Bethany Lutheran Church sits on Forest Drive SE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, between Washington High School and Cottage Grove Place, and has built a steady rhythm around two very different Sunday morning services. The congregation belongs to the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and summarizes its calling with a simple line: Living and Sharing God's Love. Visitors walking through the front doors find a sanctuary to the left and a team of ushers and elders stationed at the entrance, ready to answer questions and help newcomers find their way.
Two Sunday Services, One Sanctuary
Sunday worship at Bethany comes in two formats that share the same Scripture readings, creeds, prayers, and sermon. The 8:30 a.m. traditional service follows the historic Lutheran liturgy and sings hymns from the Lutheran Service Book, accompanied by the organ with occasional special music from handbells, the vocal choir, or instrumentalists. The 11:00 a.m. contemporary service keeps every element of the liturgy but reshapes the music, with a praise band leading modern songs that fill the same sanctuary. Communion is celebrated on the first and third Sundays of each month, and anyone wishing to take communion is invited to meet with an elder or with Pastor Erickson beforehand.
The Education Hour at 9:45
Between the two services sits the Education Hour, a weekly window when the building fills with study groups for every age. Sunday School meets from 9:45 to 10:45 a.m. for students in preschool through twelfth grade, gathering in age-appropriate rooms. Parents of infants and toddlers can drop them off in the nursery during the 11:00 service. Adults meet in the Family Life Center for a Bible study led by Pastor Erickson that is open to anyone who wants to come, including visitors passing through between services.
Children, Confirmation, and High School Youth
The children's ministry seeks to create a fun and loving environment for kids to learn the good news of Jesus Christ. On Wednesday evenings, the youth wing comes alive with two parallel programs running from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Confirmation instruction is offered for students in seventh and eighth grade, while high school students in ninth through twelfth grade gather for their own youth group. Both groups meet in the building at the same time, which makes it easy for families with students at different stages to arrive and leave together.
Bible Study for Adults
Bethany runs two weekly Bible studies for adults in addition to the Sunday hour. On Wednesdays at 6:00 a.m., the men's Bible study gathers - currently meeting over Zoom so working schedules and travel do not keep men away. On Thursdays at 9:00 a.m., Pastor Erickson leads a second study that welcomes all adults. The church also points visitors toward a Daily Lectionary, a year-long devotional reading plan rooted in ancient models that walks through the entire Bible in step with the liturgical church year.
Lutheran Women's Missionary League and Three Circles
The Bethany Women's Guild is the local expression of the Lutheran Women's Missionary League (LWML), the LCMS women's organization whose mission is to help each woman affirm her relationship with the Triune God and put her gifts to work for the world. The guild has roughly thirty active members plus about thirty associate members who support the work with prayer and occasional help. Active members are divided into three circles named Leah, Naomi, and Rebekah, each meeting once a month on the second Thursday - one at 1:30 p.m. and two at 6:30 p.m. - with Bible study, fellowship, and dessert. The circles gather together for a larger meeting four times a year. Members assemble quilts that are donated to Lutheran World Relief and shipped to people in third-world countries, and they play bingo once a month with residents at a local nursing home. The guild also raises money for local charities, supports seminary students, and collects mites for missions, while preparing and cleaning up communion ware on first and third Sundays.
Senior Worship on the Third Thursday
Older members and friends have their own monthly rhythm at Bethany. Senior worship is held on the third Thursday of each month at 11:00 a.m., with a fellowship luncheon served afterward so that people can stay, eat, and reconnect with friends from across the congregation.
The Parish Nurse and Stephen Ministry
Ronda Anderson serves as Bethany's Parish Nurse, a faith-community nursing role that blends health education, health-resource coordination, visitation, and volunteer management. She connects body, mind, and spirit, journeying alongside members through the highs and lows of life. Ronda also oversees Bethany's prayer ministry, small groups, Stephen Ministry, Comfort Dog Ministry, and the food pantry, tying together several of the congregation's caring arms. Stephen Ministry trains and supervises lay caregivers who provide one-on-one, confidential, Christ-centered care to people facing a life crisis or challenge, and the office can connect anyone with a Stephen Minister on request.
