About Us

Mission

Empowered by Christ, rooted in the lands and culture of the Bible and earliest Christianity, and sent to the world, we seek to serve and proclaim the Gospel among Arabs and people of the Middle East and to share the community’s gifts with the whole world.

Salam Arabic Lutheran Church (SALC) is meeting the spiritual, social and community needs of the Arab and Middle Eastern community, and the community at large. The ministry of SALC, especially during the hard and challenging days of 9/11, was one of hope, healing and building bridges of understanding and commitment.

SALC continues to minister to Brooklyn’s growing Arab and Middle Eastern communities. By the grace of God and your support, we will be able to continue our call to serve our community and share our gifts of faith with all.

Pastor Khader El-Yateem was born in the West Bank town of Beit Jala in 1968. After graduating from high school he studied at the Bethlehem Bible College, graduated with a diploma in theology, and then studied at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo, Egypt, where he received the BA degree. After working for a year at the Bethlehem Bible College and as youth minister at the Reformation Lutheran Church in Beit Jala, he was invited by the ELCA to work as a mission developer among the Arab and Middle Eastern community in the United States. He studied at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia and graduated with the M. Div. degree. Pastor El-Yateem was called by the Division for Outreach to start Salam Arabic Lutheran Church in Brooklyn, New York, which became the first official Arabic Lutheran Church in North America. He serves on many boards in the United States and aboard, including the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. Pastor El-Yateem works tirelessly for justice and peace on behalf of the Palestinian people and helped plan the ELCA’s Evangelism Strategy, accepted at the 2003 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. Rev. El-Yateem, his wife Grace and their children, live in Brooklyn, New York.