Ministers at Bethel

P.G. Otsby

1878 - 1915

• Bethel Lutheran Church was organized in 1878 by Pastor P.G. Otsby. (Source:  Emmons Lutheran Church History) On October 9th, 1878, he met with about a dozen families in a schoolhouse near the present site of Bethel Church and organized the congregation.  The original name of the congregation was Twin Lake, but later changed to Bethel.  (Source:  Lake Mills Graphic, Wednesday, June 18th, 1969)

• Pastor Ostby served the Emmons, Lime Creek, and Bethel congregations, while residing on his farm west of Emmons.  He served the three congregations faithfully until poor health forced his retirement in 1915, ending a 38 year active ministry in the Emmons area. He passed away June 15th, 1917, with funeral services held at Lime Creek. He is buried at the Lime Creek cemetery west of Emmons.  (Source:  Emmons Lutheran Church History)

R.M. Fjelstad

1915 - 1919

• Rev. R.M. Fjelstad was called by Emmons, Lime Creek, and Bethel upon Pastor Ostby’s retirement. He was the first pastor to reside in the city of Emmons in the newly constructed parsonage one block north of the church.  Bethel at Vinje left the parish in 1919.  Source:  Emmons Lutheran Church History  

Severt John Freitheim

July 1919 - July 1947

• Severt Johan Fretheim was born November 5, 1876 in Hayward, Minnesota. He graduated from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, in 1907 and from Luther Seminar in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1910.  

• In July 1919 Freithem accepted a call to Scarville parish and Bethel joined the two congregations, Immanuel and North Prairie. Membership grew during the twenty-eight years that Freitheim served as minister and Bethel was considered the largest congregation in the parish.  It was under his leadership that the Sunday School was re-organized.  (Source:  Lake Mills Graphic, Wednesday, June 18th, 1969)  

Neal S. Johnson

July 1947 - March 1950

J.O. Tweten

Interim Minister

March 1950 - October 1950

Einar Jorgenson 

Interim Minister

1950 - 1953

• On October 2, 1950, along with J.O. Tweten, Jorgenson conducted the cornerstone laying ceremony for the new church.  On December 1, 1950, Bethel became a parish by itself, and he accepted the call to serve Bethel on a temporary basis.  (Source:  Lake Mills Graphic, Wednesday, June 18th, 1969)  

Thor Quanbeck

Minister (Waldorf College)

1953 - 1957

Dar Roa

Minister (Waldorf College)

1957 - 1958)

Merrill T. Gilbertson

Minister (Waldorf College) 1953 - 1957

Lewis Bakke

September 1, 1958 - 1963

Soren Urberg

June 1963 - 1968

• On September 3, 1963, Rev. Urberg was installed in the new parish, known as Trinity-Bethel parish.  In 1964 a new parsonage was built in Kiester, Minnesota.  (Source:  Lake Mills Graphic, Wednesday, June 18th, 1969) 

• Rev. Søren Strat Urberg, 90, of Fort Wayne, passed away to his eternal home on May 16, 2022.

• Link to Obituary

Ralph Forde

March 3, 1968 - 1974

David Monge

1974 - 1980

Robert Baur

Interim Minister

Waldorf College

1980

Harold Shudlick

1980 - 1987

Earl Lund

1987 - 1988

Karl Dallagher 

1988 - 1992

S.M Schreitmueller 

1992

Lee Dudycha

1993 - 1995

Phil Peters

Minister 1995 - 1996

Dani Jo Ninke-Greaver, 

1996 - 2003

• Dani Jo, her husband, and two daughters (Taliyah and Alliyah) lived in the Trinity-Bethel parsonage in Kiester, MN.  Alliyah is now an ordained Lutheran minister.

Christopher Fiske

January 2004 - August 2012

• Chris and his wife, Julie, lived in Emmons, MN with their three children while Chris served as pastor at Bethel-Trinity Lutheran Parish.  Julie was the minister at Emmons Lutheran Church.

• Chris used the parsonage in Kiester as his office.

Norm Bauer 

Interim Minister

2012 - 2013

Sperring Scott

Lay Minister

2014 - December 2016

• Sperring was an intern for Zion Lutheran Church in Clear Lake.  His internship in Clear Lake brought Sperring to Bethel where he served as a lay minister until his death in 2016.

Christopher Martin

Interim Minister

2017 - 2018

• In 2018, Pastor Martin began serving Bethel Lutheran Church at Vinje, Iowa, on a limited basis, while remaining full time with Emmons Lutheran Church, renewing a relationship between the congregations that had once been in place nearly a century ago. 

• Currently in Wisconsin, serving a two point parish in the northwest part of the state: Hope Lutheran in Ladysmith, and Glen Flora Lutheran in Glen Flora.   

Vickie Kyle (Zobel) 

Worship Leader

2018 - 2019

• Vicki lives in Charles City with her husband, Bill Kyle.