Photo caption: In 1972, 2,100 books of Green Stamps collected by the Lutheran Women of NC purchased a brand new Pontiac LeMans station wagon for Trinity Place (then Lutheran Home) in Albemarle. In this photo, Mrs. E. Ray King of Concord, president of the Lutheran Women of NC, turns over the car key to the Rev. John Pless, superintendent of NC Lutheran Homes.
This is the 60th birthday of Lutheran Services Carolinas! Happy Birthday! LSC started with one skilled nursing and assisted living community in Hickory, N.C. Or did it?
In many ways, LSC is well over 100 years old. LSC was birthed in 1888 when Rev. William McClanahan and the United Lutheran Synod of the South created the Lutheran Orphan Home of the South. LSC was birthed in 1911 when Melissa Rauch Lowman donated her farm to the Lutheran Church in the southeast in exchange for taking care of her three developmentally disabled children.
Sixty years ago, North Carolina Lutherans started LSC to bring those services closer to home. And what a ride it has been! Senior services across North Carolinas include independent living, assisted living, skilled care, memory care, rehab, home care, adult day care and PACE. Child and family services across both Carolinas have continued to serve the developmentally disabled since 1888, and also serve those with TBI and mental health needs, foster families, refugees and immigrants, and more.
And oh the teammates who have served across LSC, leaders and heroes all. Over 2,000 teammates serve across LSC, thousands have served over the years! They have worked third shift, weekends, and Christmas Day to care for our residents and clients! Every LSC teammate is a leader; we all are called to lead sometimes, and follow sometimes, all for the Mission, Vision, and Values of LSC!
By the same token, board members, other volunteers, and donors have led this ministry, or we wouldn’t be here today. Lutheran youth donated their change to build the first Lutheran Home, and thousands of donors have contributed sacrificially over the sixty years! Eckards and Efirds donated land to build the first two Lutheran Homes. Lutheran Pastors Norris, Lippard, Pless, and Beard were founders and leaders, and no recitation would be complete without Mr. Lutheran Home, Isaac Kuhn.
On LSC’s sixtieth birthday, we stand on the shoulders of giants, every person who has touched or been touched by this ministry. We need that foundation, that Mighty Fortress, to serve in the face of Covid, economic uncertainty, and racial injustice. By the grace of Almighty God and with each reader’s involvement, we will continue to fulfill LSC’s vision for all from John 10:10 of Abundant Living.
Happy Birthday, LSC!
