The Lutheran Church of the Redeemer has stood on Vermont Avenue in the Irvington neighborhood of southwest Baltimore since the closing months of the nineteenth century, set between Frederick Road and the Baltimore National Pike. A congregation of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, Redeemer continues to gather around the classic Lutheran Divine Service and the catechesis that has sustained the Lutheran tradition for five hundred years. From its first Divine Service in the home of Dr. and Mrs. Charles A. A. J. Miller in 1898 to its 125th Anniversary High Mass in 2023, the parish has kept its teaching and its worship centered on the Word of God and the Sacraments.
From a Parlor on Vermont Avenue to a 125th Anniversary
The congregation traces its beginning to the parlor of Dr. and Mrs. Charles A. A. J. Miller, where the first pupils were enrolled in the Sunday School on February 13, 1898, and the first Divine Service was held on Sunday, May 1, 1898. Pastor E. F. Haertel nursed the new work along with twenty-three Sunday School pupils until, on December 17, 1899, the founding members walked across Vermont Avenue to dedicate their first church building. Martini Church in South Baltimore had given five hundred dollars to the new Irvington mission and released several members, while donations from other Lutheran congregations added another nine hundred.
Over the decades Redeemer became known as a training ground for English-speaking pastors, with a procession of short pastorates serving the parish. By the time the congregation turned twenty-five in 1923, it had completed a major renovation of the building, acquired a pipe organ, and celebrated the Golden Jubilee of Pastor Eirich. The rededication after the 1949 renovation marked another moment of growth, and within a decade the parish was home to a Lutheran day school with grades one through six, taught by Miss Jean Geipel, Mr. Norman Hoerauf, Miss Joan Lange, and Mrs. Jean Klender, and to a Child Care Center that opened in 1967.
The 1960s and 1970s brought both growth and hardship. Pastor Alvin W. Maack, who served until his sudden death in 1970, brought increased racial integration to the parish through his practice of conducting adult confirmation in the homes of confirmands. Later, the Child Care Center transferred to the Redeemer Family Life Center (RFLC) in 1996 and ultimately closed, and the parish saw several years of division and declining membership that left the rolls at five members by 2008. The turning point came when St. Thomas Evangelical Lutheran Church called Pastor Roy Axel Coats from Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne as a missionary pastor to Redeemer. He was ordained and installed on November 21, 2010, on the Feast of the Presentation of Mary.
Just before Pastor Coats' arrival, a family of Liberian refugees began attending Redeemer, and other families soon followed. By 2014, membership had risen to forty, and Pastor Coats was installed as the called pastor on August 24, 2014. He brought with him the Lutheran Service Book and a more traditional ceremonial of the Divine Service, restoring several traditional Lutheran rituals. The parish marked its 125th Anniversary on the Eve of the Feast of Sts. Philip and James in 2023 with a High Mass at which Fr. Christopher Esget, Synodical Vice-President for the Eastern Region, preached, Fr. Stephan Gramenz served as deacon, and Mr. Alexander Togba as subdeacon, with Fr. Charles McClean at the organ. A grand feast followed, prepared by the ladies of the Society of St. Monica, with a Memorial Hymn written by Miss Sharyn Rhodes of the Altar Guild.
The Divine Service: The Heart of Parish Life
Redeemer's worship is built around the Divine Service, the chief service of the Western church in which our Lord Jesus Christ forgives sins, speaks through His Word, and feeds His people with His own Body and Blood in the Sacrament of the Altar. The service follows the traditional order of the Holy Church: confession and absolution, readings and preaching, the Creed, prayers, the celebration of the Sacrament of the Altar, and the Benediction. Some parts stay the same every Sunday, while others, including the readings, the prayers, and the propers, follow a certain theme for the day set by the Gospel. A bulletin and the Lutheran Service Book hymnal guide the congregation through the service, and ushers are glad to help visitors follow along.
The practice at Redeemer is closed communion. Members and visitors in the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod who have been instructed and who share this confession are welcome at the altar. All others are warmly invited to come forward during the distribution to receive a blessing. Visitors who wish to receive the Sacrament are asked to speak with the pastor or an usher before the service. Children are especially welcome at Redeemer.
The Sunday morning schedule centers on the 10:30 a.m. Divine Service. Private Confession is offered before the service at 9:00 a.m. Catechesis follows at 12:30 p.m., with youth confirmation catechesis meeting at 3:00 p.m. that afternoon. The Redeemer League gathers on Wednesday evening at 6:00 p.m., with Confession at 6:45 p.m. and the Wednesday Mass at 7:00 p.m., a shorter service offering a special time to meditate on the Word and to partake of the Blessed Sacrament midweek. A Bible Study meets on Monday evening at 6:30 p.m. Private Confession is also offered any other time by appointment.
The Calendar of Feasts
Throughout the year Redeemer observes the major feasts of the church year with sung Masses, special liturgies, and meals together. Christmas is celebrated as twelve days. On the Vigil of the Nativity, the parish holds its chief Sunday service at 10:30 a.m. The candlelight Christ Mass follows at 8:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve, the Day of the Nativity is observed with Mass at noon on Christmas Day, and the Sunday within the Octave, the Circumcision of our Lord on January 1, and the Vigil and Feast of the Epiphany round out the season, each with its own focus, readings, and hymns.
