Because of the brevity required on a historical marker, the above description does not do justice to our history nor our story. For our story is a story of PEOPLE (not just locations and buildings) living in Christ. It is a story of Lutheran people and a story of Wendish people with German influence. It is a story of people who immigrated to Texas from Germany and a story of those same people and/or their descendants who migrated to The Grove. The story of St. Paul is the story of families whose lives, faith, loves and hopes centered in Christ - then, now and always.

Holy Scripture primarily reveals to us our salvation through Jesus Christ alone. But the Bible is also a history of people created and redeemed. He came to be among people and to redeem people- people who married, had children, had families, who moved and migrated, went to foreign lands and were scattered.

God created the family into which He placed His created people. Adam and Eve were placed into a relationship with each other and they with their children. "God sets the lonely in families", Psalm 68:6. In the Bible, God also refers to people in the context of children, fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers. God promised Abraham "/ will make you into a great nation...and all the people on earth will be blessed through you." Genesis 12: 2-3. That promise had to do with both Abraham's physical and spiritual descendants. The Bible is a story of many people, pioneers, patriarchs, matriarchs and descendants who had a living relationship with the living Triune God, their families and others.

Matthew 1:1ff, which reveals the genealogy of Jesus beginning with Abraham and David, reports 42 generations from Abraham to Jesus (We have 8th generation members in our congregation going back to our founding fathers). In Luke chapter 3, Jesus is traced back 75 generations to Adam and the Creator God. This shows Jesus' relationship to God and the whole human family.

Family, generations, ancestors and descendants are important to God. It is of utmost necessity to bridge people from generation to generation - from the "then" to the "now" and "always". The older generations (The "THEN") pass on the heritage to the younger generations. God promised Noah "...a covenant for all generations to come" Genesis 9:12. This is God's biblical command: From "then" to "now" to "always"! The Lord said: "...future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim His righteousness to a people yet unborn... "Psalm 22: 30-31. God created, provided for and redeemed His people, not in a vacuum, but in the context of the history of generations. The family of St Paul, The Grove, shares in this biblical history and exists to provide a bridge to future generations.

We trace our origin back to the Triune God Who created, redeemed and sanctified us. We are one family in Christ. We are His children, His sheep and lambs. We belong to HIM first and foremost. In HIM we have our roots, our history, our very being and our oneness and fellowship with one another in the family of St. Paul, The Grove. Ephesians 3: 14-15 describes who we are: "...the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of Whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named". The word "family" derives its meaning from the word "father" or "father-hood". We are of the household and family of the heavenly Father and of Christ through the Holy Spirit.

Praise God! Our biological and spiritual forefathers were of the household of Christ. Using Old Testament imagery, they were a branch or a twig of the Lord. For that reason, we today (now and always) have an incomparable heritage. It is believed that the Wends, who are a Slavic ethnic people, were converted to Christianity in the 10th - 12th centuries. While we are very grateful for our ethnic Wendish family, our biological family heritage and cultural heritage, we are especially grateful for the heritage of a family LIVING IN CHRIST.

That fact has eternal significance as it did for the Philippian jailer! "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you and your family will be saved. They spoke the Lord's Word to the jailer and everyone in his home... The jailer and his entire family were baptized immediately...He and his family were thrilled to be believers in God." Acts 16: 31-33.

At the time of the Reformation (1517), many (though not all) of the Slavic Wendish people living in the German regions of Saxony and Prussia participated with ethnic Germans in the Lutheran Reformation. By about 1580, at the time of the Lutheran Book Of Concord, Lutheranism became the dominant religion among the Wendish. Dr. Martin Chemnitz, a prominent Lutheran theologian, known as the second Martin (Luther), was a Wend. These Wendish Lutherans stood firmly on the Biblical truths:

Scripture alone, not human reason, nor logic, nor traditions, is the source and norm of all doctrine. We are saved by grace alone through the merits of Jesus Christ. Forgiveness is a gift. All of Christ's heavenly blessings are received by faith alone not by our actions, works, feelings, or sentimental attachments. God's Word, Baptism and the Lord's Supper are God's own created means through which He creates and sustains this faith alone. The Word and Sacraments are not the works or actions of men. Believers are simply the recipients of the Word and Sacraments and through which they receive the fullness of God's grace in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Like the original Lutheran Wends and Germans, the 1400 or so immigrants that came to Texas in the last half of the nineteenth century held the same conservative orthodox biblical faith of their fathers. They pledged themselves, their pastors, and their teachers to the Holy Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions. The Calvinist ruler in the Prussian area in 1817 called for a union of Lutherans with Calvinists. In 1830 this was actually decreed. In 1841, those who opposed such a "union" were permitted to form independent churches. In spite of the undue hardships this caused, faithful people and pastors did form independent churches. The orthodox Lutheran Pastor, John Kilian, became pastor of the newly formed churches in Klitten and Weigersdorf, Germany in 1848. He also ministered to many other groups in the land of the Wends (Lusatia). In early 1854, oppressed religiously as well as economically, faithful Wends of both the "state church" and the newly formed independent churches, decided to emigrate with the plan to "build a pure evangelical Lutheran congregation in America". They formally organized, called pastor Kilian as their pastor, and made their religious plans even before immigrating to Texas. The approximate 588 emigrants who left for America had a special church bell manufactured to use in the new church building to be erected in Texas. The bell accompanied them on the BEN NEVIS ship that arrived at Galveston, Texas on December 15, 1854. The inscription on the bell demonstrates that they were a Lutheran orthodox confessional family. It reads: "God's Word and Luther's doctrine pure shall to eternity endure." This is the Lutheran heritage of St. Paul, The Grove.

