In the early days, the church was referred to as Evangelical Lutheran, and frequent attempts were made during the years to secure an affiliation with a synod. This was stubbornly resisted by the members, who voted it down each time.
Finally, in 1958, Bethel joined the Michigan-Indiana Synod, thus becoming affiliated with the Evangelical and Reformed Church. It was finally amalgamated with the Congregational Christian churches in the same year, under the name of United church of Christ.
In a special meeting on 7 Sept 1908, it was decided that rather than renovating the frame church, which was in need of many repairs, a new, granite structure should be built. The contract was awarded to C.A. Sauer & Co. of Ann Arbor. The building was to be 78 feet long, 46 feet wide in front, including a tower 80 feet in height, and a roof of red tile. The cornerstone was laid with great ceremony on 20 May 1909.
As reported in the Evangelical Kirchenblatt, July, 1909: “Although we are accustomed from our missionary meetings to greet our friends from neighboring congregations, their number was so great that even our oldest members remarked that they had never seen such a crowd of people and so many buggies and automobiles. The celebration began at 2:30. We sang, “I Will Ever Sing Thy Praises.’ After a prayer…the reading of the Scriptures (and several addresses) the assembly sang Luther’s famous hymn, ‘A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,’ wherupon the actual laying of the cornerstone took place…”
