Central Lutheran Church bodes farewell to “mother of the church,” Pastor Marsha Harris ...Middle East

By Jenna Jarrah

On any given Monday, a passerby walking past Central Lutheran Church in Van Nuys could see busy lines for food distribution and dozens of volunteers helping out in front of the church. The service, operated by the Central Lutheran Church in partnership with the LA Regional Food Bank, provides healthy, nutritious food for households on a weekly basis in the Van Nuys area.

Pastor Marsha Harris is the leading force behind the community effort. Vibrant, energetic, and passionate, her dedication to the community is unmistaken and clear. She is often called the “mother of Central Lutheran Church” by churchgoers, and is beloved for her leadership and service to the Van Nuys community over the past 9 years.

Pastor Harris, a later-in-life pastor, became ordained by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America at 60. While faith and service had always been an active part of her life, it wasn’t until her youngest child was a senior in high school that she felt called to serve in a more profound way.

“Most of my life has been spent in faith, serving communities in need, or the communities I was living in. But in 2009, I felt I needed to be studying and in contemplation, and I felt called to serve underserved communities more,” she said.

A year later, she started seminary, a 3-year accredited Master’s program that trains individuals for religious leadership and clergy roles, and is required by the Lutheran denomination for pastoral service.

As a part of her coursework, Harris was required to complete 300 clinical hours, which she did with San Francisco Night Ministry – a church-based effort that provides care and support to people experiencing homelessness at night. Soon after, she interned with New City Parish, an alliance of 8 churches in Los Angeles County, and was trained to preach in Spanish.

Harris learned Spanish in high school, and continued speaking the language while she worked with Spanish-speaking individuals during her time at UCSD.

When she started her ministry education, she had to “learn Spanish all over again.”

“I never liked dividing the church by language or culture. Collaboration of cultures inspires a lot of people,” she said.

Central Lutheran Church Van Nuys serves a multicultural population of Latinos, Armenians, and African-Americans. The church currently conducts bilingual worship services in English and Spanish, and trilingual bible studies in English, Spanish, and Armenian.

Pastor Harris was raised Southern Baptist and grew up in Georgia. When she was 15, her family moved to Southern California, and she went on to attend UCSD where she pursued urban and rural studies. During her undergraduate education, Harris would attend Catholic services with her college roommates.

Following graduation, she served as a California Senate Fellow for one year from 1979 to 1980. Harris then continued her education at UCLA, where she earned her MBA and a MA in urban planning.

After a brief time away from the church, she and her husband, who met in graduate school, decided they wanted to get married in a church, and they chose St. Paul Lutheran in Santa Monica for the welcoming environment that it had.

Following her marriage, faith and service once again became a significant part of her life.

During the same time, Harris started her professional career in business, marketing, and sales, and then pivoted to city and regional planning in 1991 in Northern California.

She also worked as a consultant with churches on strategic ministry, and designed initiatives to expand access for children and youth programming. She is proud to have volunteered for Habitat for Humanity for 17 years, and have served on its board forclose to 7 years.

In 2017, when she began her first full-time pastoral role at Central Lutheran Church, Harris began holding English classes for the Latino community so that Latino parents could better help their kids complete homework. From those classes, she became aware that many attendees couldn’t afford basic foods like rice, beans, proteins, and produce that met nutritional standards, and that there was a need for healthy food.

In 2019, she started a mobile food pantry with LA Regional Food Bank. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the church started sourcing volunteers from third-party organizations which allowed them to increase operations from twice-a-month food distribution to weekly distribution. Today, the church serves around 550 to 700 households per week, according to Harris.

Other services the church offers are a summer camp for kids, back-to-school programs, a diaper program, a community garden with gardening classes, weekly Zumba, 12-step programs like AA and NA, and food banks and toy drives during the holiday season.

Barry Smedberg, who has been a member of Central Lutheran Church of Van Nuys since 1955, and is the president of the congregation said, “Pastor Marsha’s biggest impact has been bringing the Anglo, Hispanic and Armenian communities together, as well as creating and enhancing programs that serve the needs of the community.”

Harris, who has served the Van Nuys community for 9 years, retired at the beginning of this year, and Central Lutheran Church held her farewell party.

“Pastor Marsha’s legacy is seen in her tenacity in building programs that serve the neighborhood. This includes the inclusion of so many volunteers who see and appreciate the ministry,” said Interim Pastor Nancy Switzler, who succeeded Pastor Harris on January 1.

Reflecting on her time serving, Harris said, “It’s amazing when God shows up and the love pours out. I see the experience of people seeing God in their community through their neighbors, and this is continuing because we have a lot of volunteers committed to that growth and the congregation is committed to being there for people.”

In retirement, Harris plans to continue consulting work with churches, do some traveling, and spend more time with her three kids and grandchildren.

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