8 South Lincoln Street
During the 19th century, Swedish immigrants migrated to Illinois to practice their Lutheran faith. Many settled in Batavia, and in 1853, a Swedish Lutheran Church was established in nearby Geneva. In March of 1872, a group of about 50 Swedish Lutherans met on the second floor of the home of August Anderson, located at 15 South Jefferson Street, and decided to form a church. They signed a contract to purchase an old school building a block away, and began preparing it for worship. Six months later, the building at 8 South Lincoln Street was ready, and their church was properly organized as the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Bethany Church of Batavia, Illinois.
Numerous pastors served the church between 1872 and 1893 during which the Batavians held close relationships with pastors of the Swedish Lutheran Church, as well as with Grace Lutheran of Aurora. Until 1919, the church’s summer school taught Catechism and Bible History to children in Swedish. Beginning in 1919, a plan was introduced to allow all Batavia Churches to excuse grade school children for part of the day every Thursday to attend religious instruction. This continued until 1985.
The remodeled school house was replaced in 1887, with more renovations performed in 1904. In 1949, the church was rebuilt, and in 1980 an expansion significantly added to Bethany’s size. Another renovation, along with extensive interior upgrades, was performed in 1997. By then, the congregation had grown from 50 to more than 1,200 members.
