The Lutheran religion arrived in Maple Valley Township with the early Danish immigrants who settled in this area of tall white pines and beautiful sugar maples. They came for land and timber that were cheap and wages that were good. The people were earnest, the government was good, and the girls were nice. Many men planned to marry one and many did.

People in Denmark received this word and loaded their trunks on their wagons, headed for the railroad stations, to the steamboats or anything to get them to steamships headed for the USA. They lived on salt pork and biscuits for eight weeks. Many boarded trains headed for Kalamazoo—the closest station to Greenville—then continued by stagecoach from there.

They built small homes, averaging twelve feet by twenty feet. They worked in sawmills for $1.00 a day, but that was six times what they could make in Denmark. Land was selling for $2.00 an acre. They wrote letters saying they had good health, lived by the water, and had lots of work in hay and harvest time. They urged friends and relatives to come and bring as many as they could.

The Lutheran church was the established church of Denmark. In America, church services were held in homes and schools. Language became an obstacle because so few ministers could speak Danish.

In 1874 Reverend Ole Amble, a Norwegian pastor came to Montcalm County. He stayed here for 54 years. He’s said to have baptized and married about 7,000 people. Rev. Petersen and Ole Amble were among the few who owned a horse. Most drove oxen as they could not afford horses. Pastor Petersen and Pastor Amble took turns serving the several churches in the Trufant community. Pastors have come and gone. Some left to teach, some to do mission work, retire, to serve other churches or as a military chaplain.

The first child was baptized in Trufant on November 11, 1875. The first communion was on December 22, 1875. This groundwork eventually led to the organization of St. Thomas Church in 1881. William Pierce donated land for a church in 1891. The first Danish church in Trufant was dedicated in 1893. It cost $1200.00. When it was finished, the congregation had a debt of $400.

In 1894, the Danish Lutheran Church split in two because of a new constitution. In 1896, Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Edmore formed, in 1898, St Paul, Greenville. There was much growth in the churches at this time and the few pastors usually served more than one congregation.

In 1898, St. Thomas Church purchased a parsonage for Pastor Soe on the corner of 1st St and D St. In 1900, the church purchased a bell for $100. In 1902, the altar cost $65 to build, including the altarpiece mural.

As the church grew, parishioners needed room to park their horses and buggies, so a strip of land on the west and north side of the lot was donated by the Darling Family. The shelter stood for many years. Many used the same stall every Sunday for their horse. Pastor Soe often used his bike for transportation. In 1903, Rev Borggaard became unhappy with the policies of the United Danish Lutheran Church and returned to the Danish Church, splitting the congregation. Sixteen members left to form a new church in Trufant known then as Bethany.

St. Jorgens and St. Thomas congregations joined to form a single congregation. When they tore down the St. Jorgens building, they used that lumber to build the two wings and a chancel on St Thomas. The congregation also decided to raise St. Thomas and put a basement under the whole building. This greatly enlarged and improved the church. It was all dedicated on Dec 5, 1909.

1914-1919 were war years. Times were hard. The pastor’s salary was $700. A barn was built on the parsonage property so he could have a cow. He also gave services at Huggard School on Sunday afternoons. In 1919, St. Thomas made a resolution to introduce English into the Sunday service.

Lightning had struck the steeple of the church several times. In 1923, lightening finally forced a redesign; afterwards, the steeple wasn’t as high.

Carl Nyrand served as custodian of the church for some thirty years; in 1937, the congregation honored him. Folks said Carl made over 800 trips to the church to perform his duties. He loved music and often climbed the steep steps to the bell loft to tap out hymns which pealed across the countryside on cold, frosty nights. He especially loved to tap out Christmas hymns on Christmas Eve near midnight. In 1943, he died in the bell loft where he had tapped out his last song. In 1935-42, we planted the evergreen trees. The art glass window installation cost $130 apiece. Many pastors supported the Bass Lake Bible Camp. Between 1947 and 1950, God’s Acre Plan entailed renting land and raising crops to sell to support the camp. This was a project of Pastor Carlson.

On March 18, 1951, Rev. Nest baptized 23 children on Palm Sunday and the 16 choir members gave a concert that night. Sunday School pupils numbered about 104 at that time; about 100 new members joined the church.

From 1951 to 1959, Pastor LeVine served as pastor and we built the new parsonage at an estimated cost of $9,000. The $4,500 raised by the sale of the old parsonage helped finance the new one. The debt was about $5000.00 plus interest. When completed it was estimated to be worth $18,000.00. It had seven rooms plus a full basement.

In 1965-69, the church walls were painted blue, the woodwork white, the floor tiled white and black marble, and red carpeting installed. Ebe Hansen built 2 lecterns. New walnut pews with kneelers cost $125 each for a total of $4500. We moved the altar toward the narthex a little bit and added cupboards behind it. A memorial fund was established and additional land was bought from the Darlings for $500 to be used when needed. A new garage was added to the parsonage and a new roof on the church. In 1970, we widened the front of the church by 9 feet, with basement below and additional room at a cost of $33,500.00.