Non-Governmental Organizations based in the US

In September, I did something incredibly dorky. My friend, Kristen, and I took an East Coast road trip, which could be summed up as: Tour de Lutheran. I did try to set up meetings with other organizations, but I ended up focusing mostly on Lutheran organizations, since I didn’t know where else to start in the hundreds of NGOs on the East Coast and these organizations quickly responded back to two Lutherans. The tour served two main purposes: after learning a lot about Lutheran and NGO efforts in South Africa, we wondered what do Lutheran institutions in the US do and should I pursue working on the East Coast, specifically in Washington DC. Kristen and I met with a representative from each of the organizations listed below that include the mission statement; I spoke with a representative with the rest of the organizations throughout the last four months. To learn more about the ELCA’s advocacy efforts, visit: elca.org/advocacy . If you would like more information on my meetings with representatives from the organizations, I would appreciate talking with you further.


Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services
Mission: "Witnessing to God’s love for all people, we stand with and advocate for migrants and refugees, transforming communities through ministries of service and justice."
Website: lirs.org

Lutheran Services in America
Mission: “Lutheran Services in America creates opportunities with people in thousands of communities throughout the United States and the Caribbean as an alliance of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod, and their over 300 health and human service organizations.”
Website: lutheranservices.org

Lutheran World Relief
Mission: “Affirming God’s love for all people, we work with Lutherans and partners around the world to end poverty, injustice and human suffering.”
Website: lwr.org
Lutheran Office for World Community
Mission: "The primary task of the Lutheran Office for World Community is to gather information of interest and concern to Lutheran churches worldwide, including the ELCA, and utilize it in the church's social ministry response."
Website: elca.org/Our-Faith-In-Action/Justice/Advocacy/Advocacy-Ministries/Lutheran-Office-for-World-Community.aspx

ELCA Washington Office: elca.org/Our-Faith-In-Action/Justice/Advocacy/Advocacy-Ministries/ELCA-Washington-Office.aspx

Bread for the World: bread.org

Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin: loppw.org

Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan: lsswis.org

Project Promise – A Fox Cities Poverty Coalition: projectpromisefoxcities.org