Events and Activities : Bethlehem Lutheran Church Celebrates 100 years

Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church at 1206 C Avenue in Vinton, Iowa, was originally located in rural Benton County southwest of Vinton. It was named “The Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Bethlehem Congregation.” The name was officially changed in 1956, but for decades after the congregation was still known in the community as “the Swedish Lutheran Church.”

Chartered by immigrants who had been baptized in Sweden and who desired to continue their life in the church, the congregation was helped to form by and subsequently joined the Augustana Synod. This was an organization of Swedish and Norwegian, and later primarily Swedish, Lutheran congregations. The name “Augustana” reflected the synod’s adherence to the Unaltered Augsburg Confession. In Latin this was called Confessio Augustana. It is a foundational statement of Lutheran faith dating from 1530. The Augustana Synod was instrumental in working towards unity of Lutherans in America and merged into the Lutheran Church in America (LCA) in 1962. The LCA became part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Bethlehem now belongs in the ELCA.

“Augustana” persists in the names of colleges affiliated with the ELCA in Rock Island, Illinois, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It also was chosen as the name for Bethlehem’s new fellowship hall dedicated in 2008 in honor of the Swedish heritage of the congregation.

All are invited to help Bethlehem celebrate its Centennial on Monday, June 10, 2013. Ice cream and cookies will be served from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in Augustana Hall.