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

The day was planned so the dedication took
place at both morning services, in order that all
members could participate.
Just prior to the start of the 11 a.m. service,
Merkens went up to the altar to retrieve a book. As he
turned to leave the altar area, tragedy struck. Merkens
fell to the floor and was unable to stand. The pastor
had torn the patella ligaments in both knees.
Merkens recalls, “Some of the people thought:
‘Isn’t this a wonderful object lesson he’s giving us.
We need a wellness center. We need a health ministry.’
Of course television was grinding away, filming
the whole thing. I just couldn’t get up. Finally
a man by the name of Tuchenhagen, one of the
ushers, came over and asked, ‘Are you all right?’
“Four elders carried me back into the office.
Talk about the providence of God, in that service
was Dr. (Phillip) Craven, who I believe is one
of the best orthopedic surgeons in San Antonio.
He immediately came back to the office and
examined my knees. He said for me to stand up.
I put my weight on my right leg and I went right
down. Then I tried the left and the same thing
happened. He said to me, ‘I’ll see you at two
o’clock this afternoon.’ I asked ‘For what purpose?’
He said, ‘Well, I’m doing surgery.’ I said,
‘What if I don’t come?’ He said, ‘You won’t ever
walk again.’ So I said ‘I’ll be there.’”
Merkens was placed in a wheelchair and
wheeled out before the congregation just as the
11 a.m. service was to start. He conducted the
dedication service and preached from the wheelchair,
despite the pain of his torn ligaments.
The next six weeks, Merkens recalled, “were
the most difficult of my life.”
The energetic pastor was confined to lying flat
on his back in bed, following the surgery. But this
circumstance hardly deterred Merkens from conducting
the day to day business of Concordia.
“Barbara would bring the meals and the mail
and all the papers I needed to review or sign,”
Merkens said. “She was just a saint.
“The secretaries would come out and bring
me anything I needed from church. Of course I
had a telephone, so I could stay in touch with
everybody and keep everything rolling.”
Merkens only missed one Sunday service. For
weeks he arrived on Sunday mornings in an ambulance
and preached from a wheelchair, and eventually
on crutches. Just 10 days after his surgery he
held a seminar for military chaplains in a local hotel.
The experience, Merkens said, “taught us all
patience, and it also reminded me how wonderful
the Lord is in his healing power.”
The year 1985 also marked the beginning of
a highly visible statement of members’ faith
through the Walk of Faith. This was a series of
scripture verses carved into granite and placed
into the sidewalks at the church. These were
contributed by various Concordia families, often
in memory of loved ones.
✦
Left: San Antonio Mayor Henry
Cisneros and County Judge Tom
Vickers (behind left) were part of the
celebration of dedication of
Concordia’s Ministry Building,
November 3, 1983.
Below: One of the many scripture
verses carved in granite and
embedded in Concordia’s sidewalks
which became the “Walk of Faith.”
Chapter III ✦ 41