National Lutheran Council. Division of Welfare. Lutheran Refugee Service.

The National Lutheran Council (NLC) was established on September 6, 1918 as a common agency of participating Lutheran church bodies to administer domestic programs, publicize Lutheran activities and beliefs, and provide overseas emergency relief to areas devastated by World War I. By the 1940s, the NLC expanded and reorganized its program through the creation of divisions, departments, commissions, and bureaus. Its Division of Welfare was first established as a Department in 1940 and as a division in 1946. In 1953, Lutheran Refugee Service was established as a joint agency of the NLC and the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod (LC-MS).

The program was formed in response to the Refugee Relief Act of 1953 which stipulated that any qualified refugee could come to the U.S. if a sponsor assured that he/she would have suitable employment and housing without displacing another person. Working closely with the Lutheran World Federation's Department of World Service, the LRS succeeded in bringing more that 15,000 refugees into the U.S. in four years. In 1960, the LRS was succeeded by the Lutheran Immigration Service.

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