Church guide

The following information is available for Bethlehem Lutheran Church:

A Place to Believe A Place to Belong A Place to Grow

History of Bethlehem Lutheran Church My temple will be called a House of Prayer for all people" Isaiah 56:7 The Rev. William H.J. Dau of St. John's Aurora, Indiana felt the need for a mission church in the Lawrenceburg-Greendale area after seeing many of his members moving into this area. Initial planning was delayed by a disastrous flood in 1937 in Lawrenceburg, which made Greendale, spared by the flood, an ideal site. After the initial survey in the Spring of 1936, a candidate from the seminary in St Louis was assigned to actively work in this field. Candidate Edwin W. David would later become the first pastor. The first worship service was conducted on August 22, 1937 at 10:00 AM. The service was held in the council chambers on the second floor of the Greendale town hall located opposite our present church property. The initial sermon was on the theme "We Preach Christ Crucified" using 1 Corinthians 1:17-25 as the text. The official birthday of Bethlehem Lutheran is considered to be October 10, 1937 when a group of men came together in a home for the purpose of organizing a new Lutheran congregation. Bids for a new church building began on July 29, 1938, and the church was completed and dedicated to the Glory of God on May 21, 1939. The service began at 9:30 am in the Greendale town hall and at 10 am proceeded across the street to the new structure. Members of the congregation did many of the building tasks themselves. The Altar, pulpit, lectern, baptismal font, and pews were all hand made by several members. Chapel art windows were gifts and memorials. The building was a modified Gothic design. Its rugged design of well chosen brick with tile backing, and the use of solid timbers throughout with no camouflaging in the open truss ceiling, was all symbolic of the Word of God here proclimed. The building was made possible by a loan from the Central District Church Extension Fund and by a grant from the Lutheran Women's Missionary League. The congregation became eventually debt free on December 13, 1954 despite financial stress of any young church, purchased a parsonage for the pastor. The original church was designed with the intention of being the first unit of a larger and more complete structure. On March 11, 1957, a proposal for a basement addition was unanimously adopted and plans were formed to raise funds. The ground breaking ceremony began only a little more than a year later. A special service of Thanksgiving was conducted on October 18, 1959 to dedicate the newly completed additition to the glory of God. The basement area was and still is used for Sunday School classes as well as many other activities of the church. Looking ahead, a building program Planning Committee was created. They implemented a new five year plan with aims to liquidate the debt on the basement in two years and in the three years following to save enough money to start a new church building. Over the following years, architects were interviewed and a contract signed. A letter of thanks was sent to the Mary Martha society of St. John's Lutheran Church at Farmers Retreat, Indiana for the $7000 they put in the church extension fund earmarked for Bethlehem Lutheran Church. The new church was dedicated on March 8, 1970. The former church building is currently used for our upstairs Bible study room. Over the years, many other significant milestones have been reached. The present sanctuary was improved upon from moving the stain glass windows to adding air conditioning. On July 9, 1973, the Constitution was changed to allow women to become voting members. 1990 saw the start of a preschool operating in the basement of the church, utilizing the classrooms. A parking lot was added across the street. An elevator was added to side of the building to make the building wheelchair accessible. A playground was installed behind the church mainly for the use of the preschool with the help of the board of trustees. Over the past seventy plus years, Bethlehem Lutheran Church has seen the gracious protection and guidance of our Lord Jesus Christ. Bethlehem has been faithful to her calling to bring the message of salvation to her little corner of the world with the help, work, prayers, and gifts of many faithful members. We pray that the Lord would continue to show His grace to Bethlehem for many more years to come.

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09:00 am - 11:00 am

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