Goal: To strengthen the capacity and number of congregations successfully engaged in social service outreach ministry, with an emphasis on efforts that bring the care of Jesus Christ to the lives of hurting people living in underserved communities.

At the Last Supper, Jesus washed the disciples’ feet before they ate. He did this to “set you an example that you should do as I have done for you . . . Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” (John 13:14-17) Jesus’ act of servanthood modeled the lifestyle he desires for churches and Christians today.

Congregations act as a powerful force in modeling Christ’s servant leadership through social service outreach ministries. As Christians, our faith in the Gospel compels us to serve our neighbors, just as Jesus did. We don’t have to travel far to see people in need; the mission field is ripe in our own back yards. 

Lutheran Foundation has provided a significant portion of our grant awards over the past two decades to area congregations to carry out these important social service ministries. Through our new strategic funding plan, we are more formally focusing our funding to encourage congregations to reach out to their surrounding communities through organized, effective social service outreach ministry activities. 

We look to accomplish this in two ways:

• Strengthening the ability of congregations to engage in social service outreach ministry activities through coaching assistance, mentoring, and training.
• Supporting congregational service outreach ministry activities through the provision of planning and program implementation grants.

To learn more about our new strategic funding plan, click here.