St. Luke's Lutheran Church

St. Luke’s Lutheran Church

by John M. Thomas, Jr.

September 8^th, 2014

For the Summerville Journal-Scene (before editing)

                St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Summerville was founded in 1892 by Lutheran merchants who summered in the future Flowertown for reasons related to escaping malaria along the coast just as many have done over the centuries in the early days of the Charleston area.  When chartered, St. Luke’s was a “preaching station” with itinerant clergy who conducted monthly or twice-monthly services.

In 1882, many of these merchants moved into Summerville on a permanent basis, helping to found the “downtown district” with the creation of various dry-goods stores. Until 1921, St. Luke’s was affiliated with St. Barnabas in downtown Charleston, at which time the mission was converted to a full-fledged church by the ecclesiastical authorities, shortly after the beginning of the presence of a full-time pastor for the group in 1917.

Today, St. Luke’s stands as a pillar for the Christian community in Summerville, espousing several important community programs the prominently place the church on the map for a strong service mission.    The child care center at St. Luke’s has been in operation for over forty years, and the very well-developed Alzheimer’s support ministry offers respite care to spell the caretakers of these patients, giving the family and friends of the ill members of the community a chance to “take a break” and enjoy other activities for a few hours.

In 2013, the Alzheimer’s ministry served 1468 unique clients and provided 7390 volunteer hours to perform this mission.  Family members of the patients are cared for by the ministry through social outreach above and beyond the respite care provided.  The work at St. Luke’s has led to another ministry being formed called “NOAH,” which is designed to foster the development of respite care services in nearby rural areas.

St. Luke’s has been a nursery for the development of these and other social ministry programs in the Summerville area, including a strong ministry for those who must cope with the death or miscarriage of a child.  The church is said by its members to be the kind of place where outreach is a highly integral and important part of church life, which is attested to the steady growth of the Alzheimer’s respite care ministry over the years.

Steeped in the venerable traditions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the parishioners at St. Luke’s share a strong bond of faith and service, and the church is a strong asset for the Summerville community, both in terms of providing religious foundation as well as serving as a bulwark against several social problems in a determined and highly productive manner.