Back to History

Bethel's first pastor, Pr. Herman Amberg Preus and his wife, Linka Keyser Preus, left Norway, May 22, 1851 on board the sailing sloop, Columbus, bound for America. Pr. Preus had been called to serve three congregations north of Madison: Spring Prairie at Keyser, Leeds Township; Bonnet Prairie near Rio and Norway Grove near DeForest. They arrived in New York on July 11, 1851 after seven long hard weeks on the sea. Pr. and Mrs. Preus left New York on July 21, 1851, traveling by steamer and rail to Milwaukee. After stays to visit relatives and friends at Muskego and Koshkonong, Pr. Preus arrived at Spring Prairie on Aug. 9, 1851. He was then installed as pastor of the three congregations.

Madison drew his interest and he began holding services here on June 8, 1853. He organized the Madison congregation in 1855 as the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church of Madison. The pastor was not given an official call until the following year and then only for a one year term. However, he remained as pastor continuously until 1882. During his term as pastor Sunday school began, there was a merger with another Norwegian Lutheran group, the first church was built, and the Ladies Aid was organized. Because of the many congregations Pr. Preus served he had as assistants, Pr. Kristian Magelssen, Pr. Brynjolf Hovde, Pr. Adolph Bredeson, and Christian K. Preus.

Pr. Severin Gunderson, a senior seminary student, accepted the call as second pastor in Aug. 1882. During his term as pastor a doctrinal dispute over the question of predestination caused a split in the congregation as it did in many Norwegian Lutheran congregations. As a result some members left and formed Our Savior's Lutheran Church. Another Norwegian Lutheran church, known as the “Conference” church, which was renting quarters from Bethel, decided to merge with Bethel in 1890. Pr. Gunderson received and accepted a call to serve churches at East Blue Mounds, Vermont, and Springdale at this time.

Pr. Gerhard Rasmussen became the third pastor of the congregation in December, 1890 and served four years. During his pastorate a parsonage was built on Rutledge Street and the interior of the church was renovated. He accepted a call to Minneapolis in 1894.

In Mar. 1895, Pr. Thore Eggen was installed as the fourth pastor of the congregation. During his pastorate the name “Bethel Lutheran Church” was adopted. Because of the rapid development of Madison's eastside, it was decided to build a mission Sunday school at the corner of East Washington Avenue and Second Street. This building was dedicated on Nov. 11, 1900. A new church was built in 1902 and Bethel's Golden Anniversary was celebrated in 1905. Pr. Eggen resigned in 1906 to become editor of Lutheraneren, the official paper of the United Norwegian Lutheran Church.

Pr. Eggen was succeeded by Pr. Ole Gabriel Ueland Siljan, the fifth pastor of Bethel. Not long afterwards a new parsonage was built at 729 E. Gorham Street. The east side chapel had become too small and a new one was built in 1908, on Rusk Street just off Atwood Avenue. In 1922, with the realization that the second church building was becoming too small, property was purchased at West Gorham Street and Wisconsin Avenue. Bethel's Diamond Jubilee was celebrated on Oct. 19, 1930. Pr. Morris Wee was called to be assistant pastor in 1931 and later became associate pastor. Pr. Siljan retired in 1935 at age 65.

Pr. Wee became the sixth pastor of the congregation in 1936, succeeding Pr. Siljan. During 1937-38, Pr. Wee took a one year leave of absence to finish his Ph.D at the University of Wisconsin. During that time, Pr. A. Gordon Nasby served as supply pastor. During Pr. Wee's first pastorate a building committee was elected, the mortgage on the church site was burned, two morning services on Sunday began, the building fund was launched and the new church at the Wisconsin Avenue site was built. Also, Bethel began broadcasting the 9:00 am. Sunday service on radio. Dr. Wee left on Jan. 15, 1946 to become Executive Secretary of the Division of Student Services of the National Lutheran Council.

The Pr. F. I. Schmidt was called to Bethel from Grand Forks, ND as the seventh pastor on May 1, 1946. During his time as pastor a third worship service was added. Miss Lillian Erickson was called as Director of Education followed by O. O. Lokken who served as Executive Secretary and Educational Director. A parsonage was purchased at 1004 Sherman Ave. The rest of the block at the Wisconsin Avenue site was purchased. Shortly after Pastor Schmidt arrived, Pr. Lyle Gangsei became his assistant serving until 1947 when his place was taken by Pr. Norman P. Scheide. Pr. Scheide was succeeded by Pr. Leonard Benson in 1948. Pr. Benson left in 1951 and his place was filled by Pastor Stanley L. Klyve. As Home Mission Secretary, Pr. Schmidt led the way in starting Lake Edge Lutheran Church on Madison's east side. In June, 1954, Pr. Schmidt was elected as District President of the Eastern District of the ELC. Pr. Klyve became the acting pastor, assisted from the last of Sept. to mid-Dec. by Pr. Orlando Ingvoldstad.

