Church History: Bethany Reformed Church, Ephrata, Lancaster County, PA

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History of the Classis of Lancaster of the Eastern Synod of the
Reformed Church in the United States, 1852-1940;

Part II, Histories of the Congregations of the Classis of Lancaster, Pg. 150-155

Printed by The New Holland Clarion, New Holland, PA;
Editors Rev. Daniel G. Glass, Rev. C. George Bachman, Rev. Harry E. Shepardson,
Rev. John F. Frantz, Rev. J. N. Le Van, D.D.
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BETHANY REFORMED CHURCH, EPHRATA

Rev. Harvey M. Lyttle, Pastor


Bethany Reformed Church, identified in its early history by the name Cocalico, 
was founded by Rev. John Philip Boehm, about 1730.  Rev. William J. Hinke, in 
his "Life and Letters of the Rev. John Philip Boehm", states the "Cocalico 
congregation, near Ephrata, originated most likely during the ministry of Boehm 
from 1730-1731."  It was a part of the district known as the Conestoga Valley, 
of which the Hill Church (now Heller's) was the center.  Because of the 
distances involved, this district was soon divided into preaching places, one of 
which was Cocalico.  Dr. Hinke states, "While Boehm was organizing the Reformed 
people in the Perkiomen Valley into three congregations in 1725, another 
Reformed leader was doing the same thing in the Conestoga Valley, in Lancaster 
County.  It was John Conrad Tempelmann, a pious tailor from Heidelberg, 
Germany".  In a letter written to the Synods of North and South Holland, 
February 13, 1733, Tempelmann relates the origin of the Reformed Church in the 
Conestoga Valley.  He mentions the membership at Cocalico as 51.  The Elders of 
the congregation were:  Hans George Schwab, Johannes Gehr and Conrad Werns.

From Boehm's second report to the Synods of Holland, January 14, 1739, we gain 
the following information concerning Conestoga:  "This place is very far away, a 
distance of more than seventy miles from Philadelphia.  The Reformed people 
there have in fact organized themselves into three congregations. . ." (these 
were Hill Church, Conestoga and Lancaster).  "I again went to them, and there 
were on May 11th, 1735, in said first congregation, or Hill Church, at 
Conestoga, 92 communicants.  On the same journey I administered the Lord's 
Supper, at their own request, in the second congregation (the name of which 
place is Cocalico), which had been gathered at a former time.  There were 
present, as communicants, 60".

These quotations indicate that the Cocalico congregation was a definite 
organization before 1733, and that its inception may have been even earlier than 
1730.  The congregation had an uninterrupted history of at least 164 years at 
one place, about one mile southeast of Ephrata, Pa., -- the site being still in 
the possession of the Bethany church.  During the pastorate of the Rev. 
Frederick Pilgram, the congregation decided to move to Ephrata, which it did in 
November of 1894, purchasing the Union Chapel then located on the present site.  
This building was twice remodeled, in 1894 and in 1905.

In June 1914, the congregation decided to erect a new Church and Sunday School 
Building.  The cornerstone was laid September 20, 1914, the Reverend George W. 
Richards preaching the sermon.  The building was consecrated on Whitsunday, May 
23, 1915, when the Reverend John S. Stahr, D.D., then ex-president of Franklin 
and Marshall College, preached the Dedicatory Sermon.  Dedicatory Services were 
held nightly during the week following and were brought to a close on Trinity 
Sunday evening, at which time the Reverend Daniel G. Glass, then pastor of Faith 
Reformed Church, Lancaster, Pa., and a son of the congregation, preached the 
sermon.

Since the removal to Ephrata, the congregation has enjoyed modest growth, and at 
present has a membership of 345.  The building has undergone only minor changes 
and alterations since its erection.  In 1933 the congregation erected a new 
parsonage in place of a frame dwelling that had been in use for that purpose 
since the removal to Ephrata.  The Church has given two sons to the Holy 
Ministry during its long history:  The Rev. Daniel G. Glass, and the Reverend 
Samuel Z. Givler.  There is one student for the Ministry at present attending 
the Theological Seminary at Lancaster, Pa., Mr. J. Richard Bishop.

