Immanuel Lutheran Church stands on Seguin Road in La Vernia, a small town southeast of San Antonio, where its brick sanctuary has overlooked the banks of Cibolo Creek for more than a century. Founded in 1901 by German Lutheran families who had settled the surrounding farmland, the congregation now numbers among the oldest continuous institutions in Wilson County. Today it is a member of the North American Lutheran Church, holding to the historic Lutheran Confessions and gathering twice each Sunday morning for traditional worship, Bible study, and the celebration of Holy Communion.
Two Sunday Mornings on Seguin Road
Worship lies at the center of life at Immanuel. Each Sunday the congregation gathers for two traditional services, both of which include Holy Communion. The Early Worship Service begins at 8:00 am and offers a quiet hour for those who prefer to begin the day with prayer, Scripture, and sacrament. The later service follows at 10:30 am for those who would rather ease into the morning. Between the two, the parish hall opens at 9:15 am for coffee fellowship, the Adult Sunday Bible Study, and the Youth Sunday Experience.
On the fifth Sunday of any month the two services combine into one gathering at 9:30 am, followed by a churchwide potluck in the parish hall. All who attend are invited to stay for the meal and conversation. Services are livestreamed on the church's YouTube channel for those who cannot be present in person, and recorded sermons are available afterwards through the sermons page.
The worship style is traditional Lutheran. Visitors can expect a liturgical flow of confession and absolution, Scripture readings, a sermon, prayers, and the celebration of Holy Communion in which the congregation receives the body and blood of Christ together. The church teaches that in these gifts Christ himself is present, forgiving sins and giving life. Members and visitors alike are welcomed to commune, with instruction offered to anyone wishing to learn more about the Lutheran understanding of the sacrament.
A Heritage on the Cibolo Creek
The story of Immanuel begins in the 1870s, when an influx of German immigrants settled on small farms in the New Berlin community near Elm Creek. They were of peasant stock, chiefly from Birkholz, Dramberg, and Faulkenberg in Germany, and almost all of them were of the Lutheran faith. Their first church was Elm Creek Lutheran, to which they traveled on Sundays by wagon and buggy. By 1900, many of the families had established small businesses in La Vernia and found a weekly trip to Elm Creek difficult. A new congregation began meeting for Lutheran services for one year in the La Vernia Presbyterian Church on Chihuahua Street, arranged by Samuel P. Wiseman, a devout Presbyterian.
On August 11, 1901, twenty family members of Christ Lutheran Church of Elm Creek gathered to organize Immanuel Lutheran Church of La Vernia, with Rev. H. W. Schmidt presiding and E. William Koepp as secretary. Within weeks the new congregation purchased two acres of land near the banks of the Cibolo Creek on the old Seguin Road, paying $175 for a parcel of the old McClung Homestead. A wood-frame church was raised and dedicated on October 8, 1901. The first child to be baptized was Franz Wilhelm Julius Schroeder, born December 9, 1901. The first adult confirmation was Mrs. Hermine Zunker on March 31, 1902. A cemetery followed in 1902, two acres donated or sold for one dollar by Gustav Schroeder along the San Antonio - La Vernia road, with the first funeral held on October 22 of that year.
Pastor Heinrich Schmidt was called as the first resident pastor and served from 1901 to 1903. He was followed by Pastor Christian Volk, who served a dual parish with Elm Creek from 1904 to 1911, and then by Pastor Nic Frueh, who came in August 1911 and would shepherd Immanuel for more than a quarter century. Under Pastor Frueh the congregation built a new parsonage in 1917, organized a Maener Choir of grandfathers and younger men, taught a small church orchestra whose members ordered their instruments from Sears Roebuck, and held monthly English evening services for the wider community. On August 10, 1919, the church celebrated the homecoming of its WWI soldiers with a service composed by Pastor Frueh in German and translated by Mrs. Frueh for the church record.
By 1925 the membership had grown to 104 families on a budget of $1,437. The original frame church, deteriorating by 1931, was replaced in 1932 with the brick sanctuary that still anchors the property today. Over the years the building has been enlarged and renewed. A parish hall was added in 1948, an annex with classrooms in 1962, new pews in 1966, a Baldwin pipe organ in 1981, and Carillon Bells in 1983. In 1988 the congregation voted to take part in the merger that formed the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and in later years Immanuel aligned with the North American Lutheran Church, the affiliation it holds today.
