A congregation founded in 1848 to serve German immigrants became, by 1987, one of the first places in the country to provide dental care to people with HIV. Bering Church in Houston's Montrose neighborhood has a history that includes AIDS-era services. This October, as the nation marks LGBTQ+ History Month, the church's story is drawing fresh attention.
From German Immigrant Roots to Montrose's Spiritual Anchor
Bering Church traces its roots to 1848, when Rev. Charles Goldberg founded it as the First German Methodist Church, according to the Historical Marker Database. The congregation adopted the Bering name in 1911 to honor founding immigrant brothers August and Conrad Bering, and it moved to its current Montrose location at 1440 Harold Street in 1924, a history now marked by an official Texas Historical Marker placed there in 1984. As ABC11 News reports, the church has witnessed generations of change in the neighborhood it calls home.
That change accelerated beginning in the 1970s, when Houston's Montrose neighborhood transitioned into the city's primary LGBTQ+ district, according to the Montrose Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone. As the station's report notes, Bering Church embraced its new neighbors and created a welcoming space rooted in faith and inclusion rather than resisting the demographic shift reshaping the streets around it.
A Dental Clinic Born From Crisis
That welcome was tested hard in the 1980s, when the HIV/AIDS crisis hit Houston amid widespread uncertainty over what caused the illness, how it spread, and how to treat it. Many patients during that era felt alone and struggled to find support. Bering Church became one of the first places in the country to provide dental care for people with HIV, establishing the Bering Dental Clinic in 1987 through the Bering Community Service Foundation to provide dental care for people with HIV, according to the Houston LGBT History Archives.
The church also provided hospice care for people with HIV, the ABC11 report states, work that intersected with a parallel Houston institution. Omega House opened in 1986 as a volunteer-run residential house with three beds and received state licensure as a special-care residential hospice by the mid-1990s, according to the Texas State Historical Association. Omega House merged with Bering's foundation in 1999 and ultimately became part of Avenue 360 Health & Wellness in 2016.
Leaving the Methodist Church
In 2021, Bering Memorial Church left the United Methodist Church and joined the United Church of Christ, according to United Church of Christ News.
Serving Montrose's Youth Today
Bering's social justice work continues beyond its AIDS-era origins. The church operates the Open Gate Homeless Ministry, which offers Sunday dinners, hygiene packs, and clothing-closet visits, according to Bering Open Gate.
The congregation's standing in Houston's queer community earned fresh recognition this month. Bering Church and its senior pastor, Rev. Diane McGehee, were nominated in OutSmart Magazine's annual Gayest & Greatest community awards for Favorite Place to Worship and Best Wedding Officiant, Bering Church announced.
The congregation was founded in 1848, and its present sanctuary was completed in 1926.