Of the earlier Ministers of the Cocalico congregation, perhaps the most famous 
is Rev. John Peter Miller, who was a man of great learning, educated at the 
University of Heidelberg.  He arrived in Philadelphia, August 29, 1730.  Before 
his departure from Germany he had been licensed to preach, but had not been 
ordained.  He was ordained soon after his arrival – over the protests of Boehm, 
who urged ordination at the hands of the Dutch Reformed Ministers of New York – 
by the Presbyterian Presbytery, of Philadelphia.  Having become, in 1731, the 
pastor of the charge which included, probably, besides Cocalico, Zeltenreich, 
Muddy Creek, and Brickerville, he early evidenced much interest in the Ephrata 
community of Seventh Day Dunkers, headed by Conrad Beissel.  Boehm informs us 
that he was "baptized in Dunker fashion (trine immersion) at Conestoga, April 
1735.  As "Brother Jaebez", Miller remained a member of the Ephrata Brotherhood 
for sixty years, becoming, after Beissel's death in 1768, the recognized leader.

Another interesting Pastor, who served Cocalico from 1743-1744, is Rev. Jacob 
Lischy, who received ordination from Moravians, and was for a long time an 
enthusiastic Moravian sympathizer.  He was vehemently opposed by Boehm for his 
divisive efforts among Reformed people, but eventually was accepted as a member 
of the Coetus, holding the Pastorate at York on the Codorus.  In his "Report to 
Bishop Spangenberg" he states, "the seventh place is Cocalico, where I have 
preached every four weeks in the afternoon.  But because it grew too late during 
the winter I have abandoned it for the time being.  They can come in the 
forenoon to the 'Modencrick' church to hear the Gospel.  There are many awakened 
souls living there, but most of them are unknown to me since my time was never 
sufficient to visit them and speak to them."

The following item, which appears in the Reformed Church Almanac of 1899, is 
significant to the history of Bethany Church, among others which it concerns:

   The first monies received for Foreign Missions in our church was
   October 23, 1838, from 'The Sunday School Educational and Missionary
   Society for Foreign Missions of the Reformed Church,' Trenton, N.J.,
   per Rev. John H. Schmaltz, $4.00, and from the Rev. D. Hertz, pastor
   of the Ephrata charge, Lancaster County, Pa., $7.31 1-4.

   The following have been the pastors of Bethany Church:

   John Philip Boehm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1730-1731
   John Peter Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1731-1734
   John Bechthold. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1735-1736
   John Jacob Hock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1736-1739
   George Michael Wieser . . . . . . . . . . . . 1739-1740
   John B. Rieger. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1740-1743
   Jacob Lischy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1743-1744
   John Conrad Tempelmann. . . . . . . . . . . . 1744-1748
   D. Bartholomaeus (Supply) . . . . . . . . . .     -1749
   Lewis Ferdinand Vock. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1750-1751
   John Waldschmidt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1752-1762
   John Henry Decker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1762-1764
   Frederick C. Muller . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1764-1765
   Frederick J. Berger . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1765-1766
   John George Wittner . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1766-1770
   John C. Gobrecht. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1770-1779
   Anthony Hautz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1786-1790
   John C. Wilms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1792-1802
   Charles Helfenstein . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1803-1807
   John T. Faber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1807-1819
   Frederick A. Herman . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1819-1823
   Daniel Hertz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1823-1843
   P. D. Schory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1843-1844
   Christian Weiler. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1845-1846
   W. A. Helfrich. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1846-1848
   I. E. Graeff. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1849-1851
   Albert Helfenstein, Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . 1852-1858
   Frederick A. Gast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1859-1861
   William T. Gerhard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1861-1870
   Daniel C. Tobias. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1870-1891
   Frederick Pilgram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1892-1896
   Frederick C. Hullhorst. . . . . . . . . . . . 1896-1904
   Howard H. Spahn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1904-1910
   Allan S. Meck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1911-1916
   Cyrus T. Glessner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1917-1922
   John B. Noss. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1922-1926
   George T. Fitz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1926-1933
   Harvey M. Lyttle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1933-