Site of Bethany Lutheran Church and School

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do my best to do it justice. Deep in Lee County, there's a place where a church once stood, a school once rang with voices, and a community once gathered week after week to hold something together. The site of Bethany Lutheran Church and School.

And friend, holding something together turned out to be the whole story. It was 1895 when the Rev. G.

W. Buschacher established Bethany as a German-English mission church. Right from the start, it was bridging two worlds, two languages, one congregation.

The Rev. H. P.

Grief was called as the first pastor, and a teacher named Ernest Lubner took charge of the Bethany School. Now that sounds like a solid foundation, doesn't it. A pastor, a teacher, a mission with purpose.

But here's where the road gets a little rougher. In 1902, the mission board withdrew support for Bethany. Just like that.

The congregation didn't fold, though. They kept on. They found full-time pastors to serve them from 1914 to 1925, and after that, vicars stepped in to conduct the school and services, with visiting pastors coming around to perform the formal rites.

Think about what that takes. Decade after decade of making do, of stitching together whatever they had to keep the light on. But in 1964, the mission at Greens Creek was razed.

Gone. The records went to an area museum. The church bell, that voice of the congregation, traveled to Emmanuel Lutheran Church of Littlefield.

And what remained on the land itself? The Bethany Cemetery. That's it.

That's all. Sometimes the most enduring thing a community leaves behind isn't a building or a bell. It's the ground where they laid their own to rest.

What the marker says

Established as a German-English mission church in 1895 by the Rev. G. W. Buschacher, Bethany Lutheran Church called the Rev. H. P. Grief as first pastor. Teacher Ernest Lubner managed the Bethany School. In 1902 the mission board withdrew support for Bethany. The congregation was served by full-time pastors from 1914 to 1925, after which vicars conducted the school and services; formal rites were performed by visiting pastors. In 1964 the mission at Greens Creek was razed. Records went to an area museum and the church bell to Emmanuel Lutheran Church of Littlefield. The Bethany Cemetery is all that remains. (1997)