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

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According to recollections of early members, Sunday School classes were held in the Merkens home on Basse, the Anderson home on Basse, the Bielefeldt home on Laurelwood, and the Spencer home on Laurelwood. Eventually a tent was rented for additional space, and a school bus was purchased, which became not only transportation, but also a Sunday School classroom. By 1953 the need for additional space to house the growing day school and Sunday ✦ Above: Nearly 700 youngsters enrolled in Concordia’s Vacation Bible School in 1958. Right: The Merkens family gives thanks before mealtime in the mid- 1950’s. Marti was not yet born when this photo was taken. 14 ✦ THE CONCORDIA STORY
School led to action. A companion building to the sanctuary was constructed using volunteer labor. Among those who spent their evenings working on the cinder block building were Jack Brown, Joe Brown, Hud French and Max Garza. “By the grace of the good Lord we got that building built at a very low cost,” Merkens recalled. “The men would work every evening, then I’d join them after I’d get back from calls about a quarter to nine. We’d finish up about ten o’clock, then go and have a sandwich and a beverage and talk about the day’s joy. That was a lot of fun.” Jack Brown, a professional engineer, remembers one particular challenge the men faced. “Steel trusses were hard to get in those days, so we developed a wooden truss to span that 30-foot span,” Brown recalls. Brown notes that the building was not the first campus addition built with volunteer labor. “The first thing we built was a ball field,” he said. “Max Garza helped out with the lighting of the field. We had a very fine ball field for such a small church very early on.” Brown said Merkens’ love of sports and his athletic ability made construction of the ball field a high priority. “He loved baseball and was a heck of a ball player,” Brown recalls. “I remember that I went off to the service for a while during the Korean War. Before I left I had been playing third base. When I came back Pastor Merkens was playing third base. I knew I’d never beat him out of that position. Consequently I ended up playing second base and pitching.” Sports of all kinds became a major part of Concordia’s activities. From the earliest days, ✦ Left: Merkens is surrounded by his children in the late 1950’s. Top right is Karen. Bottom right is Mickie. Left is Guido, Jr. and in Merkens’ arms is Marti. Below: Softball on the church’s athletic field was a staple of activities from the founding of Concordia. Chapter I ✦ 15
Page 1 and 2: THE CONCORDIA STORY A Fifty-Year Hi
Page 3 and 4: THE CONCORDIA STORY A Fifty-Year Hi
Page 5 and 6: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I first came to Co
Page 7 and 8: gregations across the U.S. and in m
Page 9 and 10: ✦ Left: The original chapel serve
Page 11 and 12: Rast that this aggressive, young pa
Page 13 and 14: that would express God’s love thr
Page 15: Address Record, which gave us the n
Page 19 and 20: they kept in mind Merkens’ commen
Page 21 and 22: was sent gratis by CPH to every pas
Page 23 and 24: We tried to get everything done in
Page 25 and 26: Perhaps the innovation in which Mer
Page 27 and 28: format was to be a series of semina
Page 29 and 30: other congregations, all of which h
Page 31 and 32: ✦ Left: “They come to play and
Page 33 and 34: prospective members, and over one h
Page 35 and 36: ✦ Above: At Easter Sunday service
Page 37 and 38: ice.’ So they came that week and
Page 39 and 40: The year 1982 marked the publicatio
Page 41 and 42: ✦ Left: Concordia operated a bus
Page 43 and 44: The day was planned so the dedicati
Page 45 and 46: springs forward to daylight-savings
Page 47 and 48: eally selling short the good people
Page 49 and 50: Still the period beginning in Janua
Page 51 and 52: ✦ Left: The sanctuary as it looke
Page 53 and 54: has up here on 281,” Thompson sai
Page 55 and 56: experience as a lay pastor had dram
Page 57 and 58: tract for the purchase, but also au
Page 59 and 60: ✦ Left: Carl Steiger, right, serv
Page 61 and 62: gage. And it was not the kind of pr
Page 63 and 64: ✦ Left: San Antonio Mayor Howard
Page 65 and 66: two full-time pastors and two part-
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✦ Left: Concordia’s Men’s Min
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Seminar speakers, like Paul Maier,
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Concordia who live in the area and
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Prior to the arrival of the Prieto
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✦ Far left: Concordians Mike Manu
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✦ Above: Concordia’s administra
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P ASTORS W HO H AVE S ERVED C ONCOR
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✦ Above: Adult Bible Class is hel
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Sunday School, 1952. Vacation Bible
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The Concordia Story: A Fifty-Year History of Concordia Lutheran Church 1951-2001

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