From the Danish Heritage Museum of Danevang's website:
When Danevang was setteled in 1894 there was no church building. The settlers, being affiliated with the Danish Lutheran Church in America at their previous places of residence, began the Danevang Lutheran Church by meeting in various homes in the area, primarily in the home of the Mads Andersen family. The Danish Folk Society had donated some land to the community for the church and cemetery and in 1895 built a meeting house (forsamlingshus) for use as a church, a school and a community gathering place. The second floor provided living quarters for the Pastor. Later the building was enlarged to allow more space for meetings.
A few years later when the farmers began raising cotton and the community was prospering, each of the farmers donated a share of their crops to a fund for a church building and construction was begun. The new building was completed and dedicated in 1908 and was named the Ansgar Evangelical Lutheran Church. St. Ansgar, the Patron Saint of Denmark, was the first to bring Christianity to Denmark.
In the beginning all church services were conducted in the Danish language. Later they began phasing in some English services and in the 1940’s they dropped the Danish services except for some special occasions.
The original church building served the congregation well until it was destroyed by a tropical hurricane in August 1945. The building was beyond repair, so a committee was appointed to make plans to build a new church building. The committee had obtained some designs and were attempting to decide which to present to the congregation. However, since World War II had ended, a U.S. Army training base in Palacios, Camp Hulen, was being deactivated and the government was disposing of the buildings. Among these was a chapel building. The congregation bought this building and hired a contractor to disassemble it and move it to the church property in Danevang and reassemble it with some minor remodeling. This building was dedicated in 1947 and continues to serve the congregation well.
Some visitors to the church who had been in the service during World War II reminisce about their experiences in chapels identical to this building. In 1987 the congregation had a celebration for the 50th anniversary of the dedication of the building and invited three couples who were soldiers who were stationed at Camp Hurlen and had married girls from El Campo and had become prominent citizens of that city. These men told of life at Camp Hulen and their memories of the chapel building.
The Danish Lutheran Church in America has by way of mergers over the years become absorbed into the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The Danevang Lutheran Church (no longer the Ansgar Evangelical Lutheran Church) is a member of the Texas-Louisiana Synod of the ELCA.
In 2013 the church became a member of the Lutheran Congregations in Missions for Christ.
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The sign next to the door of this historic church gives the history of this building:
The church building before you was erected at Camp Hulen at Palacios, Texas at the beginning of the 1940s when the nation was preparing for war. As part of a huge construction effort, which transformed a tent camp into an anti-aircraft artillery training base, this church was one of four - in fact the main Chapel - which served all Creeds and religions and this was ecumenical in every sense.
The end of World War II heralded the termination of Camp Hulen as a training base since Fort Bliss, Texas took over as the anti-aircraft artillery center. Along with many other buildings, the church became surplus to the needs of the army and was offered for sale. This same situation developed in many other bases across the United States.
Coincidentally, the Ansgar Evangelical Lutheran Church, which was consecrated adjacent to this site in 1909, was totally destroyed by a hurricane on August 17, 1945 -- interestingly the same year that saw the termination of World War II.
One can only conjecture the timing of these two separate but allied incidents. This Chapel needed a home and the Divine Community needed a church. The upshot of it all was a decision to purchase this church and move it to its present site before you. It was dedicated on December 14th, 1947. The movement of the church to this site was not accomplished overnight. It was disassembled in part and moved the 25 miles north to get to Divine where it was reassembled on its present site. The bell, which hung in the original church and which rang at Sunrise and Sundown daily, survived the hurricane and lives on in the steeple above you. Other artifacts, such as the painting of Saint Ansgar baptizing a child and the alter table which were salvaged from the wreckage, reside inside the church today.
The church has become a full-fledged member of the Danevang community and continues to provide the glue which has held the community together since 1894.
"Welcome to this House of Prayer"
The Texas Historical Marker in the adjoining cemetery adds:
The Danish Folk Society obtained a land option from the Texas Land and Cattle Company and helped 93 Danish families from the midwest establish the Danevang Cooperative Settlement here in the early 1890s. The settlers, strong adherents of the Lutheran religion, organized an evangelical Lutheran congregation in 1895 with the help of the Rev. F. L. Grundtvig. Worship services were first held in the home of Mads and Maren Andersen. Early pastors came from Denmark and held services in the Danish language.
The congregation erected a meeting hall at this site in 1895. A sanctuary made of native pine and cypress was erected here in 1909. A painting of St. Ansgar baptizing a child was placed inside the new church building and a 1700-pound bell, which could be heard four to five miles away, was placed in the church steeple. The sanctuary was destroyed in a 1945 storm and replaced with an army chapel which the congregation reassembled at this site.
The first recorded interment was that of Maren Andersen in 1895. The cemetery, maintained by a board established in 1965, contains three former pastors and veterans of wars ranging from the Civil War to World War II among its more than 500 burials. (1994)
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