Recently, retired Gen. Michael Flynn called into question the reality of Lutherans by putting them in quotation marks while calling us launderers of federal funds.

Mr. Flynn has my gratitude for his service to our country, but it is his career as a defender of our Constitution that makes his position confusing. Among our cherished First Amendment rights is the freedom of speech. However, libel and defamation are excluded from that protected freedom, which is what Mr. Flynn did by casting Lutheran Social Service agencies as money launderers.

Who are the Lutherans caught up in this social media storm? We are your neighbors. There are more than five million Lutherans in the United States, and many are right here in Western Pennsylvania. We are people trying to love our neighbors as ourselves as Jesus taught us to do.

At St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Evans City, we live this by housing the community food cupboard and running an after-school program.

Lutheran congregations also support feeding ministries in Butler, Zelienople and other communities. Collectively, we founded organizations such as Glade Run Lutheran Services, Camp Lutherlyn and Lutheran SeniorLife, all of which are in Butler County.

It is the federal funds flowing into our organizations like Lutheran SeniorLife which seem to concern Mr. Flynn.

Local, state and federal governments view this work as valuable, so they pay organizations to handle these programs. Our churches and agencies view this as valuable, so we step up to accept these contracts and the terms of payment.

If anyone is looking for the catch, then here it is. The government funds used to care for senior citizens or orphaned children do not cover the full costs of that care. We operate at a loss. It is only due to the generosity of many people that we can continue our work.

I pray Mr. Flynn and others will try to get to know us better and join in this valuable work.

Brandon Johns,

pastor, St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, Evans City; board president, Lutheran Service Society