Our Faith &

Our Heritage

A short History Of St. Martin’s

St. Martin’s Story Begins 1883 - 1915

St. Martin’s started up in 1883 with only about 20 families of German descent who located in Austin. Records show that they wanted to start a “German Lutheran Church.” Their request to the First German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Texas was answered with the

assignment of Rev. Henry Merz of Welcome, Texas, who was also President of the Synod.

On March 4, 1883, Rev. Merz began serving the group by preaching every two weeks in the afternoon at the First Presbyterian Church. In

October, the “congregation” began meeting in the newly completed Swedish Lutheran Church, Gethsemane, which was located on 16 th

and Congress Ave. There was a monthly rent due to the Swedish Church of $5 per month. The first church building of St. Martin’s was built

and dedicated on April 26, 1885.

The second pastor was E.F. Metzenthin, who served the congregation for eight years from 1886 to 1894. His tenure was not a smooth

one, with the church being laden with a debt of $4,800. He is credited with the organization of two mission churches near Austin: Salem

and Dessau.

The third pastor was W. Bunge, who served St. Martin’s for only one year starting in 1894. In 1895, Rev. John Harder assumed the

pastorate of St. Martin’s. He was from East Prussia and studied at the St. Chrishona Mission College near Basel, Switzerland. Quite a few

of the pastors in early Texas came from this seminary. Rev. Harder did much to revitalize the church before resigning in 1898.

The next pastor came from Pflugerville. Pastor O.W. Hartmann’s claim to fame at St. Martin’s was the retirement of the building debt in

1904. He resigned to transfer to St. John’s in San Antonio.

His successor was the Rev. H.J. Romberg, who served St. Martin’s from 1904 to 1915. During his tenure, the congregation began to grow

and in 1913, a call was issued for an associate pastor who was fluent in English and German. That pastor was F.G. Roesener of Nebraska.

Pastors Metzenthin, Bunge, Harder, Hartmann, Romberg and Roesener also are listed as pastors of Salem Lutheran Church of Onion Creek.

Deutsche Evangelische Lutherische St. Martin’s Kirche on East Peach Street, built in 1884

The Second Quarter Century 1908 - 1933

The second 25-year span of St. Martin’s Lutheran history reflects some radical changes in the life of the congregation. Rev. Romberg was

in the fifth year of his 10-year tenure. The congregation had grown from the original 20 members to 315 members in 1908.

The church still was struggling with its finances. All services, including Sunday School and Confirmation, were still being led in German. Rev.

Romberg’s concern with the language issue prompted him to call F. G. Roesener directly from seminary. Roesener was ordained on Aug.

31, 1913, and served as assistant pastor. Romberg left St. Martin’s in 1915 with Roesener being promoted to pastor.

Rev. Roesener energized the congregation and quickly increased the membership. In 1917, the 400th anniversary of the Reformation, St.

Martin’s hosted a mass celebration of more than 2,000 Lutherans from across Central Texas who met in the Texas House of

Representatives (English service), St. Martin’s Lutheran (German service), and Gethsemane Lutheran (Swedish service). This was during

the World War I years, when travel was not easy.

In 1920, Rev. Roesener initiated the practice of sending every incoming Lutheran student at the University of Texas an invitation to make

“St. Martin’s Lutheran your church home while attending UT." This was the forerunner of today’s Campus Ministry.

The church building located on 13th Street was becoming too small for the growing congregation. Property was acquired on 14th Street

and plans were being made for a new home. In 1923, St. Martin’s conducted Lenten services in the old Queen Theater, which was located

across from the Paramount Theater, every morning from 7:15 to 7:45. Attendance soared to 700 on several mornings.

In 1929, after several delays, St. Martin’s Lutheran moved into its new beautiful Gothic building at 14th Street and Congress Avenue. The

church featured a one-of-a-kind altar (with only two statues) and custom stained glass windows that now stand in our Chapel’s narthex.

St. Martin’s Ev. Lutheran Church at 14th Street and Congress Avenue

The Third Quarter Century 1934 - 1958

The third 25-year span of St. Martin’s history was the beginning of a phenomenal growth period. In 1935, St. Martin’s was the lead host church for the International Luther League convention held at the University of Texas. The 1,500 delegates were treated to a pageant,

“The Spirit of the Church,” held in Memorial Stadium with a cast of over 1,000. In 1940, a new Kilgen organ was donated to the church.

Many members of St. Martin’s served our country during World War II from 1940 to 1945. We lost only one member.

In 1951, Rev. F.G. Roesener resigned after faithfully serving St. Martin’s for 38 years. Rev. Edward V. Long of Galveston accepted a call to

serve our church in 1952. By 1954, our Sunday School had grown to an average attendance of 570 per week, prompting the church to

organize a building expansion committee. At about this time, the congregation purchased two old boarding houses north of the church property to make room for more Sunday School classes and youth activities.

On April 1, 1954, the first edition of the “Mid Week Reminder” was published. A year later, it was renamed “The Echo.”

In 1955, the first of several extremely successful mid-week Lenten dramas was presented. After the first week, it was necessary to

schedule an additional service to accommodate the crowds. The next year, St. Martin’s held its first Planning Retreat at the Bible Camp in

Round Rock. This became an annual event on the church calendar and it fostered many creative ideas for future congregational activities.

In 1958, St. Martin’s received news from the Texas Legislature that the church would be forced to move from its location on 14th Street

and Congress Avenue due to the proposed Capitol complex expansion.

75th Anniversary Celebration for St. Martin’s Ev. Lutheran Church at the Palmer Events Center

The Fourth Quarter Century 1958 - 1983

St. Martin’s history during this time was marked by growth and change. The State of Texas decided to purchase our site located on 14th

and Congress Avenue. A church committee that had been working on an extensive expansion program had to shift gears and begin

planning for a completely new church instead.

