1. Having been led, as we believe, by the Spirit of God, to receive Jesus Christ as the Lord, Savior, and, supreme Treasure of our lives, and, on the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we do now, in the presence of God, angels and this assembly, most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another as one body in Christ.
2. We engage, therefore, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, to walk together in Christian love, to strive for the advancement of this church in knowledge, holiness and peace; to promote its spirituality and fruitfulness; to sustain its worship, ordinances, and discipline; to welcome, and test biblically, instruction from the Scriptures by the elders of the church which accords with the Elder Affirmation of Faith, seeking to grow toward biblical unity in the truth; to contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the gospel through all nations.
3. We also engage to maintain family and personal devotions; to educate our children in the Christian faith; to seek the salvation of our kindred and acquaintances; to walk circumspectly in the world; to be just in our dealings, faithful in our engagements, and exemplary in our deportment, to avoid all tattling, backbiting and excessive anger; to seek God’s help in abstaining from all drugs, food, drink, and practices which bring unwarranted harm to the body or jeopardize our own or another’s faith.
4. We further engage to watch over one another in brotherly love; to remember one another in prayer; to aid one another in sickness and distress; to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and courtesy in speech; to be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation and mindful of the rules of our Savior to secure it without delay.
5. We moreover engage that when we remove from this place, we will, if possible, unite with a like-minded church where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant.
6. We acknowledge that implicit within this covenant is the consent to be governed by the Relational Commitments* that have been officially adopted by the church and that address peacemaking and reconciliation, accountability and church discipline, marriage and divorce, counseling and confidentiality, and the protection of our children.

—Amended December 14, 2008

As of our Annual Meeting on December 14, 2008, the Bethlehem Relational Commitments are now part of our membership expectations and in the constitution and church covenant by reference. (Read John Piper's January 14, 2009, article on the Relational Commitments.)

These commitments are intended to help us define and mutually accept the way that we will relate to one another, especially concerning …

• peacemaking and reconciliation
• marriage and divorce
• protecting children from abuse
• counseling and confidentiality
• mutual accountability

Introduction

DNA makes us who we are. Biologically speaking, DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid. It is a double-stranded molecule in the shape of a double helix or a twisted ladder. DNA matters because it holds the code for every cell in the body. DNA is a record of instructions encoded in each cell that tells it what it is supposed to be and do.

We want Bethlehem’s DNA—our Biblical Essentials and Bethlehem Priorities—to serve as a controlling code that defines all we are and all we do as a spiritual body. We are fully aware that we don’t control or cause any growth in the body. We do not have the authority to define our church, because it belongs to Christ. He is the head of the church (Colossians 1:18). Documenting these biblical essentials and Bethlehem priorities is not an expression of our autonomy—quite the opposite. Documenting who we are as a church is an exercise in asking, seeking, and knocking, and we believe we have heard from Christ.

Therefore, this document is an expression of our controlling conviction that we are under the authority of Christ. We believe that Christ is calling us to be this type of church. We must listen to the Chief Shepherd and follow his leadership. We look to Christ, because he is the Head of the body. As we hold fast to him, the whole body “grows with a growth that is from God” (Colossians 2:19).

Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Branches blindly boast when they boast in what branches can do. Branches can only boast in the Vine and can only bear fruit by abiding in the Vine. May it be so of Bethlehem.

Council of Elders
Bethlehem Baptist Church

Upreach, Inreach & Outreach

Upreach, Inreach, and Outreach are three useful categories for giving a greater degree of organizational clarity to the 10 Biblical Essentials* of the church and the 14 Priorities* of Bethlehem.

• Upreach refers to the act of reaching up to God in worship, which is the very reason for our existence. We were created to glorify God (Isaiah 43:7), and God seeks worshipers to worship him in Spirit and truth (John 4:22–23). We exist to see and savor the surpassing worth of God in Christ by the Spirit.
  
  [We] worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.—Philippians 3:3
  
  

• Inreach refers to the act of reaching into the community of worshipers with the aim of bringing every disciple of Christ to the place of maturity in Christ.
  
  Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.—Colossians 1:28
  
  

• Outreach refers to the act of reaching out to those who are outside of the family of God with the aim of bringing them to the place where they joyfully confess Jesus as Lord by faith and thus receive the right to be called the children of God and join the family of God.
  
