Bethany Lutheran Church

Texas Lutheranism changed around the congregation in its German years. After the Texas Synod divided in 1896, the branch that joined the Iowa Synod, Texas Synod I, became a district of that body while keeping the Texas Synod name. In 1930 it went with the Iowa Synod into the new American Lutheran Church, a union with the Ohio and Buffalo synods, as its Texas District. Its German paper returned as Der Lutherbote from 1915 until the Lutheran Standard replaced it in 1930. In 1945 the district counted 50,031 baptized members, nearly 200 congregations and preaching places and 158 ministers.

What the plaque says

Bethany Lutheran Church Early settlers in Fredericksburg worshiped together in a community church, the Vereins Kirche. On March 27, 1887, the Rev. John Heinzelmann and about 80 families organized a separate congregation known as Die Evangelische Kirche (The Evangelical church). Early worship services were conducted in the Vereins Kirche and later in the Southern (First) Methodist Church. By 1889 the members were able to build their own sanctuary at 107 E. Austin Street. A cornerstone-laying ceremony took place on April 14, and the new structure was dedicated on September 15. In addition to its service in Fredericksburg, the church conducted missionary work in nearby communities. Its name was changed in 1932 to Evangelische Lutherische Bethanien Gemeinde, and in 1954 the congregation officially adopted the English translation, Bethany Evangelical Lutheran church. English-language services were first introduced in 1931, but German services continued into the 1940s. A new sanctuary was built here in 1954. The 1889 structure was sold to another local church. Throughout its history, Bethany Lutheran Church has maintained a variety of worship, educational, civic, and missionary activities. (1990)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Vereins Kirche and Main Street — steps away
  The octagonal Society Church on Fredericksburg's market square, rebuilt in stone in the 1930s, beside a main street laid out like a Rhine village.
• National Museum of the Pacific War — 0.4 mi
  A museum of the war in the Pacific in Chester Nimitz's hometown, dedicated at his request to the two million who served with him, with a garden given by Japan.
• Fort Martin Scott — 2.4 mi
  An army post of 1848 on Barons Creek beside the German town, where soldiers kept the peace of a Comanche trade and paid the merchants in hard cash.
• Luckenbach — 9.6 mi
  A store, saloon and dance hall on Grape Creek that a humorist bought in 1971, declared a free state of mind, and turned into a pilgrimage for Texas music.

More markers nearby

• Market Square (Mark Platz) — steps away
• Gillespie County — steps away
• Fredericksburg Social Turn Verein — steps away
• Old Central Drugstore — steps away