Rev. Johann Ebinger first visited Berlin – a tiny rural community just outside Brenham, the Washington County seat – in December 1854. It was then that Rev. Ebinger led the town’s first Christian services. The following summer, in July 1855, Eben-Ezer Lutheran Church was chartered with Ebinger as its pastor. The people of Berlin pitched in, too. Ludwig Lehmann donated the 11 acres where the church now sits. Landowners chopped and donated post oak logs to build the church. Others put sweat equity into building the new spiritual community. Before long, Eben-Ezer was the site not only of regular worship services, but also a school. Today it’s Washington County’s oldest Lutheran Church. Berlin remains a rural hamlet outside Brenham, and Eben-Ezer’s church building, parsonage, and cemetery still stand.

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