Martin Luther Lutheran Church

Martin Luther Lutheran Church in Baltimore was founded in approximately 1890 and was located at 401-409 North Patterson Park Avenue (directory lists at Patterson Park Avenue and Orleans Street). The congregation closed its doors about 1994. The remaining members of Martin Luther joined with those of Bethany Lutheran and Trinity Lutheran to form a new congregation known as Amazing Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church which is located in the former Trinity campus on McElderry Street.

Trinity Lutheran (Baltimore City) records have been previously microfilmed and partially indexed beginning with the 1853 volume. This collection is available at the Maryland State Archives as Special Collections SC4543 microfilm copy number M 1461. Unfortunately, the location of prior volumes from this congregation, which was established in 1839, is unknown. The original records of Trinity Lutheran are now housed at the Lutheran Seminary in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The whereabouts of all records from the former Bethany Lutheran congregation, last located on Madison Street near North Lakewood Avenue, are unknown at this time. Reference to this congregation’s records was not made in Kanely’s 1987 Directory of Maryland Church Records, presumably because the church was organized after 1910.

The surviving church records from the Martin Luther congregation appear to be complete, consisting of eight volumes dating from 1890 to the late 1980s. Volumes one through seven have been microfilmed by the Maryland State Archives in Annapolis and are available on microfilm for review. The entirety of the original records were returned to Amazing Grace Evangelical Lutheran congregation in December 1998 and subsequently archived at the Lutheran Seminary in Gettysburg.

Sources:

Centennial History of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Maryland, 1820-1920, Wentz

http://www.mdgenweb.org/baltimorecity/churches/Martin%20Luther/Luther.html (Baptisms)

http://www.mdgenweb.org/baltimorecity/churches/Martin%20Luther/MartinIndex.htm (Death records)

Records at the Maryland Archives MSA S 1512-2508 (00/59/06/35)-Bethany

Records at the Maryland Archives MSA S 1512-1888 (00/59/06/28)-Martin Luther