Through Flood and Rebuilding
Immanuel's location near the Cibolo Creek has shaped its story in ways the founders could not have foreseen. On September 27, 1973, after five inches of rain combined with three inches that had fallen on San Antonio the day before, the creek rose higher than any local resident remembered. Water reached at least eight inches inside the church and the annex. Pastor Kurt Hartmann and his wife Frances were rowed out of the parsonage in knee-deep water to higher ground, an event captured on the evening news. In the days that followed, seventy students from Texas Lutheran College arrived to help clean mud from homes and the church, the Red Cross supplied bedding, food, and clothing, and the women of the parish served a noon meal to about one hundred workers in the parish hall. The pews, baptismal font, and furnishings were refinished upward from the watermark, the carpet was replaced with red carpet installed just before Christmas of that year, and the Sunday after the flood Pastor Hartmann preached on the benefits of floodwaters and the God who keeps his people through them.
Twenty-five years later the waters returned. In October 1998 the Cibolo flooded again, this time sending two and a half to three and a half feet of water through every building on the church grounds. The red carpet became solid mud gray, the veneer on the pews warped like curtains, and hymnals, historic Bibles, and songbooks from the founding of the church were damaged beyond use. Pastor David Priem called parishioners from home to cancel Sunday services, and the local funeral home offered its chapel for worship the following week. The congregation worshipped on folding chairs on the bare wooden floor within a couple of weeks, set rebuilding priorities, and held a re-dedication service on Reformation Sunday, October 31, 1999. Help came from Lutheran Disaster Relief, from surrounding churches, and from individuals across Texas and the country. New kneeling pads were stitched by members of the congregation in the years that followed, twenty-one designs from the Apostles through the church year, including Luther's Rose designed by Pastor Priem himself. New wooden front doors with crosses and beveled glass, crafted by an old-world woodworker from San Antonio, became one of the first pieces of restoration following the flood.
What We Confess
Immanuel Lutheran Church joyfully confesses the historic Christian faith as it is taught in the Holy Scriptures and faithfully summarized in the Lutheran Confessions. The congregation teaches that salvation is by God's grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Jesus Christ, true God and true man, is the center of life together, the one who died for sins and rose again for justification.
The church holds that God delivers his gifts through the Means of Grace: the preached Word, Holy Baptism, and the Lord's Supper. In these sacraments Christ himself is present, forgiving sins, creating faith, and sustaining his people. The Scriptures are the inspired and authoritative Word of God, the final rule and guide for faith and life. The Church is the community gathered by the Holy Spirit around these gifts, called to proclaim Christ and to love neighbors with the mercy first received.
Immanuel has embraced the four core values of the North American Lutheran Church. The congregation is Christ-centered, confessing the apostolic faith in Jesus Christ according to the Holy Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions. It is mission-driven, committed to preaching the Gospel and making disciples in La Vernia and beyond. It is traditionally-grounded, affirming the ecumenical creeds and the universal Church's form and practices under Word and Sacrament. And it is congregationally-focused, organized to facilitate the ministries of local congregations in a posture of servanthood and partnership.
Bible Study and the Forming of Faith
Christian education has been part of Immanuel from its earliest days. The original congregation organized its first confirmation class on April 19, 1902, and the practice has continued without interruption. Today the church offers four weekly Bible study groups for adults. The Sunday Bible Study meets at 9:15 am between the two worship services and reads Scripture from a distinctly Lutheran perspective, returning continually to the Means of Grace and the rhythm of Law and Gospel. The Tuesday group meets from 10:00 am to noon for a study of the New Testament, exploring the Gospels, Acts, the letters of Paul, the Catholic Epistles, and Revelation. The Wednesday group meets from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm. The Thursday group meets from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm for a course through the Old Testament, examining the Scriptures in their ancient historical and literary contexts.
Young people are gathered into Youth Night, YACHT, and Confirmation on Wednesdays from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. The youth ministry is led by Renee Scull, and Pastor Eric Miletti leads Confirmation. Younger children are included through the Sunday morning Sunday school and through Vacation Bible School each summer, which is co-chaired by Shirley Stanush and Rebecca Penshorn. A group called Mustard Seeds, led by Danielle Self, and a group called Children of God, led by Bridgett Faglie, extend that care further.
