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This folder includes a historical record, a bulletin from 1969, and a bulletin from the 50th anniversary service in 1970.
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St. James Lutheran Church, Columbus, Montana, was organized in response to the need for an English-speaking Lutheran congregation in Columbus. The Rev. C. M. Seville, District Missionary for the Synod of the Northwest, held the first service on March 7, 1920. Services were first held in the Episcopal Church, and later in the Masonic Hall. There were twenty children in the first Sunday School, and a confirmation program began in 1922. The congregation experienced many hardships in the next several years with poor crops and people moving away. Rev. Webster Clement came each week by train or car from Livingston to conduct Sunday evening services. In 1937 the congregation purchased the Episcopal church building and by the end of 1939 the mortgage was paid off. Early in 1969 it became evident that the sharing of the pastor with the neighboring congregation in Absarokee (Immanuel) would be financially practical for both churches and the congregations began sharing a pastor.