New Lutheran Facility Dedicated in Baltimore

BALTIMORE (ELCA) -- Nearly 700 people attended the dedication of the new "Lutheran Center at Christ Church" in downtown Baltimore Oct. 24. The Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), led a host of church and public officials in a special dedication service at Christ Lutheran Church, next door to the new six-story facility.
The Lutheran Center houses international headquarters for Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) and Lutheran World Relief (LWR), which relocated to Baltimore from New York. LIRS is a cooperative agency of the ELCA, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) and the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It was established by Lutheran churches in the United States to carry out the churches' ministry with immigrants and refugees. This year LIRS is celebrating its 60th anniversary.
LWR is the overseas relief and development ministry of the ELCA and the LCMS.
The Lutheran Center also houses the offices of the ELCA=20 Delaware-Maryland Synod, one of 65 synods of the church; the=20 Baltimore offices of Tressler Lutheran Services, Mechanicsburg, Pa.,=20 an ELCA-affiliated social service agency; and the LCMS Foundation=20 Eastern Region Office.
Christ Lutheran Church provided the land for the new building, leasing it to the agencies for $1 annually. The site overlooks Baltimore's redeveloped Inner Harbor.
The dedication service was led by the Rev. George P. Mocko, bishop of the ELCA Delaware-Maryland Synod, the Rev. John R. Sabatelli, senior pastor at Christ Lutheran and Anderson.
In his sermon, Anderson traced the history of the agencies, and said they live out the Biblical story of the Good Samaritan "in a thousand ways."
"Thanks be to God for all that they have done and thanks be to God for all they will do with our help, as they show mercy and prove to be a neighbor to the whole world," Anderson said.
Anderson also focused much of his message on ministry to people living in poverty, calling on the congregation to see needy people in a new way.
"They are not just 'the poorest of the poor,'" he said. "They are, in reality, human beings with gifts and intelligence who have been stripped -- not by outlaws but often by those who control the laws -- stripped of their power, to influence or change the systems that thwart their efforts to meet basic needs."
"It's easy to say 'the poor need us,'" Anderson said, "but it is truer to say, 'we need to serve the poor.' That is the force of Jesus' command at the end of the story "go thou and do likewise.'"
Anderson said he also likes to think of the new Lutheran Center as the "Inn of the Good Samaritan."
The service also included remarks from two local elected officials, U.S. Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes (D-Md.) and John L. Cain, Baltimore City Council, first district. Cain, who represents the area where the Lutheran Center in located, is a member of Nazareth Lutheran Church, an LCMS congregation in Baltimore.
"This is a very, very exciting day," Sarbanes said, noting the addition of the Lutheran organizations in Baltimore means much to the city and the state. Baltimore was already home to Catholic Relief Services and International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC), he said. Catholic Relief Services assists the poor and disadvantaged outside the United States; IOCC is an Orthodox Christian organization that works to alleviate poverty and promote social justice. Lutheran World Relief works with Catholic Relief Services and IOCC in places such as Kosovo and Turkey, said Kathryn F. Wolford, LWR president.
"Christ Church and the Lutheran Center are a very visible testament of the work that the Lutheran Church is doing here and abroad," Sarbanes said. "Collectively, all of these agencies are committed to working with people in need throughout the world."
"Today is a wonderful day for us in the City of Baltimore," Cain said.
Representatives of each Lutheran agency offered brief greetings, including Bradford L. Hewitt, chief administrative officer, LCMS Board of Directors; Ralston H. Deffenbaugh, Jr., LIRS president; the Rev. Thomas W. Hurlocker, president, Tressler Lutheran Services; Wolford; and Mocko.
The service was preceded by a concert by The American Kantorei, sponsored by Lutheran Brotherhood, a fraternal benefits organization based in Minneapolis. The Rev. Robert Bergt was music director and conductor.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html