John Kilian

Bible Translators Theologians John Kilian was born in Doehlen, in the Kingdom of Saxony.

[1] He rejected "growing rationalism" among the clergy, calling for a return to Scripture as authoritative, translating a number of German items into Sorbian.

[2] It was during the year 1854 that about 558 Wendish Lutherans from Kilian's congregations in Prussia and also from Saxony called him to lead them to Texas.

[3] On March 25, 1854, a new Lutheran congregation was organized at Dauban, to become the cornerstone of a large Wendish emigration.

This move resulted in the establishment of Low Pin Oak Settlement later renamed Serbin.

St. Paul's church, Serbin, built while he was the pastor, still in full use.
Kilian's gravestone in Serbin, in German.
Monument to Kilian in Germany, calling to mind the ship carrying him and about 600 others to America