The Concordia Story: A Fifty-Year History of Concordia Lutheran Church 1951-2001

Rast that this aggressive, young pastor was not
aware of the difficulty of planting Lutheranism
in deep South Texas. After all, of the nearly half
a million San Antonians in 1950, only 2,010
were listed as members of LCMS congregations.
Merkens recalls directions given by Dr. Rast:
“He said to go out and make calls, infiltrate the
community for Jesus Christ and build a church,
preferably Lutheran. I said, ‘Yes, sir.’ He prayed,
put his hand of blessing on me and left.
“Then at six o’clock that night I was trying to
help Barbara unpack. She handed me the box
and said, ‘Here are your cards. This is your job.
You’re supposed to be working.’ I said, ‘Yes,
ma’am’ and ‘Praise God.’
“I went out, got into the car and started looking
around the neighborhood. I had a Bible, a
catechism, and these cards. That was it. I looked
for a street that was romantic and memorable.
Suddenly I saw it: Mandalay Drive. You know,
The Road to Mandalay. I started knocking on
doors and that night found six prospects: one
Lutheran family, one leaning toward Lutheran,
one of the B’Hai faith. I had a long discussion
with them. Then there were three that were
nominal Roman Catholic, who were not worshiping
regularly.
“I would always ask at the door if they had a
church home and most would reply, ‘Yes, I’m a
Catholic.’ So, I’d say, ‘That’s fine, what parish do
you belong to?’ And, of course, in a lot of cases
the man would turn and say, ‘Martha, what’s the
name of that church?’”
Merkens said that at times he would laughingly
ask, “What kind of Catholic are you?”
If they replied, “Roman Catholic,” he would
tell them, “Well, that’s what I am. I’m roaming
the neighborhood looking for Catholics…unchurched
Catholics, de-churched Catholics…”
Merkens said he was at first reticent about
making calls.
“I didn’t think I would like it. I had never
made a cold call in my life. But I got excited
about it, I got pretty good at it, and I learned to
ask the right questions. I really got to love making
those calls.”
Merkens’ innate ability to communicate, his
deep-rooted persistence, and the guidance of
the Holy Spirit brought results. Within a few
weeks Merkens had assembled a group of
Lutherans and others who were interested in
forming the new congregation.
Added to the prospects Merkens uncovered
were a few given by Dr. Roland Wiederanders,
pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church, the oldest
LCMS church in the city. Some of the members
of St. Paul, located on South Presa, had moved
✦
Above, left and right: A school bus
became not only transportation to
Sunday School, but also a Sunday
School classroom in 1952.
Below: A cinder block building built by
the men of Concordia, the parish’s
second building, was dedicated in 1953.
Chapter I ✦ 9