The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-09-23

the 10Th anniversary OF 1CS or8anlzaH
ton on November IA, 1918, the
United Lutheran Church in Amer
lea Is negotiating for the purchase
Of the spacious residence at 23l
Madison avenue, New York city
Of the late ]. Pierpont Morgan. The
executive board Of the church, In
extraordinary session August 3lst
at the Lutheran Church House, 80
East 35th street, present national
headquarters Of the body, voted
unanimously to proceed with the
purchase as rapidly as certain de-
tails can be arranged. The church
offices moved to their present loca-
ton in 1927, after nine years occu-
pancy Of the ninth floor Of the
Knabe building at 437 Fifth ave-
nue..
The national body was established
in 1918 at a joint convention in the
Engineering Auditorium, 20 Yves
seth street, New York, Of the three
former bodies, the General Synod
the General Council, and the United
Lutheran Synod In the South. These
three bodies reported Q combined
baptized membership Of 1,06S,398
Since that time the United Luth.
eran church has grown until, as Of
January !, 1913, 1t now reports q
baptized membership Of 1,725,s62.
According to the Rev. DR.. Walton
H. Greever, secretary Of the church
1t Is this rapid growth and the etx-
pansion Of their activities that have
made 1t necessary for the United
Lutherans to seek larged space and
better facilities than can be provided
at the present Lutheran Church
House. He said the Church re-
CARDS the offer Of the Morgan PROF.
erty as a proWdential provision fol
its needs"
The Morgan house, which occu.
pies the southeast corner Of Madi-
son avenue and 37th street, Is Q
45-room brownstone structure erect
ed in 1852. Adjoining on the seth
street corner Is the famous Morgan
Manuscript Library while the spa.
cious grounds surrounding both
buildings are devoted to flower gar.
denS, an unusual sight in that sec.
ton Of New York city.
Both the Morgan home and the
present Lutheran Church House are
located on the elevation known
from earlier days as Murray Hill,
the site of the famous farm, "Ingle-
berg" where Mrs. Robert Murray
entertained General Howe and his
officers with such success that Gen.
eral Washington and his troops
were able to escape from the
clutches Of the British Army.
Negotiations for the transfer of
the property were conducted
through Do u gil ass Gibbons,
broker. and although no contract
has been signed, agreement has
been reached on all material points.
The officers of the United Luth-
eran Church in America do not an
ticipate that major alterations will
be necessary in the house since the
rooms are Of such size and arrange
ment as to lend themselves readily
to use as church headquarters. It is
expected, when the deal is consum-
mated. that the new headquarters
will house all of the Church organ
iZations and agencies at present
located at the 35th Street address.
These include ofilces of the pres
ident and secretary Of the United
Lutheran Church in America, the
Board Of American Missions and the
Board Of Social Missions of the
United Lutheran Church, the uni
ted Lutheran Synod Of New York,
and the national headquarters
ofices Of the National Lutheran
Council. Lutheran World Action,
and the American section OF the
Lutheran World Convention. In ad-
dition, the present Lutheran
Church House contains q chapel In
which worship services have been
conducted regularly for the past
sixteen years. It Is expected that
this feature will be incorporated IN
the new headquarters. The National
Lutheran Council Is q service agency
through which eight national Luth-
eran general bodies, the United
Lutheran Church in America. the
American Lutheran Church, the
Norwegian Lutheran Church 81
America, the Augustana synod,
Danish Evangelical LutheFAu
Church, Lutheran Free Church
United Danish Evangelical lutheran
Church and the Finnish suomi 81.
nod, cooperate IN the Performance
o. many tnteSapnodicai tasks Of TIE
Church.
The Council. IN which the Unllse
Lutheran Church ls ne largest 60
operating body, serves i0e1o kaIth'
ernn congregations q Ne unileI