German settlers built Waldheim Church and dedicated it on September 12, 1875, as Boniface Church under the Rev. J.B.A. Ahrens, D.D., presiding elder of the Louisiana District, German Mission Conference of East Texas and Louisiana, Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Services were held in German and English for many years. About 100 feet east of the church, the tabernacle of the German settlement camp grounds was erected under the leadership of the Rev. Gabriel R. Ellis, and its first service was held on September 22, 1887. Annual camp meetings continued for 20 years and drew thousands of people to worship.