The congregation chose to remain downtown as it purchased a block of land for the new church at our present location. After the bid for

$1,077,695 was opened on Aug. 11, 1958, ground was broken on Sept. 3.

The last worship service at the beautiful old church was Aug. 16, 1959. The service featured the removal of the cornerstone from the

1884 building and the 1929 building. The congregation had a formal stripping of the altar and a processional with the items from the

sanctuary. The congregation then had a fellowship sack lunch, changed into work clothes and proceeded to remove the pews, altar and

furniture. These items were stored at a nearby vacant funeral home that served as our temporary church office.

On Aug. 23, 1959, we had our first worship service at the old Austin High School. Each Sunday, men in pickup trucks would haul a

temporary altar and Sunday School benches to the site to set up for worship in the auditorium and the cafeteria. After the services,

members would shed their coats, back the trucks up to the front door and bring everything back to the funeral home. During this time, the congregation celebrated its 75th anniversary with a banquet at the Austin Municipal Auditorium.

The last service held at Austin High was Mar. 20, 1960, and we moved to our present-day church on March 27, 1960.

Other highlights from this time period:

1962: The Day School & Nursery opened.

1964: Our first Religious Fine Arts Festival featured visiting choirs, a national art display, forums and a Broadway play. This event

continued in 1965 as we featured three performances of the popular Broadway play, “Gideon.” About 2,000 people attended.

1965: The Nueces Activity Center for Senior Citizens opened.

1967: Our first Handbell Choir formed after St. Martin’s was given a gift of bells. Our last Fine Arts Festival, which featured a

performance of “Luther,” was held for the community. The play’s cast included the Brothers of St. Edward’s University. Also that year, Pastor Bob Adix fulfilled his call to St. Martin’s early to fill a void caused by Pastor Ed Long’s heart attack.

1971: With a full calendar at St. Martin’s, the church called Pastor Carl Schoss as its third pastor.

1972: Pastor Ed Long was called home. His last service was to confirm his youngest son, Danny, who later became a pastor.

1975: St. Martin’s sponsored 10 immigrant Vietnamese families.

1982: A Christmas celebration of “La Fiesta De La Posada” was held. On Christmas Eve, we celebrated the dedication of our Visser-

Rowland Mechanical Action Organ.

The Fifth Quarter Century 1984 - 2009

St. Martin’s church records during this time aren’t as comprehensive as earlier periods, but we had many highlights in our history during

this time. The Senior Pastor at the beginning of this period was John Auer, who served St. Martin’s from 1972 to 1986. Pastor Auer

retired to Fredericksburg after his last sermon on Sept. 14, 1986.

Pastor James E. Bennett gave his first sermon at St. Martin’s on May 3, 1987. He was greeted with a monumental problem early in his

tenure. The federal government and the City of Austin had begun searching out buildings that had asbestos in their construction and the

absence of fire sprinklers in their buildings. Uncle Sam filed a lawsuit to force St. Martin’s to remove the asbestos, and the City threatened to close our school if we did not install a sprinkler system. We had no choice but to comply. On Oct. 4, 1987, St. Martin’s started

conducting its Sunday worship services in the gym. With a portable altar table, a rented electronic organ, a piecemeal sound system and a

rag-tag assortment of folding chairs, we thought back about how we worshipped at the old Austin High when we were building this church.

Picture, if you can, scaffolding all the way up to the top of the sanctuary ceiling. The workmen had to be able to scrape the asbestos off of

the ceiling, and that was the only way to reach it. Also, each area had to be sealed off when the workmen, clad in protective suits with

masks and air tanks, would be working in a particular area. After the asbestos project was completed, the sprinkler crew came in and began its work.

It was at about this time that a couple of retired members, headed by Clarence Vilcoq, noted that there would be a lot of work restoring

the church to an operational level. In 1987, the Mop & Hammer group was born. They still meet every 2nd and 4th Tuesday to perform

repairs, do maintenance, and have a great time giving each other a hard time at “coffee time.”

Pastor Bennett was elected to serve as the Bishop of the Southwest Texas Synod in 1994. It was a proud moment for us, even though we

hated to see him go. He was replaced by Pastor Sam Zumwalt, who came to us from Waco in 1995.

In 1996, a group was appointed to serve as our Building Use Committee. Its purpose was to review the present building usage and decide

how it could be changed to serve us better. After several meetings, it was obvious to the committee that the building needed to be

renovated and expanded. The congregation approved the proposal and in 1998, the renovation and expansion began. It was an

ambitious project that included the complete renovation of the sanctuary: new floors, new pews, a new apse, an enlarged choir loft,

improved lighting, and the restoration of the altar. It was back to the gym for worship services again!

In 2001, we re-dedicated our improved facility, which included expanded administrative offices, improved bathroom facilities, a new

kitchen, an improved Fellowship Hall and music area, and various accessibility upgrades throughout the building. Rev. Zumwalt left in

2004. Rev. Craig Sommer now serves as Senior Pastor and Rev. June Wilkins as Associate Pastor.

Listed here are just some of the many outreach programs that have happened in the last 25 years (not in order of importance or date):

Agua Viva, Mobile Loaves and Fishes, Meals on Wheels, Habitat for Humanity, Camp Chrysalis & Ebert Ranch Work Projects, Outreach to

Honduras, and Austin Children’s Shelter support.

St. Martin’s altar on May 31, 2009 — the finale day of our year-long 125th Anniversary Celebration

St. Martin’s thanks Charles and Earline Oertli for writing and compiling these accounts of our congregation’s history