"...Help me in each and every place..."
1962. Cable companies imported distant signals. The FCC required UHF tuners on TV sets. Second Vatican Council opened in Rome. John Glenn became the first astronaut to orbit earth. U.S. blockade of Cuba began; U.S.S.R. withdrew Cuban missiles aimed at U.S. Andy Warhol painted Marilyn Monroe. The Lutheran Church in America resulted from a merger of the Augustana Church (1860), the AELC (1872), the Suomi Synod (1890) and the ULCA (1918). Franklin Clark Fry (1900-1968) became the first president. Gordon Segal opened a small housewares store in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood called Crate & Barrel, which grew to include 70 stores from coast to coast. Sherman Methodist Church was founded in Evanston as an interracial congregation. At Bethlehem, severe winter weather brought building operations to a virtual standstill for about two months. In early spring, however, the building was enclosed, and made steady progress from then on. Mid-Week Lenten and Easter service schedule: German 7:00 pm, English 8:00 pm, Maundy Thursday, German communion; Good Friday, English communion, Easter Sunday English services at 8:00 am and 10:45 am, German at 9:30 am. On Sept. 23rd Cornerstone unveiling exercises for the new church building were held. The new building was dedicated at a festival services in the morning of December 16. A 90th anniversary service was held that afternoon and organ dedication that evening. Salary for teacher Miss Henning was increased to $3000. per year. Salary for Mr. Mirow, school principal, was increased to $3900. Single combined English and German service was approved for Dedication Sunday, December 16. The church property at 1508 Florence Avenue was sold for $16,000.
1963. Martin Luther King, Jr. made his "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington, D. C. to 200,000 freedom marchers. South Vietnam President Ngo Dinh Diem was overthrown on November 1. A nuclear test ban treaty was signed. President John F. Kennedy was shot and Lyndon B. Johnson became President. The audio cassette originated in Holland. Zip codes were instituted. CBS and NBC TV newscasts expanded to 30 minutes in color. Polaroid camera instant photography added color. The Lutheran Free Church (1897) joins the ALC (1960). I-80 opened. Louis Szathmary opened The Bakery. Popeil Brothers' Veg-O-Matic makes its debut at the International Housewares Show in Chicago. At Bethlehem, the goal for contributions to Synod missions set at $15,000. The new church custodian's salary was set at $130. per month. Seventy pupils were enrolled in the school. Two men were nominated for Board of Elders (German) and four men for Board of Elders (English). Communion services for this October only to be on third Sunday instead of second Sunday. Telephone answering service was arranged for church phone. Bulletins with a picture of the church on the cover were approved. In November, 1963, an organ recital was presented on the new church organ by the head of the church music department of Roosevelt University. The concert raised $98.00 with 153 present.
1964. The War on Poverty was proclaimed. Olympic Games in Tokyo were telecast live globally by satellite. Touch Tone telephones and Picturephone service began. From Japan came the videotape recorder for home use. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act barred discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. "Beatlemania" swept the U.S., including Chicago when the Beatles came to the International Amphitheater and sang 11 songs in 34 minutes for 13,000 screaming fans. The first woman flew in space. Zanzibar and Tanganyika united to form Tanzania. Treasure Island offered imported groceries at the original store in Lincoln Park. The Skokie Swift opened. An 85-acre landfill increased the site of Northwestern by fifty per cent. The Stevenson Expressway opened. Evanston voted Democratic in the Presidential election for the first time in its history. At Bethlehem, it was decided that the use of the basement hall for weddings would cost $35. plus $15 for janitorial service plus hourly rate for member of Women's Guild on duty in kitchen, except no charge for use of school or church facilities for members of Bethlehem. The school assembly hall and two classrooms were rented for five weeks in summer to Waldorf School for $500., plus $100. for janitor. The telephone answering service for church discontinued. The Pastor's secretary was on duty Tuesday through Friday from 1 pm to 4 pm. An every member canvass was held in November on the same date as the other churches in Evanston. Rev. Eugene Brueggemann was installed as campus pastor at Northwestern. It was decided to conduct the every member canvass by mail instead of by visitation. Confirmation was changed from Palm Sunday to the first Sunday in May. Two German elders and one English elder were elected. In September, kneeling cushions were dedicated for use in Communion services and the congregation commemorated Rev. and Mrs. Rathke's anniversary with a reception, dinner, and gifts.
