1982 Bethel Baptist Church Directory

This is the 1982 Bethel Baptist Church directory. This was printed after Bethel had already moved to 1781 W 38th Street in Erie, PA. The pastor was Kenneth L Andrus. Assistant Pastor was Paul D George. Bethel Christian School Principal was Charles Bloomfield.

The enrollment at that time was over 500 people and this was distributed to the dozens of families in the church, so I hope no one minds me making it available.

You are welcome to download a copy. It's in Google Docs and public on the Web with no password, Google may ask you to sign in to your Gmail account to see it.

Download the 1982 Directory of Bethel Baptist Church in Erie, PA –>

This is what Bethel Baptist Church at 1781 W 38th Street in Erie, PA looks like today:

This was the sanctuary in 1982[1]:

 

[1]
The rectangular box in the very center, at the end of the aisle and on the floor, is the communion table. Once a month that table is prepared before the service starts. You know you are going to have communion if, when you enter the sanctuary, the table is draped with white linen. Under the linen is the unleavened bread and grape juice. Communion is not the focus of a Baptist service, even on the Sunday it’s held; it’s added at the end, after a full normal service. It takes about 20 minutes in a large church. Congregants are passed the bread and wine down each aisle; they do not go forward. Deacons generally distribute the bread and wine.

Before “coming to the table,” the pastor reminds you that “you must be born again, since immersed, and walking with the Lord.” That means you must believe in Jesus as your personal savior, be baptized by immersion, and have a relationship with Jesus today. Baptists confess their sins in private prayer just before partaking. It is a very solemn service. See my post here on parallels with the Eucharist, Something Like Grace.

During funerals in this church, the deceased’s coffin is placed where you see the communion table. Afterward, the coffin is wheeled to a door on the right; outside that door there is plenty of room for a hearse and cars for the funeral procession to the cemetery. I have attended too many.

Started: A long time ago.