With the prayer, "Now may the Lord bless this step which we have taken not out of a desire for discord and dissuasion but compelled by the voice of our conscience," six families met at Lars Bovre's farm on June 22, 1860 to organize the Bovre Congregation, Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church. They had separated from the West Koshkonong Church because of disagreements on significant issues of doctrine and pastoral matters. In 1864 they built their church and platted a cemetery in Pleasant Springs Township on land purchased from Lars Bovre. Membership increased to about 50, including T.G. Mandt of Mandt Wagon Works in Stoughton and the parents of John A. Johnson of Gisholt Machine Co. in Madison. In 1887, because of declining membership, Bovre Congregation merged with First Lutheran Church in Stoughton.