The Luther Institute Chose Lutheran Services in America for its most prestigious recognition, the Wittenberg Award
April 20, 2007 – Baltimore, MD – Lutheran Services in America (LSA) was honored with the Luther Institutes Wittenberg Award April 20, 2007 in Baltimore, MD.
The Wittenberg Awards recognize Lutheran laity and clergy from around the world for distinguished service to church and society, and, in so doing, to encourage others to accept the call to service and servant leadership.
In bestowing the Wittenberg Award on LSA, Luther Institute president, Dr. Laura Mitchell, said about LSA, This extraordinary system of agencies touches one in 50 Americans every year, working especially faithfully to meet the needs of the most vulnerable in society As they celebrate their 10th anniversary, the Institute congratulates them for their tremendous witness of caring in the name of Christ.
Accepting the award for LSA, its president and CEO Jill Schumann commented, This Wittenberg Award is not an award given to one or two people, but to the hundreds of thousands of people who are Lutheran Services in America and, since LSA is an alliance of the ELCA, the LCMS and social ministry organizations really to millions of people. By presenting it to LSA in this anniversary year, Luther Institute is celebrating the long history of Lutherans in social ministry and the exciting promise of the future."
The award was presented as part of the LSA Conference, April 18-20, 2007 in Baltimore, MD. Close to 500 people attended from 90 Lutheran social ministry organizations, 34 states plus Washington, DC, the Virgin Islands, Canada, Germany, and Latvia. Participants included 59 people from national church offices, judicatories, congregations or other Lutheran partners. Colleagues from academic institutions, business partners and other nonprofit organizations also attended.
The Luther Institute advances the role of faith and ethics in public life through learning, service and leadership. Based in the nations capital, the Luther Institute offers seminars, conferences, and publications for laity and clergy. An inter-Lutheran organization, it recognizes and serves leaders, scholars, educators, and those in social ministries, both within and outside of the Lutheran community.
Lutheran Services in America creates opportunities for people in thousands of communities throughout the United States and the Caribbean as an alliance of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and the nearly 300 Lutheran health and human service organizations that offer healing and hope to one in every 50 Americans through services such as health care, housing, adoptions, disability, and aging support neighbor to neighbor.