Bethel Lutheran Church stood on ranch land belonging to the family of S.M. Swenson, the banker who in the 1850s underwrote Swedish migration to Texas, and it became the center of the Ericksdahl community, founded in 1905 by Swedes who had formerly lived near Austin. Visiting pastors L.J. Sundquist and J.A. Stamline held the first church service in the N.M. Segerstrom home in February 1905, and the congregation was organized on January 25, 1906. Charter members were Elias Bjorn, the J.P. Hokanson family, Algot Johnson, the John Lunn family, Oscar Magnuson, Theodore Pearson, John Peterson, the Segerstrom family, the C.G. Seth family, Eric Seth, the A.J. Swenson family, and Mr. and Mrs. Bud Swenson. The first sanctuary was built in 1907. Its first resident pastors were the Rev. Theodore Seashore from 1908 to 1912, the Rev. Eric Swanson from 1912 to 1913, and the Rev. Carl Henderson from 1914 to 1919. Dr. Hugo B. Haterius, pastor from 1919 to 1968, also served for 27 years as president of the Texas Conference of the Augustana Lutheran Church of America. As the community's focus, the church's records include the opening of the first school and the formation of a brass band in 1908, the organization of a local telephone company in 1917, the construction of the "Swede" dam from 1922 to 1924, the first cotton gin in 1924, and the opening of a local oil field, with three producing wells from 1938 to 1965 on church property. Since 1968, the Rev. Stanley D. Jurgenson has served as pastor.