The Church of God Conference, to which Shope's Bethel belongs, was started by John Winebrenner of Harrisburg in the 1820's. Winebrenner grew up in Frederick County, MD and moved to the Harrisburg area after attending Dickinson College until 1817 and receiving theological training in Philadelphia. He started preaching in Harrisburg in 1819, serving four churches. At the Reformed Church in Harrisburg, the elders disagreed with some of his practices. In 1823, while being locked out of the church, Winebrenner led his congregational followers to the Susquehanna River bank and held the morning services. This led to the organizing of a new denomination; the Church of God, having its beliefs founded firmly in the Bible.
The church building at the corner of Clover Lane and Sterling Road which is now Shope's Bethel Church of God began as the Baumgardner's Methodist Church built in the early 1800's. The Methodist bought the property from Michael Cassel. They belonged to the Hummelstown Methodist Church Circuit, which included Manada Furnace, Manada Valley, Hummelstown and Paxtang. On November 13, 1858, Barnard Shope Sr., then a member of the Linglestown Church of God, agreed with the Church of God conference to purchase the building from the Methodist for $400.00. The Church was then known as “Shope's Bethel” and the people in the community began to attend.
In the early 1900's, Shope's Bethel teamed with Mt. Laurel Church of God to create one united circuit with the same pastor between the two churches. This lasted until each was able to support a single pastor. The bell tower was built in 1920, and the bell has been ringing to signify the services since. In 1972, the bell tower was renovated by Christian Hershey, Ralph Gamber and Stanley Keller into its' present form.
The marker just outside of the church commemorates the people that were buried at Shope's Bethel. It is interesting to note that three ex-slaves were buried in the northwest corner of the graveyard, who worshipped and belonged to Shope's Bethel. In 1952, as many of the tombstones became illegible, the markers were removed and a new, singular marker was erected.
Over the past 150 years, there have been thirty-eight pastors of Shope's Bethel.