Rev. S. J. Fretheim was sent to the Plentywood area in 1910 by the Mission Board of the Norwegian Synod to establish a congregation. The first services were held in a schoolhouse and later in a small building called “Old Reading Room”, erected by local citizens. On February 20, 1911 an organizational meeting was held and Plentywood Lutheran Church was established. Additions were made over the years to both membership and building projects. The first parsonage was only a shack, but in 1913 one was built which lasted until 1947 when a new one was erected. The older parsonage today serves as a residence for the associate pastor. The parsonage for the senior pastor was completed in 1975 at Poplar Avenue.
The church was completed in the fall of 1913 on the present site. The original basement was extended in the fall of 1934, but the superstructure was not completed until 1939. Funds for this became available when the Women’s Missionary Federation compiled a cookbook, which was printed by Augsburg Printing House in Minneapolis. The tenth and final edition was printed in 1943 with over 26,000 copies eventually sold. Dedication of a new sanctuary took place on November 20, 1958.
From the guide to the Plentywood Lutheran Church, Plentywood, Montana, Records, 1911-2012, (Pacific Lutheran University)