1965. Bombing of North Vietnam began and U. S. troop strength escalated in Indochina. Medicare began. Department of Housing and Urban Development was started. Communications satellite Early Bird (Intelsat I) orbited above the Atlantic. Kodak offered Super 8 film for home movies. Cartridge audio tapes went on sale for a few years. Most television broadcasts were in color. FCC rules brought structure to cable television. Solid-state equipment spread through the cable industry. The Immigration Act abolished the national quota system established in 1924 and permitted up to 20,000 people per country to immigrate annually, beginning the second surge of Asian immigration. Malcolm X was killed in New York. Consultation on Church Union began.
At Bethlehem, 7th and 8th grades were dropped at school. School salaries were raised: Mrs. Witt from $1600 to $3000, Miss Tinkey from $3000 to $3600 and Mr. Trinklein from $3300 to $4100. Mr. Mirow retired from teaching ministry after 42 years at Bethlehem School and from youth work. The members presented him with a watch. Bethlehem joined the Concordia Plan. Mr. Trinklein accepted a call to Cedarburg, Wisconsin. A motion was made to hire lady teacher as principal for $4800. Church called Mr. Robert Trinks as teacher and principal for $4800 per year plus teacherage and heat. The Sunday School room was rented to Dewey School for pre-Kindergarten for $100. per month. Mr. Trinks returned his call. An Open House was held for Mr. Mirow. School tuition was raised to $20 for first child, $17 for second, $15 for third, kindergarten $12. Bethlehem members with children in school were asked for $10. per month. Sunday school moved from school to church. Three English and two German elders were elected. A rule proclaimed no smoking in school during school hours and in washroom only after school. Christmas gifts of $25. were given to employees.
1966. The Department of Transportation was formed. Fiber optic cable multiplied communication channels. Xerox sold the Telecopier, a fax machine. Indira Gandhi took office in India. The U. S. build-up in Vietnam was protested around the world in "International Days of Protest." Buckminster Fuller introduced his geodesic sphere. The Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship was formed to plan a new worship book; members of the commission were the Lutheran Church in America, the American Lutheran Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada and the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod. The 70-year old Tootsie Roll comes to Chicago with a new plant in the Ford City industrial park.
At Bethlehem, communion was once again eliminated on Easter Sunday. Expenses for coffee, etc. after services were paid for by general fund. The budget for 1967 was $66,259, including $10,000 for Synod. A safe deposit box was rented at First National Bank. The Board of Elders was made up of six English elders and four German elders. Three former servants of Bethlehem died: Rev. Karl Kurth, former pastor (March); Mr. C.E.Kasten, former principal of our school (July); and Rev. Arthur Going, former interim pastor (December).
1967. Dolby eliminated audio hiss. Pre-recorded movies on videotape sold for home TV sets. There were approximately 200 million telephones in the world, half of them in the United States. Puerto Rico voted to remain a commonwealth. The Six Day War was fought between Israel and Arab nations when Israel occupied the West Bank, Sinai and Jerusalem. First successful heart transplant was achieved. The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod participated in cooperative work with other members of the National Lutheran Council and it was re-formed as the Lutheran Council in the U.S.A. by the American Lutheran Church, Lutheran Church in America and Lutheran Church Missouri Synod; when the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches came into being in 1976 it also joined LCUSA; the Council provided news and information, ecumenical and theological studies, cooperative work in American missions, immigration and refugee work, campus ministry support, and military and institutional chaplaincy coordination, but was discontinued with the merger of the ALC, LCA and AELC to form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. An untitled monumental sculpture by Pablo Picasso was dedicated on the Chicago's Civic Center Plaza; initially controversial, it eventually became as much a symbol of the city as the Water Tower. The Museum of Contemporary Art opened in a former bakery at 237 East Ontario Street in Chicago. Evanston modified its zoning ordinance to allow tall buildings. Pastor Rathke of Bethlehem retired to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, after 20 years of ministry to Bethlehem. A new pastor called and the call was returned. A second man was called and that call was returned also. The Couples Club volunteered to sponsor Coffee Hour. The vacancy pastor suggested that inactive members be visited. Copies of his letter were sent to all members.