Holy Week is observed day by day. On Palm Sunday the Divine Service opens with the blessing of the palms and a procession and the reading of St. Matthew's Passion. Daily Masses follow on Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday, and Holy Wednesday at noon. On Maundy Thursday the Mass of the Institution is sung at 7 p.m. as the congregation joins our Lord at the Last Supper. Good Friday brings the Chief Liturgy at noon and Vespers at 7 p.m. The Great Vigil of Easter is shared with Our Saviour Lutheran Church at 33rd and the Alameda, and Easter Day Mass at 10:30 a.m. is followed by an Easter Egg Hunt for the children and a brunch. The Feast of the Ascension of our Lord is kept with sung Mass at 7 p.m., followed by a dinner. Pentecost, the Circumcision of our Lord with baptisms, the Purification of Mary with the blessing of candles (Candlemas), and the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels fill out the rest of the church year.
Doctrine: The Word of God and the Lutheran Confessions
Redeemer teaches that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the sole source of faith, divinely inspired and inerrant. The teaching of Holy Scripture is summarized in the three ecumenical Creeds: the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. The parish holds to the Lutheran confessions contained in the Book of Concord as a faithful exposition of the Holy Scriptures.
The central article of the faith at Redeemer is the office and work of our Lord Jesus Christ, as the parish quotes Luther: Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for our sins and was raised for our justification. He alone is the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world. By His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus in His blood, all are justified without merit, by faith alone. Our Lord gives this Gospel to His Holy Church through the means He has appointed: the Word of God preached, the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, the Sacrament of the Altar, and the Office of the Keys. In all these ways sins are forgiven and sinners are brought to faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and at Redeemer our Lord comes to the congregation with His Gospel through His Holy Word and Sacraments.
Catechesis: Teaching the Faith for Life
Catechesis, the teaching of the Christian faith, is central to the parish. The catechesis offered at Redeemer is structured around Luther's Small Catechism, a faithful summary of the six chief parts: the Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, Holy Baptism, Confession, and the Sacrament of the Altar. Catechumens preparing for confirmation receive a longer overview of the chief articles of the Christian Faith through a two-year program of study on Sundays at 3 p.m., after which Vespers is prayed together. Adults who wish to be instructed are welcomed to study wherever and whenever it is convenient. The pastor is happy to arrange for it with no prior knowledge or instruction required.
Catechesis is also encouraged to continue in the family throughout the week. Weekly memory verses and catechism passages are published for both young and old, and all of the catechesis is informed by the Liturgy and leads the congregation back to it.
Music, Guilds, and the Building
Music at Redeemer is liturgical and traditional. A Schola Cantorum, the parish's liturgical choir, chants the propers and serves the Mass, drawing on the Church's heritage of plainchant and choral polyphony. Members of the congregation have also served as a liturgical choir for special feasts.
The chancel was refurbished in the 1980s under Pastor Vernon P. Schultheis, who brought the altar forward and enlarged the serving area to emphasize the communion. A striking crucifix on the reredos was sculpted by Gordon Kray of Washington, D.C. The chancel organ was replaced in 1989 with a renovated tracker-action pipe organ placed in the transept, much of its cost covered by a gift from Katherine Lemmert, a long-time organist of the parish. The parish hall, dedicated December 7, 1913, by Pastor William C. Burhop, has been enlarged and rebuilt more than once to serve the church's growing work.
Lay societies carry much of the parish's work. The Society of St. Monica gathers the women of the parish for the festive meals that follow High Masses and special feasts. The Society of St. Mark provides the ushers and wardens who serve at the altar. The Altar Guild cares for the sanctuary and the sacred vessels. The Redeemer League gathers on Wednesdays before the Mass for fellowship and study.
Life Together in Irvington
Redeemer is a member congregation of the Southeastern District of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. The parish's links point to a network of Lutheran churches and resources in and around Baltimore, including Immanuel, Martini, Our Saviour, St. Thomas, Nazaret, Calvary, Bethlehem, Berea, the Wyneken Project, and Maryland Lutherans for Life, and to the Synod's national institutions, among them Concordia Publishing House, Concordia Theological Seminary, Concordia Seminary, LWML, and Lutherans for Life. International links reach to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Liberia, the Mission Province of Sweden, and the International Lutheran Council.
Through the years Redeemer has shared the Gospel in its own neighborhood and beyond. The parish once operated a food co-op in the parish hall, and the Men's Club, the Walther Guild, and the Concordia League for young men and women all served as fellowship and study groups in earlier decades. In 2022, members blessed the opening of Nora's African and Caribbean Market at 4718 Liberty Heights Avenue, opened by a parishioner, as a blessing to her family and the community.
Children have a special place at Redeemer. They are especially welcome at the Divine Service, and the parish has long provided for their formation: the original Sunday School was the seed from which the congregation grew, a Lutheran day school taught generations of children from 1955 to 1969, a Child Care Center served pre-school children from 1967 into the 1990s, and youth catechesis continues today.
Donations and offerings may be given online through the parish's giving link or in the offering plate on Sunday. The pastor is glad to hear from anyone who has questions about the parish or about the Christian life, and welcomes those who wish to visit, to join catechesis, or to be instructed in the faith.