[1] After the Great Northern Railway built a line through the area, Scandinavian immigrants began to settle in Toole County.

The immigrants brought their religion with them, and starting in 1885 the Lutheran Church developed a presence in the county.

The influx of immigrants reached its peak in the 1910s; it was in this decade, in 1911, that Norwegian settlers formed the congregation which became Bethany Lutheran Church.

The congregation initially met in members' houses and the local school, but in 1916 it acquired land to build a church on.

Economic difficulties stalled construction plans until 1923, when the congregation's Ladies Aid group bought a church building to place on the site.