St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church was established in 1873 to be a congregation of God’s people gathered around his Word and Sacraments near the little burg of Preble. 

From 1853 to 1873 our congregation was a teaching station of Zion Friedheim. The parish school teacher who taught at Zion Lutheran School (Friedheim) conducted classes at a Preble branch-school twice a week. Then on August 19, 1873 St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church of Preble was officially chartered as a member congregation of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

​

By 1881 the members had constructed a stately brick sanctuary to the glory of God. Though the Church building was re-bricked in the 1940’s and was enlarged and refurbished in 1989, the basic structure of the 1883 edifice remains.

Originally, the congregation supported her own Lutheran elementary school. In 1968 her members joined with the members of St. John Lutheran Church, Bingen and Zion Lutheran Church, Friedheim to form the Wyneken Memorial Lutheran School Association. 

​

Wyneken is located adjacent to St. John Lutheran Church, north of Decatur on highway 27. The school continues to be a faithful institution for Christian instruction and a center for special Christ-centered activities. In 2003 the three Wyneken Churches joined hands to improve and enlarge their school, nearly doubling its floor space.