German Lutherans in this area were served by circuit-riding lay minister Dietrich Rode as early as 1870. A congregation was organized in 1893 on the north side of the Llano River in the Leiningen settlement, about 3 miles east. A second church, known as Leiningen Two or Zion, was built on the south side of the river, 5 miles east, in 1907. The two congregations merged as St. Johannes Evangelische Gemeinde in 1926, and a new sanctuary was built. Worship services were conducted in German until the 1950s, and the name was changed to St. John Lutheran Church.