Bethesda Mennonite Church History

Bethesda Mennonite Church Chronology

CHRONOLOGY

1874 October 14, arrival of the first 35 families from Molotschna, South Russia.
1875 May 16, first baptismal services were held.
1880 Summer, first church building erected.
1888 December 26, first mission collection was taken.
1891 Church joined the Northern District Conference.
1893 Beginning of Sunday School in the Bethesda Church. First sessions were held in the afternoon.
1898 January 11, organization of the Mission Sewing Society.
1902 The parochial school was built.
1906 Erection of new church building in the town of Henderson.
1906 First Church choir organized.
1931 March 16, enlarging of church, excavation of basement began.
1931 May 1, cornerstone laying for the new addition.
1931 August 28, Church burned. Fire discovered at 1 a.m. Carpentry work had been completed and painters had worked one day.
1931 September 24, cornerstone laying for new church after the fire.
1932 March 6, new church dedicated.
1942 February 8, The Mennonite Hymnary was officially adopted as regular song book of the church.
1944 June 18, the church constitution as revised and translated into the English language was presented to the congregation as a whole and accepted.
1946 June 9, the Loudspeaker System was dedicated and used for the first time in church service.
1947 October 1, the Bethesda Church library opened in the evening for the purpose of loaning books and also of offering an evening for reading in the library. The library is to be open every Wednesday evening.
1950 November, the Men's Brotherhood was organized.
1951 August 7, at a special church meeting arrangements were made concerning the financing of a Bible School. The plan is to offer to 8th grade graduates in a term of nine months instruction in Bible, Church history and related subjects.
1952 February 5, a special church meeting was held concerning questions arising with the continuance of the Bible School and more intensive religious instruction for the young people.
1953 May 10, the electric organ was dedicated in a special evening service.
1956 March 6, at a special church meeting the congregation voted for the building of a new sanctuary. The vote was 162 for and 129 against.
1957 January 3, Ground-breaking exercises for the new church were conducted in the afternoon.
1958 May 4, Dedication services of the new church were conducted.
1958 June 2, The final dismantling of the church school house was completed and the material was sold by auction. The proceeds from the sale were $1,280.00. This building was built in 1902.
1960 August 23, at a church meeting, by a small majority, it was decided to have our morning service broadcast over York, KAWL. The financing was left on a voluntary basis.
1962 August 20, at a special congregational meeting the preliminary building committee presented their report on the educational building. The vote 232 in favor and 159 opposed was for the building of this unit as soon as possible.
1963 March 11, Service of Dismantling and Cornerstone Opening of former church.
1963 March 17, ground-breaking service after the morning service for the Educational Building.
1964 July 5, Dedication of the Educational Unit.
1968 May 26, Dedication service for the new Smith pipe organ (installed in January).
1971 May 2, a dedication service for the new Mennonite Hymnal
1976 May 30, The former Bethesda Cemetery Association transferred their property to the Bethesda Mennonite Church. It is now known officially as Bethesda Mennonite Church Cemetery.
1980 August 3, The 100th anniversary of the building of our first church structure was observed.
1981, November, The bell tower completed using bell from the former parochial school.
1991 July 14, Congregational decision to eliminate mandatory dues and assessments and to use a voluntary system of giving.
1992 July 26, The congregation decided to implement a computerized central treasury system by 1993.
1993 February, Voluntary offering schedule adopted; assessments dropped.
1994 May, Hymnal, A Worship Book song books dedicated.
1996 October Communication via E-Mail can now reach Bethesda at Bethesda@telcoweb.net
1996 December 1 Dedication Service held for south transept Stained Glass window.
1998September, The Bethesda Preschool began with 16 students.
1999, January, Fund for roof repair for the sanctuary established.
1999, September 5, Celebration of 125 years of Mennonite families living in the community.
2000 June. At the Northern District/Iowa Nebraska Conference sessions held June 22-25 at Freeman, SD by delegate vote of 231 to 1, the conference were joined to become the Central Plains Mennonite Conference.
2000 September. Outer roof of the Bethesda Church sanctuary and ajoining flat roofs were replaced.
2000 November 13. George Kaufman began serving as Associate Pastor.
2000 December, the church pipe organ under major repair
2000 December, stained glass window depicting Jesus’ ascension into heaven was installed
2001, Aug. 5, the balcony stained glass window, “The Ascension” was dedicated
2001, Nov and Dec, repainted the sanctuary. Services were held in Fellowship Hall for four weeks.
2002, church maintenance projects completed recently were: replacing the sanctuary roof, replacing many windows and doors with more energy efficient ones
2002, March 24, Stained Glass window “Jesus Blessing the Children” was dedicated
2004, Joel Schroeder resigned as Youth Minister effective in July
2004, November 28, Jeff Selzer voted to become the new youth minister, beginning in January, 2005.
2007, June. Pastor George Kaufman retired from ministry
2007, Pastor Rachel Friesen to serve as Interim pastor until May, 2008

Ministers having served Bethesda Mennonite Church