Bethany Lutheran Church

Genealogical Data

The following records from this congregation are available:

Baptisms from 1875 to 1921

Confirmations from 1875 to 1935

Marriages from 1875 to 1976

Deaths from 1875 to 1971

Pastors from 1961 to 1981

StLGS is following state guidelines for privacy wherever possible. Births/baptisms online must be at least one hundred years old; confirmations eighty-six years old; marriages forty-five years old; and deaths fifty years old. Additional data from these records is available; please come to the StLGS office to view it. As privacy limits permit, society volunteers will post additional data online.

History

Established in 1870; church closed in 2001

Bethany Lutheran Church in St. Louis (not to be confused with a later congregation of that name in Webster Groves) began in 1870 when members of the Bethlehem Lutheran Church, who were living in the Fairgrounds area of St. Louis, petitioned their congregation for permission to start a mission closer to where they lived. They were successful, and, as a result of their efforts, they established the Fairgrounds Lutheran Mission at Grand and Harper Streets. The building served as both church and school.

3649 Clay Ave.
Photo © 2011 Landmarks Associates
(Used with permission)

By 1872, they had renamed the school as Bethany and were looking to expand. Again, Bethlehem Lutheran Church assisted them in purchasing new land and a new church was erected at Natural Bridge and Spring. On 20 July 1874, the mission was formally organized as the Bethany Lutheran Church. In March 1875, they received their first pastor, Rev. Martin Hein of Wiesbaden, Germany.

Continued growth led to the church joining the Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church in 1879. Just a few years later, in 1883, the Ladies Aid Society financed the purchase of a site on Natural Bridge at Clay on which the church erected an imposing new church in the Gothic style.

The church and school thrived in the twentieth century. English services began in 1906. A fire in 1917 did damage that was quickly restored, and in 1927, the congregation added a gymnasium. Once the gymnasium was complete, the congregation decided to raze the old church and build a larger, more beautiful structure on the same site. However, by 1995, the church was vacant and the congregation officially ended in 2001. In 2019, the building was being used by the Tabernacle of Life Christian Church.

Location 1870–1874: Grand Boulevard and Harper Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63107

GPS (Latitude, Longitude): 38.661914, -90.2184164   View Map

Location 1874–1883: Natural Bridge and Spring, St. Louis, Missouri 63107

GPS (Latitude, Longitude): 38.66193, -90.2207584    View Map

Location 1883–2001: 3649 Clay Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63115

GPS (Latitude, Longitude): 38.6654145, -90.2272178   View Map