Friedens Evangelical and Reformed United Church of Christ

The church's long name records two mergers. Friedens means peace in German. According to Wikipedia, the Evangelical and Reformed Church formed in 1934 when the Reformed Church in the United States joined the Evangelical Synod of North America, bodies built largely by immigrants from Germany and Switzerland. In 1957 it joined most Congregational Christian churches to form the United Church of Christ. The Handbook of Texas counts ninety-one churches in the denomination's South Central Conference in 1995. The plaque does not say which of the two older bodies Friedens belonged to.

What the plaque says

Friedens Evangelical and Reformed United Church of Christ German immigrants helped settle Riesel in the late 19th century. In July 1903, eight families organized the Friedens (Peace) Church. After meeting in a schoolhouse, the congregation built its own sanctuary two miles east of riesel (Present Friedens Cemetery). Pastors H. J. Leemhuis and H.S. Schulz officiated a dedication service in April 1904. Four years later, the church house was put on skids and moved by mules to the current site. Rev. D.A. Jud became the first resident pastor in 1929. Services continued in German until the 1940s, and in 1952 the congregation built a new sanctuary. More than a century after its founding, Friedens Church continues to impact the community. (2008)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Armstrong Browning Library — 13 mi
  A three-story Italian Renaissance library on the Baylor campus built to hold A. J. Armstrong's Browning collection, dedicated in December 1951 and now, by its own account, the world's largest of Browning material.
• Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum — 13 mi
  The official state repository of Texas Ranger memorabilia, opened in 1968 in Fort Fisher Park on the Brazos, named for a Ranger post of 1837 whose site no one has located.
• Dr Pepper Museum — 13 mi
  The 1906 bottling plant of the Artesian Manufacturing and Bottling Company, built where Dr Pepper outgrew a Waco drugstore soda fountain, now the Dr Pepper Museum.
• Waco Suspension Bridge — 13 mi
  A Brazos crossing opened in January 1870 as the longest single-span suspension bridge west of the Mississippi, tolled until 1889, closed to vehicles in 1971 and now walked.

More markers nearby

• Riesel — steps away
• Judge Albert G. and Harriet Elizabeth Grimes Perry — 5.3 mi
• Indian Battlefield — 5.3 mi
• Torrey's Trading Post No. 2 — 5.5 mi