Christiansen from Blair, Nebraska organized the Ingemann Lutheran congregation in 1882, and services were held in the Townley Country School and family homes.

It was named for Bernhard Severin Ingemann, a Danish novelist and poet who became known for his hymns with a general spiritual and religious interest rather than Biblical dogma.

The church was built in 1884 on land donated by John and Anna Marie (Nielsen) Johnson who were natives of Hedensted, Denmark.

Bethesda became an Inner Mission congregation, and became known as the "Upper Danish Church" because it sat on a hill one mile south of Ingemann.

[2] About that same time the congregation at Ingemann grew too small for its own pastor, and services were reduced to a monthly basis.