Diakonie auf amerikanisch

Christian social service organizations have been stable providers of welfare services and partners of the government in the United States of America. They play an immense role in the welfare system. Among the most important participants in this system are the social service organizations of two Lutheran churches: The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS) and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Their social ministries began as smaller grassroots initiatives, many founded by German immigrants, long before the welfare state existed. These ministries, however, have only recently been systematically united on a national level in the form of Lutheran Services in America (LSA). In 1997, the two church bodies established an alliance. Since its founding the network has generated a combined revenue of over 20 billion US-Dollars per year, and thus belongs to the largest networks of religious social service organizations active in the welfare system in the U.S. How LSA became such a success story and how it (still) succeeds in maintaining their genuine Lutheran profile is analyzed in this volume.