On June 24, 2020, we commemorated the life and ministry of Rev. Dr. Karl E. Lutze on the 100th anniversary of his birth.
Nearly 30 years ago, as ALOA’s first Executive Director, Karl Lutze did a remarkable job of shaping this organization, providing visionary and creative leadership to a fledgling ministry to older adults. But he served a “much wider world” than ALOA, and the impact of his life and ministry was much greater.
As a post-war graduate of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Karl Lutze served as pastor of African American congregations in Muskogee and Tulsa. Fourteen years later, he joined the faculty of Valparaiso University and also accepted a staff position with Lutheran Human Relations Associations of America (LHRAA), an inter-Lutheran agency focused on improving race relations. He remained active throughout his long life and ministry as parish pastor, civil rights leader, university professor and author. Karl Lutze died 5 years ago on May 7, 2015, at age 94.
On this significant day, Karl Lutze’s family has granted permission and encouraged us to share a link to his book, To Mend the Broken: The Christian Response to the Challenge of Human Relations Problems, which was originally published in 1966. With the author’s permission his wife, Gail, and her son, Christopher Blask, updated the language of the book in 2015 to make it more “correct” in today’s world. We thank them for sharing the link to the updated version that is available to read in its entirety on Christopher Blask’s blogsite
Take a look at previous posts for more inspiration for older adult ministry.