WELCOME to Bethany Community Church
THE DECADE OF 1900-1909
The new decade also happened to be the turn of the century and many things were to take place that would have a profound effect on our Bethany.
To illustrate, McKinley and T. Roosevelt were elected President and Vice President in 1900. In September of 1901 McKinley was assassinated and Teddy Roosevelt became President.
Roosevelt, whose foreign policy consisted mainly of "Walk softly and carry a big stick" was to preside over a nation which grew so rapidly no one could estimate how far it would go. The Industrial Revolution was on, the nation finally healed of its Civil War wounds, wages and the standard of living were up, and contrary to the usual, as times got better, church attendance went up, not down. It was during this period that the Panama Canal was built at a cost of $450,000.00.
Roseland had now been incorporated into the City of Chicago resulting in new and better school facilities but street paving was to a long time coming, and dirt roads and wooden sidewalks prevailed. Women wore dresses of a length to touch the ground and high button shoes, while men wore high celluloid collars with narrow cuff trousers. A little different from today.
DOWN MEMORY LANE
- How many of you remember the Roseland Christian School which stood at 110th Place and State, where the Postoffice is now?
- Do you remember the Christian Reformed Church on 111th Street between Wabash and State Streets where the Roseland YMCA now stands?
- Do you remember the manse at that location being moved, in one piece, down the streets on rollers to the southwest corner of 109th Place and Princeton, where it still stands?
- Do you remember the Roseland Cooperative Market at 110th Place and Michigan?
- Do you remember the first gas station in Roseland directly behind it belonging to Bethig and Goenenwein?
If you can remember all that, a few years have passed you by.
ENOUGH OF NOSTALGIA, LET'S GET BACK TO BETHANY.
Rev. Hekhuis remained as pastor until June 1, 1906, at which time he accepted a call to another church. Dr. Moerdyk first then Rev. Brooks became moderators while we were without a pastor.
We called Rev. John Steunenberg to be our new pastor and, although he first declined, upon being called a second time he accepted. He preached his first sermon on Easter March 31, 1907.
Keeping in mind that Bethany started the decade with 232 communicant members and 212 baptized, by 1905 we had 293 communicant members. God had certainly recognized a need for our church as was causing it to prosper. Some of our people had died. some had transferred, but overall growth went on.
At this time it is apropo to consider two of our members who are still in faithful attendance. Nettie LeNoble, Nee Verhaar joined our church at 18 on April 22, 1907 and Henry Van Alsberg on May 27, 1907 at age 22. They are still in church every Sunday. We salute them.
In September 1903 Consistory approved a request by the Bethany Young Mens Association to start a fund drive for a manse and in early 1907 H. Eenigenburg, the builder of the church, was given a contract to build a manse next door to the church at a cost of $4500. It was occupied in September 1907.
With Rev. Steunenberg at the helm, guided by the Holy Spirit, Bethany continued to move forward. On September 20, 1909 our church assumed partial support of Dr. Bonthuis, a medical missionary to China, the first of many missionaries we would support.
In the matter of financial giving it can be truthfully said that Bethany has never asked any agency of the R.C.A. for help. When the needs were made known our people always came through.
The Bethany of the early nineteen hundreds, was operated according to the strictest Calvinistic principles with wrongdoers haled before the Consistory for their offenses and admonished. Yet the year 1909 ended with a membership of 324 communicant members and 386 baptized, an increase of 1200% over the twenty seven we started with just twenty years before.
God had caused us to prosper but He was not through yet.
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