In autumn of 1876, some Christian people at Gustav Adolf Church in New York began feeling deeply moved by their pastor's preaching. They felt the need for "more of God" and began gathering Sunday afternoons for Bible reading and prayer. After two years of regular meetings, on March 19, 1879, twenty-nine of them organized themselves as an independent congregation: "The Swedish Evangelical Bethesda Church" taking as their theme 1 Corinthians 3, which includes these words:
"We are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's bulding... I laid a foundation and another... is building upon it. Let each take care how he (she) builds... Do you not know that you are God's temple, and that God's Spirit dwells in you?"
The congregation chose the name "Bethesda" by drawing it out of a hat full of pieces of paper with other possible names.
The pastor, J.G. Princell, left his other congregation and led the group for the first 6 months of its life. For twelve years the congregation worshipped in rented buildings. They took as their mission the project of reaching out with the good news of Jesus and with material help to Scandinavian immigrants, who were pouring into New York at that time.
Many of the immigrants affiliated with Bethesda, enabling the congregation to buy a building of their own in 1891: a synagogue at 240 E. 45th Street. The congregation continued to grow, and eleven years later (1902), sold their building and bought a larger facility at 140 E. 50th Street.
Membership peaked at this time, reaching 462. Sunday schools for children and adults, youth meetings, musical groups, and support of a residence for seafarers while they were in the port of New York; all these were activities of Bethesda in that period. But membership did not continue at that high level for long. A gradual decline began as Bethesdans moved out of Manhattan. The congregation that remained continued to use the Swedish language until the 1950s, which limited its outreach to English-speaking people.
In 1955, the congregation sough smaller quarters and the 50th Street building was sold. The congregation worshiped at New York biblical Seminary (now NY Theological) while their new building was under construction. In 1959, they moved into 359 E. 62nd Street and continued there until 1969. Membership dwindled further, and the church sold the building, moving into the United Nations Church Center at First Avenue at 44th Street.
The church stayed in this location for 33 years, and in that time, reached out to the United Nations community and the neighborhood by inviting families and individuals to worship, celebrating UN Sunday with guest speakers and musical groups from the UN, and hosting special anniversaries of nations. There were several ministries of friendship with residents of nearby apartment buildings and community service projects were undertaken.
