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

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