Bethel Church History

Bethel History

On October 15, 1939, the initial service was held for a new Lutheran Church in Fort Smith. Pastor A. E. Schleef, then the pastor of First Lutheran Church of Fort Smith, preached the sermon.

The text for his sermon was taken from Genesis 28 and told how Jacob, when he had awakened from the remarkable dream in which he had seen angels ascending and descending a ladder which reached from earth to heaven, and in which the Lord Himself has spoken to him, marked that place with a stone and called it Bethel, which means "House of God". Bethel – this was to be the name for the new Lutheran church. This "House of God" at the corner of Waldron Road and Euper Lane had its beginnings months before that October day.

It had all started at a Sunday school teachers meeting at First Lutheran Church. Opportunities for local missions were being discussed when one of the teachers, Mrs. R. A. Hach, mentioned that each Sunday as she came to Sunday school and church down Little Rock Road (now known as Rogers Avenue) she saw many children who seemed to have no church home.

The pastor of First Lutheran at that time was Pastor Karl Kretzschmar. Pastor Kretzschmar suggested that a canvass might be made of the area to see whether these children really were unchurched or were, perhaps, just negligent about attending their own church. So work was begun.

Mr. and Mrs. Hach felt they already had the nucleus for a Sunday school class as there was a family living on their farm which had several children. Then on the hill above their farm, on what is now Cliff Drive, there were several other families with children. This was not a place with beautiful, elegant homes at the time. In fact, many of the families living there were living in tents.

Just like that old Sunday school song, Mr. and Mrs. Hach went "all around the neighborhood" letting the Gospel light shine. They visited parents and asked if they would be interested in having their children go to Sunday school and learn about Jesus. When the parents responded positively, the Haches offered to pick the children up and take them to their home for a Bible lesson.

The first class was held on the second Thursday in August 1938. There were six children present. But the word began to spread and those six children brought more so that by the second week attendance jumped to fifteen. The Lord continued to bless the work being done and in December of 1938 the number of pupils had grown to thirty. During the first ten months of 1939 there were 46 pupils enrolled!

As the number of children attending their special classes grew, it soon became clear that Mr. and Mrs. Hach were going to need some help, so teachers from First Lutheran came to the rescue. Among them were Mrs. Harry G. Barr, Mrs. Doris Weigands, Mrs. Essie Lester, Mrs. Clem Hartsfield, Mrs. Sophia Burger, Miss Amanda Hennig, Miss Virginia Speaker, and Miss Betty Ann Selig.