  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.—Matthew 28:19–20

1. Biblical Doctrine and Teaching (Holding Fast to What the Bible Teaches)
2. Biblical Leadership

Upreach

3. Worship
4. Prayer

Inreach

5. Congregational Care
6. Edifying and Equipping
7. Church Membership and Discipline
8. Ordinances Faithfully Administered
9. Stewardship of Resources

Outreach

10. Great Commission Commitment

Read more in Bethlehem’s DNA booklet.

Upreach

1. Elder Affirmation of Faith
2. God-Centered Worship
3. Christian Hedonism

Inreach

4. Small Groups
5. Adult Education and Leadership Development
6. Ethnic Harmony
7. Mercy and Justice Ministries
8. Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
9. Biblical Counseling
10. Discipling the Next Generation
11. Caring for the Most Vulnerable
12. God-Centered Enjoyment and Wartime Lifestyle

Outreach

13. Global Outreach
14. Local Outreach

Read more in Bethlehem’s DNA booklet.

Our Biblical Essentials and Bethlehem Priorities are a vital part
of preserving the unity of our one church on multiple locations.
Below are several more expressions of what makes Bethlehem
one church on three campuses.

1. One Affirmation of Faith
The Elder Affirmation of Faith expresses our core doctrinal convictions. These convictions attempt to summarize biblical teaching and always are subject to biblical authority as the final court of appeal.

2. One Constitution and Set of Bylaws
We are governed by one Constitution and one set of Bylaws.
The elders are free to structure themselves as needed to
govern the church accordingly, but no subgroup of elders at
any campus will have the right to change or amend these
documents by any other means than that outlined in the
documents themselves.

3. One Elder Council
Campuses will be led by elder teams that are a subset of the
Council of Elders. This wider Council will be appointed by the
congregation and will be, under Christ, the highest leadership
level of the church. According to Scripture, the Council of Elders will consist of a plurality of men.

4. One Membership Covenant
Members will be members of Bethlehem and not specifically
any campus of Bethlehem. However, we would hope that
our members would feel a certain accountability according
to proximity that would encourage them to focus on the part
of Bethlehem that is closest to their own neighborhood. All
members at all campuses will be governed by the same
Relational Commitments and Membership Covenant. Discipline of any member will be recognized at all campuses.

5. One Missions Statement
“We exist to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all
things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ.” We will be guided by this mission statement, and all campuses will seek to carry it out within their local neighborhood context.

6. One Budget
There is advantage to an “economy of scale” that includes
central support in things like finances, communication, integrated technology, buildings & grounds, media, and human resources.

God’s Sustaining Grace Since 1871

Bethlehem Baptist Church was organized in 1871 as the First Swedish Baptist Church of Minneapolis with 22 charter members. During the 1880s, First Swedish Baptist Church bought a building at 8th Street & 13th Avenue, where we’ve been for more than a century. In 1893, bi-monthly services in English were added. It wasn’t until the mid-1930s that the Swedish services were discontinued. By the 1940s, our membership had filled the building.

Expansion

We expanded our education space in 1955 and built a new sanctuary in 1991. In 2003, the Education for Exultation campaign funded the further expansion of education space.

Multiple Campuses

In September 2002, more than 900 of our members and regular attendees began to worship on Sunday mornings at Northwestern College. Believing that multiple campuses will yield more long-term effectiveness than the centralized enlargement of one downtown campus, we eventually embraced the vision of a multi-site church.

Treasuring Christ Together

In 2004, we formalized the Treasuring Christ Together vision. TCT was a multiplying movement of campuses, new churches, and a Global Diaconate (funds and teams to relieve suffering around the world).

By Fall 2005, we opened a permanent North Campus in Mounds View. In September 2006, we also began to hold worship services at a South Site, meeting for five years at Burnsville High School and then moving to Lakeville South High School as more space was needed.

The TCT vision also resulted in 14 church plants (2003–2014).

Missions and Outreach

Over the last century, we’ve been involved in various stages of starting other churches (see a comprehensive list) of Bethlehem’s church plant work since our beginning in 1871. Striving to be a seedbed for missions and outreach, Bethlehem continues to develop and encourage new churches in the United States and in other countries.

Historical Records

The Minnesota Historical Society has a large inventory of our historical documents. View their collection.