Church History

Bethlehem Lutheran Church was formally organized on November 27, 1938 after Rev. Dwight Shelhart, a synod missionary arrived in Portage in June of 1938 to establish a congregation. Charter members included 68 confirmed and 38 baptized. Worship services were first held in a hall at the local St. John’s Episcopal Church. In 1939 the congregation purchased the former Engle Funeral Home, remodeled and dedicated it. The building served as church and parsonage for 12 years. At a congregational meeting in May, 1949 it was voted to purchase the property at the corner of Franklin and DeWitt Streets. The corner stone was laid on October 28, 1951 and on November 30, 1952 the members of Bethlehem dedicated the new church. As the congregation grew expansion was necessary. In 1964 a Parsonage house was built and in 1966 additional property was purchased on which a Parish house was completed in 1976. The church then spread out into these various structures using them for Christian education, administration and community purposes for many years until the multiple buildings became cumbersome and lacked efficient accessibility. In 1998 this prompted the purchase of 20 acres of land for the current building on Highway 33 East. Construction began in Spring 2004 and in February 2006 the congregation moved into our new building and held the first worship services. Our membership today numbers about 475.

 

About the ELCA…

Bethlehem Lutheran is a part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (referred to as ELCA). In 1988, the American Lutheran Church, the Lutheran Church in America and the Association of Evangelical Churches merged to become the ELCA. There are 6 million ELCA members and 11,000 congregations in the USA. Almost a half million ELCA members live in Wisconsin. Bethlehem is one of the 765 ELCA congregations in Wisconsin. The ELCA views the church as a people created by God in Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit, called and sent to bear witness to God's redeeming activity in the world. We support the ELCA as a coordinating agency for the sake of our world-wide mission.