You are invited to join us each Sunday for Sunday School at 9:00 a.m. and worship service at 10:00 a.m. Join us each 5th Sunday for breakfast at 9:00 a.m. in the social hall. Bethel Lutheran Church celebrates the sacrament of Holy Communion on the 4th Sunday of each month.

Sunday Worship Schedule:

Sunday School - 9:00 a.m.

Worship Service - 10:00 a.m.

Children's Church is available after the Children's Sermon

Bethel's History:

In the first two decades of the 1800s, members of Jerusalem Lutheran Church at Ebenezer, which was made up largely of Protestant religious refugees from the independent state of Salzburg, began gathering on Sunday mornings to worship on this site under what was known as a "bush arbor". Since many people in the area north of Ebenezer regularly walked or rode mules the 10-15 miles to Jerusalem, this spot enabled those who were unable to make the journey to attend a worship service. Soon afterward, the Ebenezer Trustees, recognizing a need to establish a church near the county seat of Springfield, established "Bethel" as a branch of Jerusalem and sent the Rev. Ernest Bergman to provide pastoral services.

This congregation encountered many hardships, including losing the original log cabin church and the second church building to fires, but they endured. Writing about the members of Bethel in 1855, Rev. P.A. Strobel wrote, "These were the most pious and self-determined of all Salzburgers, and their fortitude and endurance could withstand the trials and tribulations necessitated by hardships."

On October 10, 1872, Bethel became independent from Jerusalem and held its first congregational meeting. The Rev. James N. Derrick was called to be Bethel's first pastor, and the congregation became part of the Georgia Synod that year.

Bethel Lutheran Church departed from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) on March 14, 2010, and shortly afterward became affiliated with Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC). Today, Bethel continues to serve the area as a church where teaching and preaching is based on scripture, service is based on our love for others, and worship arises from our love for our Lord Jesus Christ.