In Aug. 1954, the congregation voted to call Dr. Morris Wee to again become Bethel's pastor. In Jan. 1955 Dr. Wee became Bethel's eighth pastor. In the years between his ministries he had served four years with the National Student Council, President of Carthage College, and served as pastor of First Lutheran Church in Duluth, MN. During his second pastorate there were two building programs to remodel and enlarge parts of the church, and the Bethel Parish Shoppe was opened. A new manual Schantz organ was installed in the sanctuary balcony and a counseling program and psychiatric diagnostic service began. Dr. Wee left Bethel in 1963 to accept a call as pastor of Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, MN.

Pr. Klyve had continued to serve as assistant pastor until 1956. Also serving as assistants with Dr. Wee were Pr. Harley Swiggum, Pr. Peder O. Wee, Pr. Joseph Lee, Pr. Richard Larson and Pr. Louis Novak. Pr. Harley Swiggum started as a seminary student, assisting Pr. Klyve in the area of youth and Christian education. He went on to create the Bethel Bible Series. Pr. Richard Larson was called as the first counseling pastor.

Pr. Robert Borgwardt was called from Sioux Falls, SD, in 1963, to become Bethel's ninth pastor, succeeding Dr. Wee. Prior to his pastorate in Sioux Falls, Pr. Borgwardt had served as pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church on the east side of Madison and associate pastor at Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, MN. During Dr. Borgwardt's term as pastor, Bethel's Endowment Foundation was organized and chartered.

Television was first used to broadcast a five minute program, It's Your Life, by Pr. Borgwardt followed by Worship at Bethel, a half-hour telecast of a Sunday morning service, aired in Madison, La Crosse, and Eau Claire. A new church library was opened, land was purchased near Dodgeville to start Bethel Horizons, and XYZ was chartered. The Outreach Program was started with the Johnson Street house (and later Washington Ave. house) to establish homes for men with a history of chronic mental illness. Construction was begun to relocate the church offices, create a new youth facility, a new library and adult day care center (Cephas Johnson Center). TV equipment was purchased to permit in-house production, including the Sunday telecast in Madison, La Crosse, and Eau Claire. Dr. Borgwardt retired in the spring of 1991, preaching his farewell sermon on Easter Sunday.

Pr. Joseph Lee, Pr. Richard Larson, Pr. Harley Swiggum, and Pr. Louis Novak continued as associate pastors with Dr. Borgwardt. Pr. Lee left in 1967, Pr. Larson retired in 1991, Pr. Novak left in 1964 and Pr. Swiggum left in 1966 to work full time with the Adult Christian Education Foundation as Director. Additional associate pastors with Dr. Borgwardt were Pr. Bruce Wrightsman, 1963-67; Pr. Leon Holm, 1966-68; Pr. Amos Stolen, 1968-80; Pr. James Janke, 1968-71; Pr. John Ruppenthal, 1971-78; Pr. Daniel Seidelmann, 1978-83; Pr. Willard Lund, 1979-87 and Pr. Glenn Zimbelman, 1984-87. Pr. Duane Hanson was called in 1968 to be youth pastor and founded and became Director of Bethel Horizons, Pr. Donald Jacobson was called as a counseling pastor in 1985, Pr. Kathleen Panning was called as the first female pastor in 1987 and Pr. James Koza was called as youth pastor in 1989.

Our current senior pastor, Pr. Bill White, came to Bethel in 1991 as the tenth pastor. Prior to coming to Bethel, he had served Hollandale-Trinity Lutheran Parish in Hollandale and Blanchardville, WI, was Director of Camping for the Michigan District of the American Lutheran Church, served as an Assistant to the President (now called Bishop) of the Michigan District and started a new congregation, Immanuel Lutheran in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. During his tenure, weekly worship has increased from three to six services, and several educational programs have been developed (Life with Christ, Journey, and Beta) and a new Latino Ministry has begun. Major renovations have been made on all three floors of the church, and Worship At Bethel (the TV ministry) added stations at Green Bay and Milwaukee. Hope House, a temporary residence for new single mothers and their children, was established. Bethel Builds, a cooperative entity with Habitat for Humanity, began in 2004.
Associate pastors who continued to serve with Pastor White were Pr. Barsness until 1995, Pr. Jacobson until retirement in 2001, Pr. Panning until 1992 and Pr. Koza until 1993, when he became Chaplain at the Skaalen Home in Stoughton. Pr. Hanson continues as Director of Bethel Horizons. Associate pastors who have served with Pastor White are Pr. Ronald Fretheim from 1992 until retirement in 2002; Pr. Laura Nelson, 1993-96; Pr. Kenneth Kohl, 1995-97: and Pr. Lisa Nelson, 1998-2001. Continuing to serve as associate pastors are Pr. John Swanson since 1994, Pr. Curt Everson since 1997, Pr. Peter Narum since 2001: and Pr. Katherine Baardseth, Pr. Pedro Suárez, Pr. George Bauman, and Pr. Gretchen Weller since 2002.

- Don Solheim and Roland Paul

March 2005