See The "Luther" Film And Appreciate Reformer's Wider Legacy

Baltimore, October 3, 2003 — Although the new Martin Luther film highlights Luther's struggles against the church of his day, the 16th century German reformer consistently scores high on lists of people who have shaped the modern world as well. During the "Luther" film's run in Baltimore, the three Lutheran service organizations headquartered here are letting their city know that that broader Luther legacy lives on.

"500 years ago Martin Luther changed the world," says a Baltimore Sun advertisement by Lutheran Services in America, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, and Lutheran World Relief, and continues: "We're still at it today." Local affiliates of LSA and LIRS are invited to borrow the ad. A pop-up version also appears at www.lwr.org.

Among the 95 theses that helped define Luther's place in history, a few link church reform and social service. Number 43, for example, says: "Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better work than buying pardons."