# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1847_S19
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

— 19 —

g, whether the Lutheran settlers have in the house, and make regular use
of, Bibles, Luther's Small Catechism, good hymnals, and perhaps old,
orthodox books of prayer, sermons, and devotion.

If the visitor finds good books present but no proper use being made of
them, he is to admonish the people in a friendly way not to let these
treasures lie unused, and to give them good advice on establishing sound
family devotions; if, on the other hand, he finds unbelieving or falsely
believing books in the house and, moreover, in use, he is to convince the
people from God's Word that such books are contrary to Holy Scripture
and therefore thoroughly harmful to the soul, so that, God willing, the
people will then give up using them.

§ 3. The above inquiries are, of course, not to be made in the form of an
examination, but conversationally, avoiding any appearance of
intrusiveness.

§ 4. He is to get to know, as precisely as possible, the prevailing
spiritual condition both of the various families and of their individual
members; and in doing so it is his duty, according to the ability God
gives him, to teach and admonish with and according to the Word of
God, as need requires.

§ 5. It is his duty to urge the people, earnestly and lovingly, to establish
the holy preaching office among themselves. If he finds individual larger
settlements, or neighboring small ones, willing to call a Lutheran
minister, he is to give them guidance on the proper steps to take to
achieve this goal. If, on the other hand, the number of Lutheran families
visited within a larger radius is too small to call a permanent minister
right away, he is to urge the people to attach themselves to the nearest
Lutheran congregation that has a faithful minister, so that they may at
least be visited by him now and then and served with Word and
Sacrament — but in the meantime to conduct themselves so that on
Sundays they would rather edify themselves from a good book of
sermons than attend the services of fanatics [*Schwärmer*].

§ 6. He is to instruct and guide the heads of households, especially
where there is great distance from regularly served Lutheran
congregations, to baptize their children themselves in cases of mortal
danger or other urgent need, rather than have them baptized by
traveling sectarian preachers. Yet, at the special request of his fellow
believers, he is not only to preach to them but also to baptize their
children.

§ 7. It is also the visitor's duty to examine, here and there in individual
homes, especially during the evening hours, the children who are of
school age, and to see whether they can read more or less well, know
something of the catechism, and perhaps also know by heart this or that
good hymn verse and prayer, and in particular the Ten Commandments,
the Creed, and the Lord's Prayer, and also, as far as time and
opportunity allow, to instruct them himself in the chief parts of the
Christian faith.

§ 8. He is, especially where he finds children neglected, to admonish the
parents earnestly and kindly and to give them guidance to take up the
instruction of their children, especially in the late autumn and winter
months, and to bring them as far as possible to the point that