View tours of the building exterior and interior online.

Bethany's Greatest Needs
Worship and Welcome
From its first day in October 1881, Bethany has been a college of and for the Church. The Pearson Chapel and Welcome Center at the center of the college will convey our identity and help us live out our mission, as a college that values and practices integrity, hospitality, community, servant leadership, and sustainability.

The open gathering space that connects the chapel and welcome center facets of the building speaks powerfully of Bethany’s deep roots in both faith and hospitality, as we greet and receive all of our brothers and sisters from around the world.

The chapel will benefit students, who are active in worship and campus ministries, and are exploring and deepening their faith. Currently, students worship three days a week in Swenson Chapel of the Burnett Center for the Performing Arts. A new, larger chapel with an open design will be more accessible and inviting. Also, having the chapel and campus pastor’s office in the same space will benefit campus ministries.

The welcome center, housing the admissions offices, will clearly tell visitors: you are important to us at Bethany, and it’s our faith that makes us open our arms to you. Every prospective student who visits Bethany will enter here, and come to know who we are and where our commitments lie.

Project Description
More than a Building
Bethany has worked with Steve Edwins of SMSQ Architects in Northfield, Minn., to plan a building that includes:

• a 190-seat chapel for campus worship, with overflow seating to 375;
• offices and meeting space for the campus pastor and campus ministries;
• offices, meeting rooms, and work space for admissions;
• a large reception lobby for prospective students and other visitors.

But the Pearson Chapel and Welcome Center will be more than a building.

It will be a powerful symbol of the one body of Bethany College. We envision a building that is full of activity, life, and events. This multi-use space will host worship, recitals, speakers, weddings, and concerts. Gathering space on the building’s patio will be available for alumni gatherings, celebrations, and receptions following events.

Yet there will also be room for simple reflection. A quiet memorial garden to the east; a cozy, private space to chat with the campus pastor; a comfortable chair with a view of the natural beauty outside…here, Bethany’s community will find solace.

It will be a place for people. The building’s bell tower and traditional Swedish roof line and rooster will function in important ways: to call a community to come together, and to let light shine upon their gathering. Bethany’s people are its most valuable resource, and the chapel and welcome center will reflect this.

The north and west walls of the chapel will be predominantly windows to help people connect to each other and the world – helping those outside feel a part of what’s going on inside, and those inside feel part of the world outside. The chapel itself features moveable features to host a variety of people, worship styles, and services. In the welcome center, Admissions staff will build relationships by meeting with prospective students and families in new lounges that are accessible and accommodating.

It will be a testament of faith. Utilizing principles of sustainable design and construction, the building will be a statement of Bethany's commitment to its Swedish heritage and to stewardship for all of God’s creation. Sky lights, solar panels, water collection barrels, and natural woods are just a few examples.

Even more deeply, the building will honor Bethany’s tradition of servant leaders – alumni, students, faculty, staff, parents, and friends – who have given so much to the college, and to the world. The building will stand as a lasting testament to the faith they have in Bethany’s bright future, and to the many gifts the Bethany community will continue to give.

The Challenge
Call to the Community
Thanks to a generous challenge from longtime friends Gerald “Bud” and Beverly Pearson, Bethany College is raising $3.5 million to build the Pearson Chapel and Welcome Center. The college is seeking commitments to the project, payable over two years. For information on naming opportunities and other ways you can be involved, please contact:

• The Rev. Noni Strand ’82, campus pastor, at (785) 227-3380, ext. 8340, or strandn@bethanylb.edu.
• The Advancement Office, at (785) 227-3380, ext. 8275.
• Scott and Cathy Simmelink, 1982 graduates and campaign co-chairs, at (402) 359-1699.

To read reflections and news about the Pearson Chapel and Welcome Center, visit the committee's blog at http://pearsonchapelandwelcomecenter.blogspot.com/.