Pastor Elliot Robertson celebrates 25 years as a minister at Martini Lutheran Church
Pastor Robertson, the guiding hand of Martini Lutheran Church since 1997 and an ordained minister since 1985, will celebrate his milestone with a crab feast at Captain James Landing on Saturday, July 17—and at Martini, more formally, at a special service on Sunday, July 18.
The Baltimore-born pastor was ordained into the ministry after graduating with a Master of Divinity Degree from Concordia Seminary in Ft Wayne, Indiana. Before coming to Martini he served as assistant pastor of Resurrection Lutheran Church in Cary, N.C., and as pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Chenango Bridge, N.Y..
But Baltimore, he said, always called him back.
“I grew up near Herring Run, and it really was a thrill to be able to come back here. There aren’t many of us that get that blessing.”
He has returned to his rowhouse roots (“I was born in one, and I grew up in one”) and to the neighborhoods that he knew from his youth.
He also finds it a joy to participate in the lives of his congregation.
“At the church, we have seen a lot of people off to heaven, and we have seen a lot of people join us. We realize we’ve been part of a blessing in the lives of many, many people here. Eight years ago, our church started a preschool. We saw that more people were staying here to raise their children, rather than moving away when they had children—and we thought that this would be a way we could contribute to the community.”
Robertson has a strong desire to serve the greater church as well as his congregation. He has been instrumental in coordinating the Baltimore Servant event for several years, bringing youth from around the Synod to work on various repair projects in city neighborhoods and churches. Most recently, the volunteers have been joining with Martini members to work on restoring the St. Paul’s Cemetery, dedicated in 1854 in Druid Hill Park (the Lutheran cemetery predates the founding of the park).
He has also served as a circuit pastor for Missouri Synod Lutheran Churches in Baltimore, offering guidance to churches without pastors, holding workshops, and coordinating circuit-wide services on holy days. he has also helped the church perform outreach, supporting a Spanish-speaking mission in another neighborhood
“I love being here and I love the neighborhood. South Baltimore — it’s like a patchwork quilt. I wake up every day, and there are different people to minister to.”
And, he adds, nothing, but nothing matches the thrill of being able to be a piece of that quilt, and knowing that he’s home again.
“When I was returning home, coming back here, I remember driving up Potee street and looking out over the water — I nearly wrecked a couple times while I was driving because it was just so great to be able to see that water again. The streets, the houses, everything was the same.”
—by Mary Helen Sprecher
newsroom@baltimoreguide.com