Who are we? St. Paul is a Christian family! We are a Lutheran family! Culturally and ethnically, we are primarily a Wendish family. A conservative estimate would indicate that over 80% of St. Paul's membership (especially of the approximately 134 family units) have a WENDISH background or influence. Our eight founding families were Wendish. Sixty percent (60%) of our family units can be traced back to these eight founding "fathers". Another 20% of our membership can be traced back to our "forming fathers" (1884 -1925). They too were mostly Wendish. We also have other Wends in our congregation (Elton Hentschel, the Domel's, the Pietsch's, etc.) that do not trace back to St. Paul's founding or forming fathers (1878 - 1925). As stated above, we are also richly blessed with a significant group of non-Wends.

In order to understand St. Paul congregation, we must recognize that we are not only Christian and Lutheran, but we are also Wendish. To be a Wend means that we have a unique culture and language in our history. We have a certain way of thinking and doing things. We have a unique closeness and even a "stubbornness" that is sometimes misunderstood. Our Wendish background really does influence our lives and relationships in our congregation.

The Wends, also known as SORBS, never had a national, independent political state. We are the descendents of Slavic people or tribes that date back to the 5th or 6th centuries, and are related to the Poles and Czechs and other Slavic people. While we historically were a "minority" living in "another's land" and suffering discrimination, we did have a "homeland". It is Lusatia, which is approximately 50 miles southeast of Berlin, Germany. Our "homeland" was an area of rolling terrain and fertile soil with the Spree river running through its midst. It was an area thirty miles wide and sixty miles long with the people living in close proximity to each other. It was a small area comparable to the area of Waco-Temple-Gatesville. We had our own history, language, culture, customs and traditions. The Germans surrounded, infiltrated and colonized this area where the SORBS (Wends) lived for centuries. As a "minority", our Wendish ancestors were deprived, segregated, and dominated by "foreigners" (mostly by the ruling class). As a result, our ancestors took on the German ways, language, and culture. Even their names were "Germanized". Much like we have African-Americans and Mexican -Americans, we were the Sorb-Germans in Lusatia, Germany. It was very natural and common for Wends and Germans to live next to one another and to marry, especially when they came here to Texas. In a very unique way, the Wends identified with the Germans. They spoke the same language. It was as if they were one of them.

So these Lusatian Sorbs, called Wends, formed the ethnic background of the Lutheran Christian immigrants who came to Texas. In September 1854, a group of about 578-588 left their villages in Lusatia. They traveled by rail to Hamburg, Germany, by ship to Hull, England, by rail to Liverpool, England, and then they embarked on the BEN NEVIS ship with a stopover in Queenstown, Ireland because of a cholera epidemic. They finally set sail from Queenstown on Oct. 23, 1854 and arrived in the port at Galveston on Dec. 15, 1854. Seventy eight people had died since leaving "home" in Lusatia. From Galveston, the 500 or so went by steamer to Houston and then by foot or ox cart to New Ulm and Industry (The location of a few Wends who immigrated in 1853). From there they traveled on to the Serbin area, the new home of "Wenden land" in Texas. It was in Serbin that the Mother Church of Lutheran Wends in Texas came into being. St. Paul Lutheran Church, Serbin, Texas, was the first Missouri Synod Lutheran Church in Texas. Following the 1854 emigration, other Wends came later on other ships. Some of these were related to those who were passengers on the BEN NEVIS, or had been friends or acquaintances in Lusatia. In some cases they came from the same village/town and church and many of them also knew Pastor Kilian or had him as their pastor before he emigrated. The BEN NEVIS became the symbol of the whole Wendish immigration even though many came on other ships.

These immigrants that followed also came to Lee County and helped establish other settlements.Congregations were soon formed in Fedor, Manheim, Warda, Loebau, Winchester, Giddings and Lincoln. Many of the "founding fathers" and "forming fathers" of St. Paul, The Grove not only came here from Serbin but they came from these other Wendish German settlements. Wends also went to Houston, Austin, Bishop, Thorndale, Walburg, Copperas Cove, Honey Grove and to West Texas, etc. Many of them moved around a lot in those years before finding a final settlement place suitable to their needs and desires.

We have many current members in our congregation that had ancestors on the BEN NEVIS ship in 1854. Included on the BEN NEVIS were the families of Andreas Lowke, Lehmann, Johann Arldt, George Bamsch, Johann Hohle, Michael Dube, Johann Mertink, Andreas Symank, Andreas Zwahr, Andrew Melde, George Handrick, Johann Handrick and Carl August Patschke (and others). Some members of these families died enroute; other families had births enroute.

