LMSS-Waco History
In late 2004, members of First Lutheran Church, located in a low-income neighborhood of downtown Waco, decided to expand the church’s social ministry community outreach. So they created a social justice ministry/legal education assistance program as an extension of services to indigent persons who participated in a weekly community breakfast held at the church.
According to the Texas Equal Access to Justice Foundation, 14.2 percent of Texas families are living in poverty. Waco is the fifth poorest city in Texas and the 16th poorest city in the United States. In 2008, to qualify for civil legal services from a federally funded Legal Aid organization, an individual could not have an income greater than $1,038 per month and a family of four could not have an annual income greater than $27,563. Beyond these statistics there is the problem of Legal Aid organizations typically turning away one-half of all income-eligible, case-eligible applicants due to a lack of staffing resources.
After a few months it became apparent that the need for legal support services being offered through the Legal Assistance Project went far beyond what was originally anticipated by the church itself. Using seed money and donated space provided by First Lutheran Church, Lutheran Ministries and Social Services of Waco became incorporated in 2005 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit.
In November 2008, LMSS-Waco became an ELCA-affiliated social ministry organization. You can find our information as well as that of 300 other nationally affiliated Lutheran social service providers by visiting the Lutheran Services website.