Around Swedish America in 548 Days - Day 196

Day 196 - Bethlehem Covenant Church

The congregation of Bethlehem Covenant Church is an offshoot (organized in 1894) of the Salem Square Church, now the Salem Covenant Church, 215 E. Mountain Street, established in 1880 and known as the First Swedish Evangelical Congregational Church of Worcester. This church was made famous by the Reverend John A. Hultman (1861-1942), who gave concerts throughout the United States. A singing evangelist known as Solskenssångaren (the Sunshine Singer), Hultman was pastor of Salem Square from 1900 to 1906; he also served Bethlehem Covenant from 1917 to 1919. Bethlehem Covenant’s white clapboard church was built in 1901. The congregation was the Second Swedish Congregational Church of Worcester until 1924, when it joined the Evangelical Mission Covenant Church of America and adopted the name “Bethlehem Evangelical Church.”

Near the Bethlehem Church is the former Swedish Methodist Church (Quinsigamond United Methodist Church), 9 Stebbins Street (508-755-6237) and former Emanuel Lutheran (now the Quinsigamond Village Community Center) with its tall spire. It is located two blocks north of Bethlehem Covenant on Greenwood Street. The Emanuel Lutheran congregation is now at 200 Greenwood Street, Quinsigamond Village (508-756-6620), and the Salvation Army is at 884 Millbury Street. The local Roman Catholic Church, two blocks south of Bethlehem Covenant at 3 Wiser Avenue, is called St. Catherine of Sweden.