The BETHANY NATIONAL EVANGELICAL CHURCH (Finnish) served the Finnish community on Cleveland's west side. It was founded in 1919. Unable to support its own minister in the early years, Bethany was served by visiting clerics from the large Finnish community in Fairport and Ashtabula. In 1942 it hired its own pastor. For many years the church, a member of the Finnish Natl. Evangelical Lutheran Synod, shared quarters with St. Agnes Episcopal at W. 48th and Franklin. In 1951 it bought a building at 5734 Franklin formerly owned by Our Savior's Norwegian Lutheran Church, which moved westward to merge with the Rocky River Lutheran Church. As the neighborhood changed, Bethany abandoned its Finnish services and fell into decline. The Missouri Synod tried unsuccessfully to revitalize the church by outreach to the HISPANIC COMMUNITY. In 1974 it was disbanded.
Article Categories