1968. Bombing of North Vietnam was reduced. The FCC approved non-Bell equipment attached to phone systems. Intelsat completed global communications satellite loop. There were approximately 200 million TV sets in the world, 78 million in the U.S. The RAM microchip reached the market. Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated while supporting a strike by Memphis, Tennessee, sanitation workers. Robert Kennedy was assassinated. The Vietcong Tet offensive forced President Johnson not to run for reelection. The Association of Concerned Black Clergy was formed by pastors of LCA, ALC and LCMS.
At Bethlehem there will be no Sunday communion in April because of communion on Maundy Thursday (German) and Good Friday (English). A third man was called to be Bethlehem's new pastor and the call was returned. Again a fourth call was returned. Pastor Hertwig was called and he accepted. The Lutheran Human Relations Association of America was denied permission to use the school auditorium. Air conditioning was authorized for the parsonage. No teacher calls were accepted, possibly because $3900 salary was too low. Salary offer was raised to $4500. An option was taken on Lake and Ashland property. Proposed change in bylaws allowed voting members at age 18 instead of 21 and holding office at 21 instead of 25. On July 7, Rev. Frederick A. Hertwig of Edgerton, Wisconsin, was installed as Bethlehem's new pastor. In preparation for the arrival of our new pastor and his family, the entire second floor of the parsonage was finished off with congregational members donating time and services. The Rev. Carl W. Pfotenhauer, Pastor Hertwig's uncle, preached the sermon at the installation. Afterwards, a buffet supper was held in the church basement; as a special welcoming surprise, the entire floor of the stage was covered with canned goods and other staples for the Hertwigs. The Walther League began raising money to tile the floor of their youth room in the school basement. Pastor Hertwig conducted the liturgy in German, but preached only in English, enabling all members to hear the same message each Sunday, whether they attended the first (German) service or the second (English) service.
1969. Richard M. Nixon became President. U. S. troops were sent to Cambodia. Neil Armstrong became the first human to land on moon. Astronauts sent live photographs to earth from the moon. Sony's U-Matic put videotape on a cassette. The Woodstock music fair attracted 300,000 people to a farm in upstate New York. Large demonstrations in many cities opposed the war in Vietnam. The LCMS convention in Denver elected J.A.O. Preus as president and approved altar and pulpit fellowship with the ALC. At the invitation of Augustana College, Sioux Falls, S.D., E.W. Mueller sets up the Center for Community Organization and Area Development, an experimental research center for rural ministry. CTA opened its Dan Ryan rail line. The Goodman Theater, after 38 years of student productions, returned to its status as a professional resident company with its inaugural production of "Soldiers," by Rolf Hochhuth. Georg Solti directed his first concert as the Chicago Symphony's eighth music director, beginning a 22-year tenure. In May, during the year of its Centennial Anniversary, the Chicago Water Tower was selected by the American Water Works Association to be the first American Water Landmark in the nation. The 22-story State National Bank Building was built in Evanston.
New Year's Day at Bethlehem had one service with installation of officers. Examination Sunday for Confirmation was to be April 27. When Bethlehem had a guest preacher who cannot speak German, services were in English. An offer of $12,500 made on properties at Lake and Ashland. Beginning June 1, there were two English services at 9:00 and 10:30 am and German communion services five times a year. A softball team was approved and $40. was allocated for shirts. Every member visitation was set for November 30. All nominees were unanimously voted into office. Vacation Bible School, which had not been held for several years, was resumed in the summer. Plans were made to open a nursery school in the fall. The Parent- Teacher Leaguer donated, in part, drapes for the Assembly Hall of the school to improve acoustics. The science room on the second floor of the school was retiled by men from the congregation, who also added a new counter and fixtures. It was also decided that the teacherage was in need of considerable repair. For a while, it appeared that these corrections were not to be made. Later, however, these were done in lieu of abandoning the building. New evergreen plantings were contributed to the parsonage and school in 1969.
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