Founded in 1996, Amazing Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church is a consolidation of three historic churches in East Baltimore—Bethany, Martin Luther and Trinity. Amazing Grace is a congregation in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is an active congregation of the Delaware-Maryland Synod. As an intentional multi-cultural congregation, from the beginning, Amazing Grace has sought to be present in McElderry Park to live out the gifts of God’s grace in Jesus Christ for all people. In the first year after its beginning, Amazing Grace was led by co-pastors, the Rev. Karen Brau and the Rev. Mary Zurell.
In 1997, Pastor Mary took a call to serve at New Hope Lutheran Church in Columbia MD. Pastor Karen was pastor at Amazing Grace until 2008 when she took a call to serve as the Senior Pastor at Luther Place Memorial church in Washington DC. In 2001, Kati Kluckman-Ault came to Amazing Grace for a parish nurse internship year to implement the health ministry at Amazing Grace. She remained until September 2010, when after another year long pastoral internship, she was ordained and called to serve on the Deleware Maryland Bishop’s staff. Pastor Gary Dittman was called to the congregation to lead and serve with God’s people in this place in August 2009.
Since 1996, Amazing Grace has worked to implement several programs that reflect their commitment to the healing power of God in Jesus Christ.