Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in American (ELCA), and the Delaware-Maryland Synod. The ELCA has 2.7 million members across more than 8,400 communities in 50 states and the Caribbean. We gather around the word and sacraments, trusting God’s grace, shaped by Jesus Christ. We believe that God made us new in Christ and that we are called to believe and to live our faith. We are reconciled to God and each other through Jesus, who defines, shapes and guides us as a faith community.
As Lutherans, we center our lives together on the good news of Jesus Christ—crucified and risen for the sake of the world. Our Lutheran identity means being part of a wider, global Christian family. The gospel doesn’t stay inside the church—it sends us out. Freed by Christ from sin, death, and even ourselves, we are called to serve our neighbors with compassion, courage, and a hunger for justice.
Our History
Salem was incorporated as a mission congregation of the American Lutheran Church (ALC) on October 27, 1967, and was begun as a daughter congregation of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Sweet Air, MD. Rev. Partee Bollock, who was pastor of St. John’s in 1967, suggested the name “Salem” for the new church because of the former German congregation of the same name that had existed about 1 mile north of the new Salem Lutheran. That older congregation was designated as “Lutheran” on some old maps from the 1800’s, but apparently was affiliated during much of its existence with the local Methodists according to some accounts.
Construction of the original sanctuary started on April 28, 1968 and the church celebrated its first service on October 13, 1968, at Jarrettsville Elementary School. The congregation was formally organized on February 9, 1969, and dedicated its new building on May 18, 1969. As the congregation grew, Salem extended its community outreach to children in and around Jarrettsville and opened a nursery school in the autumn of 1974. Ground-breaking for the educational wing started on March 20, 1977, and the new building was dedicated on November 22, 1978. Since that time there have been at least two additions and other modifications to the church and educational complex.
Reaching Out
Our congregation’s principal outreach program is the Salem Lutheran Children’s Center (SLCC). Originally established by Salem in 1974 as a nursery school, SLCC has faithfully evolved to meet the growing childcare and early education needs of families throughout Jarrettsville and our surrounding communities. Today, this vital ministry is a non-profit, Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) approved center that provides a warm, loving Christian environment. We are blessed to serve close to 200 students annually, offering child-centered preschool, a daycare program, before- and after-school care for elementary students (K–5th grade), and engaging summer camps. Safely situated directly across from Jarrettsville Elementary School, SLCC partners intentionally with local families to cultivate a lifelong love of learning, support early childhood development, and build a foundation of spiritual growth, honesty, and compassion. To learn more about SLCC, including its operating days and hours, visit www.salemchildrenscenter.org.
Community Service
Serving our neighbors is a vital part of our mission at Salem Lutheran Church. Each month, our congregation comes together to share Christ’s love by collecting canned goods, boxed meals, and essential non-perishables for the Mason-Dixon Community Services (MDCS) Food Assistance Program. Operating out of Street, MD, and Delta, PA, MDCS acts as a critical safety net, serving more than 1,700 individuals and delivering over 33,500 points of service annually. Through their Client Choice Food Pantry and Door-to-Door delivery program, they ensure that homebound seniors, individuals with disabilities, and families lacking transportation always have access to nutritious food. We are blessed to partner with MDCS to bring comfort, dignity, and nourishment to those facing difficult times in our local community.
Child hunger is a reality in Harford County. Weekend meal programs help fill the hunger gap that many schoolchildren experience when they are not in school. Through its Beyond Blessings program, The HOPE Center of Maryland provides food-insecure students with kid-friendly, nutritious food meal bags to sustain them on the weekends. Salem Lutheran directly supports the Beyond Blessings program, serving as a financial pillar for this initiative, which, in 2025, provided weekend food backpacks to 1,250 local public school students who face food insecurity.
Access to healthy food is a human right, and providing it is a collective responsibility. Every other month Salem’s congregation prepares and delivers casseroles to St. Mark Roman Catholic Church in Fallston to be forwarded to Our Daily Bread in Baltimore, Maryland’s largest hot meal program.