We are a Baptist Church located at 2140 Harmonyville Rd, Pottstown, PA 19465.
Our morning and evening services provide a Christ-exalting atmosphere. God-honoring congregational singing and special music lift the hearts of those in attendance to glorify the Lord. The preaching of God's Word is the focal point of every service at Bethesda as lives are strengthened to give God the preeminence.
Services:
The exact date when the church was founded is not known, but it is safe to say that meetings were held in the homes of various members before the present building was erected, as was the custom at that time. The early history of Bethesda Church is somewhat vague. The records prior to December 10, 1864 appear to have been lost However, other 18th century records date other events and persons associated with Bethesda Church.
Its founder, Thomas Lloyd III, was born in 1742, the oldest of three children of Thomas· Lloyd II and Elizabeth Rees. The religion of the elder Lloyd is not known, but we do know his wife, Elizabeth, was a Welsh Quaker. In 1771 young Thomas was received into membership of Vincent Baptist Church in what is now known as Chester Springs.
On November 29, 1773, he married Margaret Hudson at St. James Episcopal Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
During the Revolutionary War, Vincent Baptist Church, like others in the Valley Forge area, ceased to function as a place of religious observance and was used as a hospital.
The need for a building to be used for religious services in the Hopewell Village area was filled by the construction of the Bethesda building by Thomas Lloyd. The land on which the church is built was given by Thomas Lloyd in his will dated July 9, 1819.
Thomas Lloyd built the Meeting House in approximately 1781, although the date is uncertain.
The Lloyd Meeting House, as it was previously known, was unattached to any specific religious group until 1827. Bethesda was officially organized as a Baptist Church on December 8, 1827. The following year the church and its 31 members were accepted into the Philadelphia Baptist Association at an annual meeting on October 7, 1828.
Within the next 6 years the congregation tripled in size and established a Sabbath School and a Temperance Society.
In the 1840's, Brother D.A. Nichols, a supply pastor to Bethesda and neighboring congregations in Chester County, held a protracted meeting as part of the religious revival that swept the nation during this era. This meeting served to be a ‘Pentecostal season to the church,' as more than 50 people were baptized during this brief period.
As a result, Bethesda almost tripled in size between 1843 and 1845, the greatest growth spurt in the church's history. In 1888 the congregation was officially incorporated by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as 'a worshipping congregation of the Baptist denomination.'
In 1919, the Brooke family, owners of the property at the Hopewell Furnace, obtained the title to the property of Bethesda Baptist Church from the Lloyd family to consolidate and strengthen their holdings. Thus, when the National Park Service acquired the Brooke family property in 1938, Bethesda Baptist Church became one of the few religious organizations whose property was owned by the federal government The congregation continued to use the building under a Special Use Permit and contributed to the utility costs and the maintenance of church grounds.
On September 23, 1985, the Restated Articles of Incorporation of Bethesda Baptist Church were submitted. Under 'Purpose' it stated, 'To build up the Body of Christ and to train the body for the work of service. To fulfill the Great Commission given by our Lord Jesus Christ to go into all the world and win the lost, baptizing them and teaching them to observe all the commands of Christ.'
Portions from:
"Religion in an Iron-Making Community: Bethesda Baptist
Church and Hopewell Village”
Karen Guenther
“Bethesda Church" Hopewell National Historic Site
“Bethesda Baptist Church" Hopewell National Park 200th
Anniversary
Bethesda Baptist Church Minute Book
The following items simply summarize what we believe as a church. A more detailed description of our doctrinal beliefs is available upon visiting our services.
• In the verbal, plenary inspiration of the Bible, which is the inerrant, authoritative Word of God.
• In the Trinity; that there is only one true God, eternally existing three uncreated Persons.
• In the deity, virgin birth, and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.
• In the creation of the universe by the direct act of God in six literal days.
• That man was created in the image of God, but that he fell from his original state through willful disobedience.
• That salvation is by grace alone, accessed by faith, on the basis of Christ's atoning work on the cross.
• That one who is born again cannot lose his or her salvation.
• In the local church, an assembly of immersed believers, as God's ordained institution for the furtherance of the Gospel and the advancement of His work in this age.
• That every believer is holy by position, but that he must depend on the Holy Spirit for growth in Christlikeness.
• That every believer should separate himself from the things of the world and from all forms of religious liberalism, apostasy, and doctrinal compromise.
• In the bodily resurrection, pre-tribulational rapture of all believers, and the one-thousand year millennial reign of Christ on earth.