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

other congregations, all of which he declined. In
November 1963 Merkens received an even more
prestigious call to be president of Concordia
College-Austin. He would have been the youngest
college president of a synodical college, ever to
serve. The call was returned, declined. However,
the call was re-sent to Merkens.
“They said you obviously don’t realize how
important this is. Please think about this some
more,” said Merkens. It was declined a second
time, however.
Merkens received another honor in 1966, when
he was given the Lutheran Medallion for
Distinguished Christian Service. He was the ninth
recipient of the medallion. Other recipients
include the Kings of Sweden, Norway, and
Finland.
During the 1960’s and 1970’s expansion or
construction was almost constantly under way
at Concordia. The sanctuary was expanded four
times, new land was purchased for expansion
and parking, and offices and other buildings
were constructed.
In 1971 Merkens became Fifth Vice President
of the Missouri Synod. He was later elevated to
Fourth Vice President upon the resignation of
the man holding that position.
This brought him into the church body’s
hierarchy at the time of its most explosive controversy.
Merkens describes this stormy period
as “The Battle For the Bible.” In the early 1970’s
a number of the Synod’s pastors and seminary
professors were under fire for questioning the
traditional belief in the inerrancy of scripture.
The question of whether these liberal views
would prevail in the Missouri Synod came to a
head at the synodical convention in 1973.
Merkens was selected as the opening speaker
for the convention and set the tone for the gathering
that ultimately resulted in the defeat of the
liberal contingent. Many liberals ultimately
walked out and set up a “seminary in exile,”
Seminex, but the Missouri Synod had reaffirmed
its historic stand of belief in the Bible as the one
authentic, inspired revelation from the Creator.
At that convention, Merkens was elected
Second Vice President of Synod, the highest
office he could attain without having to move to
St. Louis and leave the congregation. He served
for eight years in this position. Merkens was also
nominated for President of Synod at conventions
in 1973, 1977 and 1981, but declined
each time.
Concordia received a great honor and even
greater national exposure in 1972 with the publication
of a book produced by the Billy Graham
Association and Decision Magazine, titled Great
Churches of Today. Concordia was one of only 15
churches featured in the book.
“Billy Graham’s team came down and interviewed
all of us, the staff and many members, in
preparation of the book,” Merkens recalled.
“They were a really sharp group, and they really
knew churches, so it was an incredible honor to
be featured in their book.”
Concordia’s ministry was also described in
Your Church Has A Fantastic Future, a church
✦
Above: The cornerstone was laid for the
school building on February 16, 1964.
Joining Merkens and the cornerstone
artisans are, left to right, H. P.
Haschke, Mayo Galindo, Tex Saage,
and Gerald Brinton.
Below: The west side chapel was
added as a part of continuing
renovations to the sanctuary during
the 1960’s.
Chapter II ✦ 27