Joy the Comfort Dog
Perhaps the most visible face of Bethany's outreach is not a person at all. Joy is a golden retriever trained and certified as a comfort dog through Lutheran Church Charities' Comfort Dog program, holding American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen and Alliance of Therapy Dogs certifications. Joy visits shut-in members, area nursing homes, and Trinity Lutheran School, and welcomes invitations to businesses, organizations, and homes. She is also a presence at difficult moments - funeral visitations, hospital calls, and places where grief and stress need a quiet companion. A visit can be requested by email at comfortdog.bethanycr@gmail.com, and Joy's travels can be followed on her own Facebook page and Instagram account.
The Bethany Lutheran Food Pantry
Every Sunday from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., the doors at the back of the church open for the Bethany Lutheran Food Pantry, which serves neighbors from across the community. Guests are greeted and helped to shop for food by a team of seven Sunday volunteers. The pantry accepts donations of sealed, in-date food plus a steady wish list of personal-care and household items: laundry detergent, dish soap, tissues, paper towels, toilet paper, hand soap, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, deodorant, toothbrushes, and toothpaste. Donations can be dropped off at the front entrance Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Green Square Outreach and Coffee and Cocoa
Bethany's reach into Cedar Rapids stretches well past its own building. Green Square Outreach, a long-running ministry, sends volunteers to the church on Mondays to assemble sack lunches and then to Greene Square in downtown Cedar Rapids on Tuesday mornings to hand those lunches out and pray with neighbors. During the school year, a separate Monday Morning Coffee Outreach serves free coffee, hot cocoa, and conversation to Washington High School students and the wider neighborhood - the church literally walks next door to its high-school neighbors.
Music: Choir, Handbells, and Praise Band
Music carries a lot of weight at Bethany. The vocal choir rehearses on Wednesday evenings and sings about once a month at the 8:30 traditional service. The handbell ensemble rehearses on Tuesday evenings and also plays roughly once a month at the traditional service. The contemporary praise band, with guitar and drums, plays every Sunday at the 11:00 service, and musicians and singers who would like to join are encouraged to reach out. Music from the congregation is also recorded on a SoundCloud channel called Music at Bethany.
What Bethany Believes
Bethany teaches the historic Christian faith as confessed by the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. The congregation confesses one God who is triune in nature - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and holds the entire Bible, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, to be the inspired, error-free Word of God and the only source for Christian teaching. The Bible centers on two messages, Law and Gospel: the Law shows how God wants people to live and exposes their failure, while the Gospel announces what God has done to save sinners through the sinless death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. Salvation is by grace through faith in Christ alone, not by human works, and good works flow from grateful hearts that have been forgiven. Bethany recognizes two sacraments - Holy Baptism and the Lord's Supper - in which the Word of God is joined with visible elements, and which, together with the Word, are called the Means of Grace through which God forgives sins and strengthens faith.
Planning a Visit
Bethany's address is 2202 Forest Drive SE, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, between Washington High School and Cottage Grove Place. Sunday mornings start with the 8:30 traditional service, continue through the 9:45 Education Hour and adult Bible study, and conclude with the 11:00 contemporary service. After either service, visitors are invited to fill out a guest card from the pews and place it in the offering plate. The church office is open Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and the food pantry opens its back entrance on Sundays from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. Sermons are recorded and posted on YouTube, and giving is available online. Members can also subscribe to a weekly email and the bimonthly Bethany Beacon newsletter.
The People Who Serve
Pastor Michael Erickson has served Bethany since 2012 after a first call to St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of Hope College in Holland, Michigan, and Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. Ronda Anderson serves as Parish Nurse, Kierra Hanson as Director of Christian Education, Ryanne Molinari as Traditional Music Leader, and Jaden Patterson as Contemporary Music Leader. Behind them, the Office Administrator and Financial Manager keep the building and the books running. Around them all, Joy the comfort dog keeps showing up wherever a little golden-retriever calm is needed.