Today marks 145 years of worship at Bethany Lutheran Church! Bethany was started in 1879 with 35 members, originally called the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of Escanaba.

In honor of these 35 founding members, we asked 35 current members to tell us their favorite thing about Bethany.

What is your favorite thing about Bethany?

1. "The communion with people!" - Suzy Decker

2. "The Sunday service, the Bible study group, and the circles." - Jean Bourassa

3. "The caring community." - Ralph B.K. Peterson

4. "The gathering of families and how I feel at home here." - Sara Beck

5. "The welcoming spirit and caretaking love of members, and the stained glass windows during peak illumination time." - Marcie Kaven

6. "There are so many favorites! The beauty of the church building, the members, and our wonderful pastor." - Norma Hopkins

7. "I can’t pick THE favorite thing about Bethany for me but ONE favorite thing is our music and singing - it feeds my soul." - Sue Roll

8. "All of the people of Bethany and their welcoming nature." - Alex Brondyke Bridges

9. "The history of people, and their world champion softball team of 1988." - John Beck

10. "The worship service." - Dan Johnson

11. "My church family, they're special!" - Char Cavadeas

12. "One is: how Bethany decorates with flowers." - Ardith Paarni

13. "My favorite thing about Bethany is probably when we have confirmation and I can hang out with my friends, or when we have dinners in the basement!" - Anna Bouche

14. "My favorite thing about Bethany would be the wonderful people." - Jean Sovey

15. "The years of working with the youth." - Don Nyquist

16. "The beautiful church. The congregation. The PASTOR! The ministries that Bethany does to share the Grace of GOD!" - Lee Anne Strand

17. "My favorite thing is how much I've learned and grown by being a part of Bethany and getting to know the congregation over the years. Bethany continues to bring together so many wonderful people, and I'm so grateful for each and every one of them!" - Kyra Beck

18. "The fellowship!" - Christian Gabler

19. "My favorite thing about Bethany is the willingness to change once the reasons for change are explained." - Gayle Bradley

20. "My favorite thing about Bethany is the people! I absolutely love the strong sense of community I have found within Bethany’s congregation. Whenever something happened in my life both good or bad the people of Bethany were always quick to share any words of support or offer help if they could. I have loved growing up as a member of Bethany Lutheran and am so thankful for the people who make it so special!" - Maia Roll

21. "The friendships and fellowship – new Pastor Lily (& Alex!). My husband's family (Alice side) were one of the founding families, so generations!" - Karen Marie Mokszycke

22. "How it brings everyone together for a 'recharge' and positive start to the week!" - Brian Kaven

23. "Being a part of our church family – the hands and feet of Jesus to others." - Kim Beck

24. "Pastor Lily is the best thing. Next best thing are the children who participate, and also wonderful members." - Elaine Klasell

25. "The people!" - Jackie Porath

26. "I have been a member of Bethany for 58 years. In that time I have witnessed many changes in the church, but the one thing that remains the same to me is the feeling of belonging to the Bethany family." - Alisa Madden

27. "Music and tradition." - Mary Jo Roll

28. "The sense of community." - Kelly Blake

29. "The friendly faces I meet every Sunday." - Christina Christenson

30. "One of my favorite parts of Bethany is its creativity. Recent traditions like the Color Run/Walk and Free Store show how we adapt to serve our community in new ways." - Michael Kaven

31. "The people and the outreach." - Carole Beck

32. "Pastor Lily!" - Julia Porath

33. "It’s a place where people come together who might not otherwise know each other! We worship, we eat, we serve, we mourn, and we celebrate together!" - Pastor Lily Brondyke

34. "The people." - Rodney Spence

35. "Everything!" - Don Hopkins