Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Remarks to NC Lutheran Assembly

I had the opportunity to share a brief message about Lutheran Services Carolinas with the NC state Lutheran assembly on June 1, 2018. Here's what I shared about the amazing and passionate work of LSC.

Good afternoon!

The theme of this assembly is “We are the church for the sake of the world.”

We are the church with you, and we stand on the shoulders of YOU giants! In 1960 we were birthed by Drs. Norris, Lippard, Conrad, and each of you, the NC Synod. We started with one little health care center in Hickory in 1961 and are now serving from Asheville to Wilmington! We added child and family services in 1979, thanks to Bill Brittain, Dr. Misenheimer, and all of you!

This makes me want us to chant:

God is good - all the time
All the time - God is good

Thank you for your partnership! As the church together, LSC has chosen to reach out as Lutheran, as Christian, and as a diverse and inclusive ministry!

While other Lutheran organizations around the country struggle with identity including taking Lutheran out of their name, we chose to lead with Lutheran as in Lutheran Services Carolinas!

While other Christian ministries are taking Christ out of their missions, LSC has chosen to lead with, “Empowered by Christ!”

LSC purchased an old nursing home in Winston back in 2001 that was filled with precious children of God: 100% indigent and almost all persons of color. We built them a beautiful new $10M health care community in the heart of East Winston, and we’ve been trying to learn and model diversity and inclusion ever since.

We are the church!

We are the church to:
Elders needing nursing home and assisted living care, especially and passionately for those who can’t afford to pay!
Crack babies in need of therapeutic foster care.
Elders needing support at home!
People with developmental disabilities needing a group home or in a home with a host family.
Elders looking for safety, security, and community at Lutheridge, Salisbury, and Wilmington!
Refugees coming to America to escape a death sentence and to start a new life!
Babies looking to be adopted, and foster children to be adopted.
Homes for homeless veterans and homes for people with traumatic brain injury.
Foster homes for unaccompanied alien children whose parents sent them here to escape death or the slow death of gang violence.
Partnerships in low income senior apartments in Hickory and Dallas, and partnerships in PACE programs for low income citizens in Gastonia and Hickory.
Those in crisis and those whose lives have been forever changed by disasters, like Hurricane Matthew!

We are the church to thousands of people. We do this with YOU, thru 2,140 LSC teammates, through $139M worth of programs and services.

And there’s more to come!, more of all of the above along with: Renovations and additions at Salisbury and Albemarle, new senior living apartments in Clemmons, Trinity Landing - a new retirement center in Wilmington, and much more.

Thanks be to God and His NC Synod, who fulfill His mission, “Empowered by Christ, we walk together with all those we serve.”

Amen!