The old sanctuary on right and the new one on left. This was the first Sunday service in the new sanctuary Easter Sunday April 2, 1961
Bethlehem Baptist was founded in 1884 with only 17 members. In 1894, they were given permission to meet in the old Bethlehem Lutheran Church, and when they decided to move to Buford, they were given permission to tear that building down and use the material to build a church not far from our present sight.
Groundbreaking for our present church was held in September of 1960. Our first service in this building was Easter Sunday on April 2, 1961. In September of 1995, our church approved building a family life center and dedicated the building on Homecoming in October of 1996. In June of 2001, we voted to renovate the sanctuary, and the following September we moved our Sunday services to the gym for about six months. In March of 2007 we voted to add Sunday School rooms and a canopy to the family life center, and the following year we voted to add 50 to 60 new parking spaces to our lot. In March of 2008, we began talking about widening and enlarging our sanctuary, and in November the vote passed in favor of enlargement. On December 13, 2009, we had our first service in the new sanctuary, and on January 3, 2010, we celebrated the dedication of our new sanctuary.
Since then, God has blessed Bethlehem through the generations both spiritually and numerically. Today we celebrate this legacy and look towards the future with what God has in store for us in the Buford community and abroad.
