On December 6, 1890, eight Swedish immigrants bound by ties of a common language, homeland, and a love for the Lord met in New Jersey for the purpose of forming a mission association. Meetings were held on Sundays and Wednesdays. In September 1891, the group, having grown in number, rented meeting space in Hairhouse Hall on Blackwell Street in Dover.
A "little story for children" and an adult Bible class formed the basis for a Sunday School by 1893. A women's sewing circle, formed in October 1893 to work on missionary projects, later became the Women's Missionary Society. On May 26, 1894, the group organized under the name of The Swedish Free Mission Congregational Church in Dover, New Jersey. On May 15, 1895, a building lot was purchased at the corner of Union Street, Dover. On March 28, 1897, a church building was dedicated.
The name of the church was formally changed to The Bethlehem Congregational Church of Dover, New Jersey on October 8, 1900. During the next thirty years the Sunday School and Women's Missionary Society were joined by a Youth Group (1906) and a Missions Program. The first missionaries to be sent from the church were Tilly and Gustav Bostrom, one of the sons of original member A. G. Bostrom. They left for Venezuela on November 12, 1924, and served there for forty-five years.
Until 1931 services were conducted in Swedish, but then English became the rule. Several additions, in order to provide more Bible School space, were undertaken with largely volunteer labor. In 1949, the mortgage was burned and the relationship to the Congregational Christian Church was dissolved. Reincorporation followed on February 3, 1949, and the name became simply Bethlehem Church.
A need for even more additional space for the growing congregation brought a change in location. In 1962 the congregation moved to their new building located on State Highway 10 in Randolph Township, at the southern border of Dover, NJ. Additions were made to this building in 1964 and 1974.
On October 23, 1991, the church was accepted into the association of the Evangelical Free Church of America. This is an association of over 1,000 autonomous churches joined together by common purposes, principles, and practices.
In 1995 and 1996 it was recognized that the educational and ministry needs of Bethlehem Church were being stretched to the limit. A Building Committee was formed to develop and carry out a project to add a new three-story wing, which was occupied in 2001. This new building was dedicated on September 16, 2001.
In the winter of 2006. God brought forward a new opportunity to expand Bethlehem's ministry in eastern Morris County. At this time one of our sister churches, Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Morris Township, NJ was going through a 
challenging period in their ministry. Through several joint meetings between the church's ministry teams and boards it became apparent that the church's could serve the greater Morristown area more effectively together than separately. In July 2006 Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church merged with Bethlehem Church and today continues it's ministry at the same sight in Morris Township as the church's Cornerstone Campus.
We continue to experience a growing ministry and we remain excited to see what the Lord has planned for us in the days to come.
