April 4, 2003 (Baltimore, MD) - NORMAN C. BERG MEMORIAL

A highlight of the 2003 LSA Annual Conference was the presentation of a memorial gift in honor of Norman C. Berg, who died in January of this year. The memorial presentation was made by the Rev. Dr. Clyde Christmas, president and CEO of Lutheran Retirement Ministries of Alamance County, NC. In his remarks Dr. Christmas noted that Norm was one of the "giants of Lutheran social ministry in the last quarter of the 20th century". He remembered Norm as his mentor and the one who inspired him to service in social ministry. As he reminded all of the attendees that Norm Berg was one of a generation of leaders, Dr. Christmas said, "Most of us in social ministry today stand on the shoulders of those who came before us".

After retiring from business Norm helped to revitalize two Lutheran agencies in western New York and ultimately led them into merger as Lutheran Social Services of Upper New York (today known as Lutheran Social Services Group, Inc.). In 1980 he was asked by a congregation in Burlington, NC to help them utilize a bequest they had received for the purpose of building a "place for the elderly". For two years Norm worked with that congregation at no charge as they laid the plans for what is now Lutheran Retirement Ministries of Alamance County.

Knowing that one of Norm's greatest passions was the development of leaders for Lutheran social ministry, and wanting to honor his memory in a concrete way, Lutheran Retirement Ministries of Alamance County sought guidance from LSA regarding planned initiatives in leadership development. At the conference Dr. Christmas announced a gift of $150,000 to LSA to support two new leadership projects - a CEO Academy and an Executive Profile System. LSA gratefully acknowledges this generous gift as a memorial to Norman C. Berg, a social ministry leader of years past, and as a model of leadership for social ministry now and into the future.