Bethlehem United Church of Christ (Ann Arbor, Mich.)

The Bethlehem United Church of Christ was originally organized in 1833 as the First German Evangelical Society of Scio. Its first members were Wuerttemberger and Prussian immigrants who had come to Michigan in 1829, and who now organized themselves as the first German Protestant congregation in Michigan.

Friedrich Schmid was pastor of this congregation. Under his leadership, the members built a sanctuary which they referred to as Zion Church. Located one mile west of Ann Arbor, Zion Chapel was home to the congregation until 1849 at which time they moved into a church building located at First and Washington Streets in Ann Arbor to which they gave the name Bethlehem Church. In 1895, the congregation moved into a third structure on South Fourth Street. This building, though renovated and enlarged, has served the church to the present time (1980).

For the first few years of its existence, the church was without a constitution or any other formal organization. In 1838, the church received its first constitution where the evangelical character of its doctrinal beliefs was underscored. Because Schmid was a member of the Ohio Synod of the Lutheran Church, the church increasingly aligned itself with that denomination. In 1854, the name of the church was changed to the First German Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ann Arbor. When Schmid left the Synod in 1859, however, the church also dropped its association with the Lutheran Synod.

In 1945, the church voted to become a full member of the Evangelical and Reformed Church. When that denomination merged in 1958 with the Congregation-Christian churches, the Bethlehem church became the Bethlehem United Church of Christ.

In 1848, the church started a parish school to provide children with instruction in the German language, arithmetic, religion, singing, natural science, and geography. Completed in 1860, the schoolhouse was later enlarged in 1873 to accomodate the increase in enrollment.

In addition to this formal instruction the members of the congregation also participated in societies formed to bolster the social and financial needs of the church. One of the oldest, the Frauen Vereines, organized in 1871 as a result of agitation for support of a Sunday School library. The youth fellowship and Bethlehem Brotherhood also provided members of the congregation with an opportunity to become involved in church activities.

From the guide to the Bethlehem United Church of Christ (Ann Arbor, Mich.) Records, 1833-1980, (Bentley Historical Library University of Michigan)