About Bethlehem Lutheran Church
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Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Standish, MI has been sowing the seed of the Gospel and raising up a harvest of righteousness since 1903. In that year, God gathered a group of believers around His Word and Sacraments as a mission outpost served by Pastor F. Rutkowsky of St. John’s Lutheran Church of Pinconning. Pastor Rutkowsky presided as the first confirmands confessed their faith and received the Sacrament of the Altar for the first time.
On July 5, 1903 the congregation was legally incorporated and plans began to be laid to construct a sanctuary. On May 20, 1904, land was purchased at the present location for one dollar. Later that year, the building was constructed that still serves as the place where God delivers His gifts of forgiveness and salvation to those who gather.
In February 1904, the congregation called their first pastor and in 1906, the first parsonage was built. Also during this time, worship services began to be conducted in English in addition to German. In 1937, a new parsonage was built and was replaced by the current parsonage in 1985.
From 1903 to 2014, a total of fifteen pastors have faithfully served as servants of the Word to preach the Gospel and administer the sacraments sowing the seed of the Gospel and raising up a harvest of righteousness.
