A Neighborhood Congregation on Boulevard
Bethany Lutheran Church sits on Boulevard in West Hartford, Connecticut, where it has served the surrounding neighborhoods since 1944. Members of this Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS) parish live in West Hartford and across the wider Hartford area, drawn by a worship life shaped by the church year and by a steady rhythm of Bible study, fellowship, and service to neighbors in need. The church's motto, "Loving God through loving others," captures the way the congregation thinks about faith: worship on Saturday evening or Sunday morning flows outward into the rest of the week.
The Story Behind Bethany
Bethany was founded in 1944 as a Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod congregation. Eight decades later, the parish continues to hold to the theology and practice that come with that heritage, including a liturgical pattern of worship centered on Word and Sacrament. Worshipers at Bethany describe the parish as a community of faith rooted in the love of God, a place where the Bible is treated as life's guidebook and where worship is understood as something expressed in everything the congregation does.
Worship at Bethany
Worship lies at the center of life here. Gathered worship takes place every Saturday at 5:00 PM and every Sunday at 10:30 AM at 1655 Boulevard. All Sunday services are livestreamed, so people who are traveling, homebound, or simply unable to leave home can join in from wherever they are. Archived Sunday services and a folder of messages from Pastor Jason are kept on the church's Vimeo channel for those who want to catch up later.
The liturgy follows the church calendar, so the congregation moves together through the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Ash Wednesday, Lent, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter each year. Each service weaves together singing, calls to worship, the reading of Scripture, spoken confession and absolution, a time for personal reflection, various spiritual practices and meditations, a profession of faith, a sermon, prayer, and the Eucharist. The framework of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration gives shape to the whole gathering. The service closes with a responsive sending: "The worship is over," to which the people answer, "Let the service begin." In other words, the main work of being a Christian happens once worshipers step back into their daily lives.
During the summer months the congregation continues its Sunday 10:30 AM service and adds a mid-week service on Wednesdays at 7:00 PM, giving worshipers an extra chance to gather during the longer days of the year.
Meet Pastor Jason Reitz
Reverend Jason Reitz serves as the pastor of Bethany Lutheran Church. A graduate of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, he has been an ordained pastor for seventeen years. His ministry has taken him from Ogden, Utah, to Zion Lutheran Church in St. Charles, Missouri, before he and his wife Julie arrived at Bethany in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Julie grew up in Lakeville, Massachusetts, after being born in New Haven, and the couple have three daughters - Berkley, a sophomore at the University of New Hampshire; Charlotte, an eleventh grader at Simsbury High School who plays lacrosse and basketball; and Hazel, who attends Henry James Middle School. The family also includes a four-year-old black mini labradoodle named Moses.
Pastor Jason's warm introductions from the pulpit give a sense of his Midwestern roots and his easy humor. He is a fan of the Detroit Red Wings and Tigers, the Chicago Bulls and Bears, and the Michigan Wolverines, and he counts the movie Christmas Vacation among his favorites. He and the Bethany congregation are committed to spreading the Gospel together and to being an active presence in the West Hartford community.
Growing in Faith Together
Christian education at Bethany is organized around an Education Hour that begins at 9:15 AM each Sunday from September through May. The hour offers formation for all ages, so children, youth, and adults can study Scripture and grow in faith at the same time. Two weekly Adult Bible Study options round out the formation calendar: one meets at 9:30 AM on Sundays, and another gathers at 10:30 AM on Wednesdays. Together, these studies give Bethany's adults a chance to dig into the Bible between weekend services.
Special services through the church year - Advent midweek services, Christmas Eve, Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil, and Easter Sunday - give the parish additional touchpoints for prayer and reflection beyond the regular weekend schedule.
Bethany Lutheran Nursery School
For more than three quarters of a century, Bethany Lutheran Church has also been home to a nursery school that serves the wider West Hartford community. Bethany Lutheran Nursery School welcomes children ages three to five, with the requirement that children be three years old by December 31 of their enrollment year. Families may register their child to attend anywhere from two to five days a week, offering flexibility for working parents and for children at different stages of development.
The school is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM, running from September through May, and follows the West Hartford Public School District calendar for holidays and vacations. A typical day includes free play on arrival, a morning meeting, snack, outside play, craft time, lunch, and a final period of outside or indoor play before dismissal at 1:00 PM. Activities throughout the week include music, arts and crafts, dramatic play, a water table, sensory play, and large and small motor activities. Enrollment is capped at no more than twenty students per day, so each of the three teachers - all of whom hold master's degrees - can engage with children individually.
An extended day option, focused on guided social play, is available for children who would benefit from a longer day. The nursery school is led by Director Whitney Wallace and welcomes children of all races, religions, and creeds.
Reaching Out to the West Hartford Community
Bethany sees service to the wider community as a natural extension of its life of worship. Three ongoing partnerships shape the congregation's outreach: members regularly take part in Foodshare's Walk Against Hunger, pack food for the West Hartford Food Pantry, and support the Fern Street Weekend Backpack Program, which sends backpacks of food home with children who might otherwise go hungry over the weekend. These efforts reflect the congregation's conviction that the work of the people continues wherever there is a need.
What to Expect When You Visit
Bethany Lutheran Church is an accessible, welcoming place for newcomers and long-time members alike. The building is on Boulevard in West Hartford, with regular Saturday evening worship at 5:00 PM and Sunday morning worship at 10:30 AM. Sunday services are livestreamed for those at home, and archived services and Pastor Jason's messages are posted online afterward. Children are welcome in worship, and families looking for weekday care for three- to five-year-olds will find a well-established nursery school on site. Anyone with questions or looking to request an appointment with Pastor Jason can reach the church office at 860-521-5076 or by email.