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Databases > Church Records >

St James Trinity Lutheran Church Records
The following short history was transcribed from the book
"The Sights and Sounds of the Valley",
A History of Fall Creek, WI
by Patricia Henk and the late Steve H. Wise

Go directly to the CHURCH RECORDS links
In 1870, several families living in the village of Fall Creek met to organize St. Trinity Lutheran Church.  Although the church was often referred to as just "Trinity Lutheran", the proper name was St. Trinity.  The 1933 editions of The Fall Creek Times still carried news items about "St. Trinity."  Until 1870, the Lutherans in Fall Creek had to walk or go by ox team the two miles to St. Johns for church services.  Rev. W. J. Friedrich became pastor of St. Trinity Lutheran while continuing to serve St. John's.  Both churches later affiliated with the Missouri Synod.

In 1873, Trinity congregation constructed a church on the north side of Lincoln Avenue.  The big square house just east of the nursing home was built as a parsonage.

As a result of difficulties within the congregation, Rev. John Weihrauch of the Iowa Synod was called to serve Trinity Lutheran.  For a time, both Rev. Friedrich and Rev. Weihrauch held services in Trinity.  Since this proved to be a most unhappy arrangement, a group of people from the congregation met in January, 1885, and decided to organize St. Jacobs Lutheran Church (later changed to St. James).  This group affiliated with the Iowa Synod and built a church on State Street.  They called Rev. C. Baumbach as their first pastor.  Due to further disagreements and difficulties in the Trinity Congregation, one segment of the membership asked to be served by an Ohio Synod pastor.  It was this segment of the congregation which retained the church property on Lincoln Avenue and continued as Trinity Congregation.

In 1930, the Iowa and Ohio Synods were merged, along with several other Lutheran Synods, into the American Lutheran Church.  Thus, the Trinity and St. James Congregations found themselves automatically in the same synod.  In January 1944, both congregations voted to merge and the two were incorporated under the name of St. James Trinity Lutheran Church.

After the merger, the St. James Church on Washington Street was used for all church services and most other activities.  The Trinity church building on Lincoln Avenue was used for an occasional meeting until it was razed in 1956.  The land was then turned over to the village and has since become a wayside park.

The following records have been transcribed from microfilmed records located at the church (see disclaimer below links) by Jim Tellstrom:
 

Disclaimer:  The following records were transcribed from a microfilmed copy of the original church records located at St. James Trinity Lutheran Church, 305 S. State Street, Fall Creek, WI  54724.  Every efford has been made to ensure accuracy, but htere is always the possibility of errors and omissions.  Most of the earliest information was written in German adding additional challenges.  At times information is left blank because the data was not recorded by the makers or the copy was unreadable.  Any information typed in brackets ( ) was added by the author and was gained from cross referencing or from other records possessed by the author.