Arnold F. Keller, Jr., D.D. · 1991 Honoree

Arnold Keller is a person of immense dignity. It would take someone of his leonine proportions to carry it so gently. This humble, hard working servant/leader never cultivated or practiced such a noble air; it just is. Quite obviously, Dr. Keller is a man of great faith. Surely this is a man of God.

Born and raised in Utica, New York, Arnold is, himself, the son of a Lutheran pastor. He describes his dad as,”a stern German disciplinarian with high expectations,” a fisher of men, and coincidentally, the “best darn fly fisherman in Oneida County.” The Kellers would summer in the Adirondacks where, as a teenager, Arnold worked in a sawmill from “six to six”.

Dr. Keller attended the Mt. Herman Prep School in Massachusetts, Hamilton College and followed in the Keller tradition at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia.

Newly ordained in 1947, Arnold came to the Lutheran Church of the Reformation, here on East Capitol Street since 1869. It was also here that he met his wife, Peggy, who was a parishioner. In 1953, Dr. and Mrs. Keller moved to Pennsylvania where Arnold became the Pastor at St. John’s Church in the heart of Allentown civic center. All four of the Keller children were born during his tenure there.

Dr. Keller’s experience as an urban pastor in a small city environment taught him the value of ‘community.’ “We had people from every conceivable walk of life in Allentown. Society is best in diversity and our ministry must reflect the community needs.”

Since his return to Reformation Church in 1967, Dr. Keller has practiced this axiom on an ambitious scale befitting the Nation’s Capital. Reformation became the headquarters of the SCLC during their famous 1968 March on Washington. During this same year, the Capitol Hill Day School was founded at Reformation Church. In the mid-seventies Arnold created the Public Affairs Sector Ministry, bringing together hundreds of federal government employees to discuss political/theological issues. An independent survey done in 1981 convinced him that this community was underserved in healthcare and the Family Practice and Counseling Center was begun. Under Dr. Keller’s leadership, these Capitol Hill Community Achievement Awards were instituted in 1984 to recognize the diverse community excellence.

Dr. Keller is well known throughout ecumenical circles in Washington for his leadership in Lutheran affairs and for a humane intellect that transcends his many honors. He believes that God is best brought to people in their own terms. whether delivering a sermon or carrying out the ministries of the Church. He exists to serve his family and his fellow man and leads by expecting no more of others than he expects of himself.

Arnold Keller scoffs at the suggestion that he is a visionary despite those who insist he is. “I look for the right idea at the right time.” Pastor Keller is certainly the right man-at the right time, and we are blessed that his place is here with us on Capitol Hill.