The History of Bethesda Baptist Church

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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