Our congregation had its beginning with a Wendish Lutheran Christian family from Weigersdorf, Germany - The August Winkler family. Their pastor in Weigersdorf was Rev. John Kilian who immigrated with over 500 souls in 1854. Just three years after the "Ben Nevis" immigration, a son of August and Marie Winkler, William, immigrated in 1857. And then in 1859 he brought the rest of his family, his parents, August and Marie (Hoebel) Winkler, two brothers, John Ernest and Charles A. and one sister, Anna Marie.

In 1869, the father (August) passed away in Serbin. One year later in 1870 William and Charles Winkler migrated to Western Bell County to purchase a large undeveloped tract of land that stretched from the Leon River Bridge (Winkler Pecan Plant) to The Grove. It is believed that their brother, John Ernst, participated in this venture also but then sold his interest to William and Charles. While wanting to establish their homesteads here, they also wanted to encourage and attract other Wends and Germans from Serbin and Lee County to settle here too. So a good portion of the land they purchased was made available to other Wendish (and German) families. Brother John Ernst and his wife were also on the way here but turned around at Salado and went back home to Serbin (It is told that the wife was very "concerned" about the Indians in the area).

The whole family was very devout in their Lutheran faith not only in the old country but here in their new homeland. After William and Charles Winkler settled in The Grove, they, together with other Lutheran settlers like the Wilhelm's, would make trips back to Serbin for Baptisms and the Lord's Supper. Every effort possible was made to get a Lutheran pastor to come to the area and form a Lutheran congregation, but to no avail. With a desire to hear God's Word, and under the leadership of Charles, they were able to get a German speaking Methodist pastor to minister to them. By 1877, The Winkler brothers together with four other families (including the Wilhelm's) formed a Methodist church, Moody Leon, on the north side of the Leon River. The Leon River crossing existed then at what is now the location of Winkler Park. The Charles A. Winkler dwelling and cotton gin (not to be confused with The Grove gin), which was built in 1877, was near there too.

William Winkler and his family, however, were not satisfied with some teachings and practices. They also wanted a parochial school for their children. Christian education was a high priority. About this same time, Andreas Symank Jr. came from Serbin/Fedor, Lee County and settled here. Andreas' father-in-law, Traugott Patschke, also expressed interest in moving here if there were a Lutheran congregation. It is interesting to note that Andreas Symank Sr. (the father of Andreas Symank Jr. referred to above) was one of the founding fathers of Trinity Lutheran Church, Fedor, which was served by pastor Brinkmann. Pastor Brinkmann was the first pastor to make occasional trips to The Grove in 1878 to provide the ministry of the Gospel to these families. Thus the ministry of God's Word and Sacraments began at The Grove in the home of William Winkler in 1878 -the beginning of what would become St. Paul Lutheran Church. Joining these three families were the Johannes Dutschmann and Traugott Mueller(Miller) families. Johannes and Traugott also conducted lay worship services since a pastor came only about once a month. In 1882 the Christian Richter family came to The Grove. These six families together with the Klare and Wendling families formally founded and organized St. Paul Lutheran Church, The Grove, Texas in 1883 with 55 souls and 25 communicant members.

Thus eight families, living still in Christ - then, now and always, were the founding "fathers" of our congregation! What an exciting time! A Church and School had its beginning in the home of the William Winkler family. William also donated land (Where Elmo Winkler use to live) in 1884 for a church, cemetery and parsonage. William and Charles Winklers' mother Marie Hoebel Winkler is buried in the "old cemetery" and William, who donated the land, was the last adult to be buried in the old cemetery. Another founding father, Traugott Miller, was the first adult to be buried in the new cemetery at our current site.

For the first 29 years, from 1878 to 1907, there was only a three-year period, 1896 - 1899, during which the congregation had a resident full time pastor. What a demonstration of faithfulness to God and His Word under such circumstances! Because of their vision, future generations benefit!

The eight founding "fathers" (families) certainly were good examples and role models of what it is to be living in Christ... Then... Now... And Always. In every Christian family there is the urgency of the "THEN", in other words, the past. It provides the base or foundation. It is the importance of having parents, grandparents and ancestors that have lived faithfully in Christ.

In every Christian family there is the urgency of the "NOW", that is the present. It is the importance of faithfulness to Christ in the present, right now, every day; day in and day out living and practicing our faith, love and hope.

In every Christian family there is the urgency of the "ALWAYS", that is the future. It is the importance of handing on the heritage of our faith, hope and love in Christ to our children and grandchildren, and yes, to OTHERS in the community and world. It is giving sacrificial gifts now, based on the "then", for the benefit of the future generations. The dedication, the endurance in the midst of hardships, the sacrifices, the vision, the willingness and struggle to change, and yes even a wholesome stubbornness of our founding families provide the foundation for the gift of our full heritage to the next generation and beyond.