Women, Men, Silver Saints, and the Life of the Congregation
Immanuel's adult life is shaped by several long-standing groups. Women of Faith gathers women of the congregation for fellowship, service, and study, with Patricia Kielberg serving as president, supported by Amy Wagner as vice president, Wanda Polasek as secretary, and Esther DeHaven as chaplain. Men of Immanuel, known by the acronym MOI, gathers the men of the church under the leadership of Mark Buccigrossi. The Silver Saints ministry reaches out to the older members of the congregation with fellowship and care.
A monthly Sewing Circle, led by Donna Jefferson, meets on the second Tuesday of each month from 9:00 am to noon. The group has long ties to the life of the church, and its work supports ministry and outreach. Members of the congregation also serve as Acolyte ministers under Bridgett Faglie, as Ushers under Charles Stork, on the Altar Guild under Toni Smith, and on the Multimedia team under Billy Bunton. A small group called Peacemakers, led by Bailey Gibson, rounds out the ministry of the laity.
On the third Tuesday of each month at 2:30 pm a group from the congregation visits a local nursing home to offer worship, conversation, and the presence of the church to residents who cannot easily come to services. The outreach is coordinated by Gloria Kipp.
Music, Christmas Market, and the Festive Year
Music has been part of Immanuel's worship since the days of Pastor Nic Frueh, who played the organ for services and organized mixed choirs, children's choirs, duets, and quartets. Today Adrianne Stone leads the music ministry, with Patrice Goodman directing the annual Christmas Cantata. The church's Sanctuary is graced by a turn-of-the-century painting found rolled in a closet behind the altar in 1997, believed to have been brought from Germany by Pastor Frueh and bearing the inscription from Luke 2:14, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. The painting was carefully framed and now hangs on the east wall of the sanctuary.
Each December the congregation hosts the ILC Christmas Market, organized by Darla Buccigrossi, an indoor market that fills the parish hall with crafters, baked goods, and gifts for the season. The Immanuel Live Nativity is another December tradition, drawing the wider La Vernia community to the church grounds. Throughout the year, the ILC Community Festival, co-chaired by Jacy Reeves and Rebecca Reeves, brings the congregation together with neighbors for food, games, and fellowship.
Reaching Out from La Vernia
Service to the wider community has been part of Immanuel's identity since 1986, when the congregation established a Good Samaritan fund and food pantry. The fund was later renamed the Rev. Kurt Hartmann Good Samaritan Fund in honor of the pastor who guided the church through the 1973 flood. The food pantry, organized by Kris Tripp, continues to provide assistance to neighbors in need. In 1988 the congregation helped establish the Christian Service Center, which is open every Saturday morning and provides food and clothing to people in need within the community.
Through Lutheran Disaster Response the church has extended help beyond La Vernia when other communities have faced flood and storm, the same network that walked alongside Immanuel through the waters of 1973 and 1998. The congregation also supports Lutherans for Life, the NALC, Lutheran CORE, Faithwebbing, and Life Together Churches as ministry partners.
For those wishing to be buried in the historic Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery along FM 1346, the cemetery is cared for under the leadership of Billy Bunton. The cemetery association was established in 1980 for the more efficient care of the grounds, though the burial land has been part of the congregation's life since 1902.
Becoming a Member, Staff, and Where to Find Them
Anyone wishing to learn more about membership at Immanuel is invited to walk through the steps outlined on the church's How to Become a Member page. Pastor Eric M Miletti serves as the congregation's pastor and can be reached through the church office at 830-253-8121 or by email at Immanuellavernia@gmail.com. The mailing address is PO Box 168, La Vernia, TX 78121, and the church stands at 310 Seguin Rd, La Vernia, Texas 78155, on the same ground where the first German Lutheran families of La Vernia gathered to worship in 1901.
The Council, led by Council President Rebecca Penshorn with Vice President Esther DeHaven and Secretary Joyce Miller, oversees the life of the congregation together with the pastor. Ministry leaders guide worship, music, youth, women's and men's groups, the festival, Vacation Bible School, and the many other corners of parish life. Sundays at Immanuel are framed by two services with Holy Communion, weekday evenings gather adults around the Bible and youth around one another, and the rhythms of the church year carry the congregation through Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, and the long green Sundays of ordinary time, all rooted in the promise that Jesus Christ is Lord.