St John Evangelical Lutheran Church

"A Community Church with a Warm Heart"

 

 

Our History

The congregation was founded in 1878 by German immigrants who settled northeast of Austin, Texas. Attracted by the rich black soil, farmers soon referred to the community as "Richland." Settlers in the Richland area began worship in a schoolhouse located on the Franz Schmidt farm. On January 6, 1898, nineteen men signed the constitution establishing St. John German Evangelical Church. In 1884 a small sanctuary was built from the wood of an old ranch house in the area. This building was later converted to a pastor’s residence and the first real sanctuary was completed by 1891 at a cost of $1,500. Until 1908 only landowners could vote in business matters of the church.

A new sanctuary was completed in 1925 for $20,000. The parish hall was built in 1940, with an addition in 2009. The official record book of the church, begun in 1908, was still in use as late as 1978, with all its titles and headings written in German. The Richland Cemetery, owned and operated by the congregation, is officially recognized as a Historical Cemetery of Texas.

St. John was founded as a congregation in the tradition of the Evangelical Synod of North America. In 1951 the church officially joined the Evangelical and Reformed Church, which later became a part of the United Church of Christ in 1957.

In 2010 the congregation returned to its Lutheran roots by joining the Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC).