Elim (Bethel, Missouri)

Elim was a communal religious settlement established in Bethel, Missouri, in the 1880s by Wilhelm Keil, the founder of Bethel and Aurora, Oregon. It served as a kind of retirement community for elderly members of the Bethel-Aurora commune who could no longer contribute significantly to the collective labor. Residents of Elim lived under the same communal principles that governed Bethel and Aurora, sharing their resources and labor. The community aimed to provide a comfortable and supportive environment for its aging members, ensuring their physical and spiritual well-being in their later years. The population of Elim was significantly smaller than that of Bethel or Aurora. Following Keil's death and the subsequent dissolution of the Bethel-Aurora commune, Elim also ceased to operate as a communal entity.