CHURCHES OF PALO ALTO COUNTY
From Atlas of Palo Alto County
Compiled 1969 by Title Atlas Company; Minneapolis, Minnesota

BETHANY LUTHERAN CHURCH
EMMETSBURG, IOWA

     Bethany Lutheran Congregation was organized on Aug. 7, 1886, in the old Congregational Church in Emmetsburg, with 15 persons present. At this meeting Mr. L.O. Gusland was elected secretary and Mrs. J.C. Paulson, Treasurer. Mr. C.C. Gusland and Mrs. J.C. Paulson were the first trustees.
     Meetings were held in the school house south of the Milwaukee Railroad tracks and later in a school house located where the West Side school now stands. In 1895, the congregation decided to build. Members for the building committee were Rev. L.O. Wigdahl; C. Nelson; P.F. Gylling; Miss Katherine Madsen; Mrs. P.F. Gylling; and L.O. Gusland. Mr. Jeppsen, of Emmetsburg, was selected to build the foundation, and Mr. Satter, of Ruthven, to do the building. The cornerstone was laid in Dec., 1895, and the building officially dedicated Sept. 20, 1896, with Rev. G. Hyme, Pres. of the United Lutheran Church, preaching the dedicatory sermon.
     This building served the congregation until 1950, when the present modern brick structure was erected on the same location as the old church. The cornerstone was laid in July, 1949, and the dedication of the completed building July 23, 1950, was conducted by Rev. V.F. Jordhal, Pres., of the Iowa District of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
     Stained glass windows were installed and dedicated in a special service June 10, 1956. In 1920, the H.H. Miller house was purchased for a parsonage; it was remodeled in 1923. In May, 1956, the congregation decided to build a new parsonage on the site of the old one, moving it to the north lot. Excavation was started in July, 1957, and the new parsonage completed in Dec. A dedication service and open house was held April 27, 1958.
     In 1958, Bethany congregation sponsored a loan of $25,000 to the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in Des Moines. In 1962, the congregation pledged $50,000 toward the erection of Lakeside Lutheran Home, a joint project of 8 Lutheran congregations (The A.L.C. and Lutheran Church Missouri Synod) of a Nursing-Retirement Home in Emmetsburg. These projects are part of the mission of the congregation, specifically, in American Missions and Social Services.
     Pastors who have served this congregation, a member of The American Lutheran Church, are: Reverends L.O. Wigdahl, 1886-1918; K.G. Nelson, 1918-22; O.A. Tollefson, 1922-24; Verne Giere, 1924-25; Martin C. Thompson, 1925-1948; Clarence H. Johnson, 1949-56; Ingvold B. Sorensen, 1956-61; and the present pastor, Rev. Erling A. Hansen, who took charge in 1961.