# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1950_S453
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

MISSIONS . 453

‘being filed and forwarded. Prayer books and religious litera-
mire are still being supplied to those on our files. There is a big
err mand for our tracts. A number of new tracts for use in hospitals
ane : being written. For the sake of emphasis we would again call
tion to our conviction that names and addresses and changes
ddresses of men in the military and patients in Veterans Ad-
istration Hospitals are not being sent in to our office as they

ould. Chaplains

We have fifty chaplains on duty. Of these, twenty-two are
gulars, and twenty-eight are Reserves. There are eight full-time
rans Administration chaplains and five part-time. We have
e full-time chaplains working in Veterans Administration Hos-
s, whose salary we pay. These men are stationed in New York,
ago, and Los Angeles. One hundred and twenty-six of our
ors assist in this ministry to veterans.

Service Personnel

We have the names of over 5,000 service personnel, men and
omen, on our files; of these, over 1,700 are overseas. During 1949,
95 changes of addresses were received; 2,336 new names were —
ded, and 1,492 were discharged. 6,228 pieces of mail were re-
med. 4,957 prayer books and 600,000 tracts were mailed out

uring the past year.
Aa g Pp y Service Center

At the present time we are operating only one service center,
cated in Balboa in the Canal Zone. We have here a beautiful
el, a service center in the second story of which the pastor
sides. This project received a gift of $20,000 from the P.T.O.
d $10,000 from the Commission. A loan of approximately $60,000
made to this congregation from Commission funds.

Chaplains’ Report for 1949

451 Number communed ................ 6,890
Pe Number of services ................-. 2,976

The full-time Veterans Administration chaplains communed
and conducted 934 services.

Finances

‘ The Commission has invested about $75,000 for residences in
washington, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, where pastors
Be ing the Commission live. A grant of $5,000 was made for
sa service center in Brazil. This was done upon request from the
Wiome Mission Board of North and South America. The Com-
mission’s operating costs in 1949 were about $100,000. The chief
Htems were the following: