracts of land for their churches which also included cemetaries.

St. Paul Lutheran, Thorndale, TX, established 1890.
The original church was lost in a tornado and was replaced.  This beautiful new building contains stained glass windows as well as the altar from the original church.  This church also supports a large parochial school.  The school was an important part of the Wendish tradition just as it is with the LCMS in general.  As a matter of information, the LCMS boasts over 1,000 elementary schools.

Trinity Lutheran, Fedor, TX, established 1870, sitting proudly atop a hill above the deserted town, proclaiming the Gospel message to all who pass by.  We were both so taken with the beauty of this simple white clapboard church, a church that is not considered one of the "painted churches" of Texas, but as you can see from the pictures, it certainly qualifies.  We spent considerable time exploring this little church, the former school house, the cemetary and even the bell tower.  Up in the bell tower I found the construction to be quite interesting, including cross-bracing held together with oak pegs.  As we drove away we looked at that beautiful little church until it disappeared from our view.  A huge benefit to us was Elder Steven and his two daughters who so warmly greeted us and shared the history with us.



St. John, Lincoln, TX, established 1886, is another tornado victim and this new church was built in the 50's.

We have one more Wendish church to find in a town that is not on the map.


And, here are some fun photos from our drive today:

Exploring the Wendish homelands

We headed west from Austin to Lee County where the Wends settled back in the 1850's.  The first church they built was completed and dedicated in 1867 in Serbin, Texas.

This is St. Paul Lutheran Church and if you go on their website, www.stpaulserbin.org, and click on their restoration, you will find it very interesting!  It is one of the nine remaining Wendish churches in this area. 
The Wends (or the Sorbs as they called themselves) descended from Slavic tribes who as early as the 10th century occupied a swath of land down through central Europe.  By the 1800's there were only a small number of these people left inhabitating an area along the river Spree, in northern Germany running into Poland and the Czech Republic.  The impetus for the migration to Texas was in part religious and in part political.  For one thing the Prussians insisted that the Wends speak German and not their own Wendish language.  The Wends were discriminated against in the workplace, dispossessed of their land, and the final insult was the requirement by the Prussians that the Lutheran Wends join the Evangelical Reform churches in a single state run protestant church.  Rather than accept this decree they joined together and planned to immigrate to America.  The story of the Wends migration is one of triumph and tragedy with the deaths of a number of men, women and children from cholera as they crossed the Atlantic on the sailing ship Ben Nevis.  The triumph was their finally reaching the banks of Rabbs Creek, Lee County, Texas, where they purchased a league of land and began the Wendish Lutheran community in southeast Texas.  Their leader was the Reverend Jan Killian who wasted no time in connecting his Wendish brothers and sisters with the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.  This is a rich history and one well worth pursuing and it has it's beginnings right here at St. Paul Lutheran in Serbin.  The church pictured is often referred to as the 'rock' church; it is a replication of the original wooden church built on this site.  It is known and loved as one of the "painted churches" of Texas.

Others that we visited today were in Elgin, Giddings, Warda and Winchester.

Grace Lutheran Church, Elgin, TX, established in 1899.  The present church is new.  Notice how it makes use of colors, both on the walls and in the stained glass windows, to obtain the worshipful setting. 
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This is Immanuel Lutheran of Giddings, TX, founded in 1883.  This new church, along with a K-8 school and a huge gym-auditorium, occupy a city block in Giddings.  You may not be able to see it in this picture, but the bell tower is stain glass from the bottom to the top as it points heavenward in praise of our Great God.

Holy Cross Lutheran is located in Warda, Texas, and I believe that the church really represents the town as the only other building in Warda is the post office!  It was founded in 1882.  The present new building is represented not only by this church but also a very large elementary school with a huge multi-purpose facility.  The shear size of some of these facilities is outside of my realm of experience.  These early Wends set a firm foundation for a flourishing 21st Century church (Kirke).

Winchester, Texas, looks like it could have been the set for the movie 'Fried Green Tomatoes".  St. Michael's Lutheran Church, founded in 1887, is alive and well, preaching and teaching the Gospel of Jesus to about 200 souls in this place.  Another living legacy of the Wendish believers.

There is a wonderful Texas Wendish Heritage Museum in Serbin which is where we gathered our information on the Wends.

Stay tuned!

California

 

We arrived on Tuesday, the 18th, here at Carolyn,s mother's.  The weather has been beautiful!

Today we drove in to Woodland to attend church at St. Paul's.  When they built their present church in 1969 they made a special 'side chapel' for the original altar from their church on Walnut St.

The altar now.

Pastor Henry Scherer and I first met back in 1972 when I was in Modesto and he was in San Francisco.

Anchorage and Palmer

Anchorage Lutheran Church

Anchorage Lutheran began as a mission in 1927.  From 1927 to 1932 it served the town, but in 1932 the mission was suspended due to the Depression.  In 1935 the mission resumed serving both Anchorage and Palmer.  In 1945 the first Anchorage Lutheran Church was dedicated.  It was located on the corner of 8th and E.   Anchorage Lutheran is our 'home' congregation.  Jahna was baptized there in 1968.  Jahna and Joe were confirmed there in 1982.  Karen was confirmed there in 1984.  Jahna and Joe were married there in 1994.  Pastor Fritz officiated at each of these special events with the exception of Jahna's baptism.  Pastor Birner is the one who encouraged me to enroll in the Lay Ministry program which was the beginning of the road that I am on today.

Arlene and her husband Carroll were some of the first people we met at Anchorage Lutheran.  We always like it when we see Arlene at Funny River Lutheran when she is at her place on the Kenai.  She and Carroll gave me a job at Family Market when we came back to Alaska in 1974.

We went to Palmer this evening for the installation service for David Grosz, the new missionary to Southwest Alaska for Alaska Mission for Christ.  The women of St. John prepared a wonderful meal that was served prior to the service.

This is the original St. John Lutheran Church building.  It is a log church built as a part of the original colony and now relocated to the State Fair grounds in Palmer.  Among the first colonists resettled in Alaska as part of a federal project were a number of Lutheran families.  Their church was one of the first buildings erected, a house of worship for the Alaska pioneers. (1935?)



Pastor Rockey is in Florida visiting his mother who is very ill.  His wife, Kathy, said "Of course I'll have my picture taken with you".  We did miss you this evening, Jonathan.



The bell tower and cross from the 'old days' now out front at the new St. John Church with the Chugach Mountains in the background.

Back Home

We left St. Louis yesterday at 6pm.  This gave us some time to tour downtown a bit before turning in our rental car.  However, we did not get to do this touring quite as we had planned.  Take a look...

About two inches of snow covered the ground.....we did not walk around in the park where the Gateway Arch is, we did not walk down by the river, we did not walk very far to go in to the Union Station and we spent more time in there than we had originally planned.  However, there is lots to see there!

Inside the station

Union Station

                So, as you can see, we had snow in St. Louis, it was snowing in Seattle when we got there, and, in Anchorage it was blue sky and sunshine when we arrived home!     But here is some real sunshine for you..... we saw Jeff and Kathy in the Seattle airport as they were going from one flight to the next!!  Can you believe it?  God does, indeed, perform miracles!