Bethlehem Baptist Church (Minneapolis)
Bethlehem Baptist Church | |
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Baptist | |
Associations | Converge |
Weekly attendance | 4,600 |
Website | bethlehem |
History | |
Former name(s) | First Swedish Baptist Church of Minneapolis |
Founded | 1871 |
Founder(s) | J. L. Johnson |
Clergy | |
Pastor(s) | Kenny Stokes, Pastor for Preaching & Vision |
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Bethlehem Baptist Church is a
History
In the early 1870s, J. L. Johnson became the first Swede
On June 22, 1871, they branched off, with First Baptist's blessing, and founded Bethlehem—originally as the First Swedish Baptist Church of Minneapolis.
The church had four pastors in its first ten years. The fifth pastor, Dr. Frank Peterson, arrived in June 1881 to a church of 127 members.
Under Peterson's ministry, 12 young people became missionaries.
The church's first services in English started in 1893, on a bi-weekly basis.
The tenth pastor, Eric Lindholm, came in 1949. He oversaw the building of the $500,000 ($5,424,171 today) Sunday School Building, dedicated at year's end 1957 and still in use. The eleventh pastor, John Wilcox, came in 1959 as the church's first non-Swedish pastor (he was originally a
In 1991, the church enlarged its space.
Jason Meyer resigned as Pastor for Preaching and Vision, Downtown Campus, effective August 1, 2021.[24] He cited the "fracturing of evangelicalism" and suggested a "neo-fundamentalist" preacher would be a better fit.[25] The church had three pastors resign during the summer of 2021, citing issues including bullying, a toxic culture, and conflicts over how to handle abuse.[26] Much of the abuse these pastors faced had to do with their support for the critical race theory.[27] In 2021, Kenny Stokes became Pastor for Preaching and Vision.[28]
In 2022, it ended its multisite network and its North and South campuses became stand-alone churches. [29]
Beliefs
The church has a
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Bethlehem Baptist Church (Minneapolis, Minnesota): An Inventory of its Records at the Minnesota Historical Society". mnhs.org. November 25, 2009. Archived from the original on May 18, 2021. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
- ISBN 978-0-310-24317-5, accessed November 27, 2009
- ISBN 978-0-88146-105-3
- ^ a b "Historic Churches; Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, MN". Baptist General Conference Archives. Retrieved November 25, 2009. [dead link]
- ^ Olson, Adolf (1952), A centenary history, as related to the Baptist General Conference of America, Baptist General Conference of America, Baptist Conference Press.
- ^ a b c d "Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota". Minnesota Historic Sites. Archived from the original on June 2, 2010. Retrieved November 25, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e "Bethlehem Baptist Church". Archived from the original on October 9, 2009. Retrieved November 26, 2009.
- ^ Olson, Ernst Wilhelm (January 24, 1908). "History of the Swedes of Illinois ..." Engberg Holmberg Publishing Company – via Google Books.
- ^ "Peterson, Penny A., and Olson, Nathan Weaver, "Mill Ruins Park Research Study", pp. 8–9, May 2003, accessed November 27, 2009" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on July 5, 2016. Retrieved November 27, 2009.
- ^ Nelson, Olof Nickolaus (January 24, 1899). "History of the Scandinavians and Successful Scandinavians in the United States". O. N. Nelson. Archived from the original on January 24, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2023 – via Google Books.
- ISBN 978-0-87351-399-9
- ^ Vedder, Henry C. (Henry Clay) (July 11, 1927). "A short history of Baptist missions [microform]". Philadelphia : Judson Press – via Internet Archive.
- ^ History; First Baptist Church 1871–1921; p. 34.
- ^ Strand, Algot E. (January 24, 1910). "A History of the Swedish-Americans of Minnesota". Lewis Publishing. Archived from the original on January 24, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2023 – via Google Books.
- ^ Marquis, Albert Nelson (January 24, 1907). "The Book of Minnesotans: A Biographical Dictionary of Leading Living Men of the State of Minnesota". A. N. Marquis. Archived from the original on January 24, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2023 – via Google Books.
- ISBN 978-0-231-12703-5
- ^ Rose French, Fiery preacher leaving pulpit, but this won't be his last word Archived January 28, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, startribune.com, USA, December 29, 2012
- ^ AVNetwork Staff, Bethlehem Baptist Church Enhanced with Tannoy and Lab.gruppen Archived January 18, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, avnetwork.com, USA, March 19, 2013
- ^ Laura Adelmann, The Rocky Road to Bethlehem Archived October 25, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, christianitytoday.com, USA, 2014
- ^ Laura Adelmann, Bethlehem Baptist Church The Rocky Road to Bethlehem Archived October 25, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, christianitytoday.com, USA, 2014
- ^ a b Laura Adelmann, Bethlehem Baptist to build new 664-seat church in Lakeville with plans to grow Archived March 20, 2022, at the Wayback Machine, hometownsource.com, USA, September 8, 2017
- ^ Alex Murashko, Successor to John Piper Overwhelmingly Approved by Bethlehem Baptist Church Archived January 28, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, christianpost.com, USA, May 21, 2012
- ^ Hartford Institute, Database of megachurches in the US[permanent dead link], hartfordinstitute.org, USA, retrieved January 16, 2021
- ^ Bethlehem Blogs, [1] Archived July 17, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, Bethlehem.church, retrieved July 17. 2021
- ^ Shellnutt, Kate (August 20, 2021). "Bethlehem Baptist Leaders Clash Over 'Coddling' and 'Cancel Culture'". Christianity Today. Archived from the original on August 23, 2021. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
- ^ Hopfensperger, Jean. "Minneapolis megachurch loses 3 pastors amid 'painful and confusing moment'". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on August 23, 2021. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
- ^ Shellnutt, Kate. "Bethlehem Baptist Leaders Clash Over ‘Coddling’ and ‘Cancel Culture.’" Archived August 23, 2021, at the Wayback Machine Christianity Today. August 20, 2021. October 28, 2021.
- ^ Bethlehem Baptist Church, Kenny Stokes Archived October 19, 2022, at the Wayback Machine, bethlehem.church, USA, retrieved September 19, 2022
- ^ Bethlehem Baptist Church, Our History Archived July 1, 2023, at the Wayback Machine, bethlehem.church, USA, retrieved June 5, 2023
- ^ Converge, Members Archived June 13, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, converge.org, USA, retrieved January 16, 2021
External links
- Official website
- History of the Bethlehem Baptist Church (First Swedish Baptist Church), Minneapolis, Minnesota: seventy-five years, 1871–1946, Authors Gustave Arvid Hagstrom, Bethlehem Baptist Church (Minneapolis, Minn.), Publisher Bethlehem Baptist Church, 1946
- Constitution and by-laws, Author Bethlehem Baptist Church (Minneapolis, Minn.), Publisher Bethlehem Baptist Church, 1946
- The Bethlehem star, Bethlehem Baptist Church (Minneapolis, Minn.), Publisher Bethlehem Baptist Church
- Bethlehem Baptist centennial, 1871–1971, Authors Winston M. Sherwick, Bethlehem Baptist Church (Minneapolis, Minn.), Publisher Bethlehem Baptist Church, 1971
- Black and white photograph of the church, circa 1885