Bethlehem Lutheran Church
Hondo, Medina County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Rev. Christian Oefinger, serving as pastor of the Castroville Lutheran Church, led in founding this congregation in March 1852. The first church building was dedicated in 1854, coincidental with a synod convention held in Castroville. Bethlehem Lutheran Church hosted synod meetings in 1869, 1875, and 1894. The present brick structure, dedicated in 1914, was built largely by parishioners. St. John's Lutheran Church of New Fountain, founded in the late 1850s by the Rev. A. Kitterer and served by Bethlehem's pastors, merged with this congregation in 1949. (1977)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Founded in March 1852 by the Rev. Christian Oefinger, pastor of the Castroville Lutheran Church, this Medina County congregation grew out of the German settlement of the Texas Hill Country. It dedicated its first building in 1854 and hosted synod conventions through the 1890s, with parishioners largely building the present brick sanctuary dedicated in 1914. In 1949 it absorbed the nearby St. John's Lutheran Church of New Fountain, long served by Bethlehem's pastors.
Why it matters
German Lutheran congregations like Bethlehem carried Old World faith and language into frontier Texas, becoming lasting anchors of the immigrant communities that settled the Hill Country.
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Related people
- · Rev. Christian Oefinger
- · Rev. A. Kitterer
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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