# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1860_S29
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— Page 29 —

time the present congregation of Pastor Biltz in Lafayette Co., Mo. In
addition I visited Pastor Besel, Pastor Multanowsky, and Pastor
Claus. The outcome of the visitations named was unfortunately not
always a happy one. May the merciful and gracious God grant that
whatever wounds still remain soon reach the healing we hope for.

G. Schaller,
President of the Western District.

Annual Report of the Central District of the Synod of Missouri,
Ohio, and Other States, 1860.

In the past synodical year I visited Pastors Friedrich, Haid,
Daib, Merz, Kühn, Engelbert, Bühl, P. Eirich, Bode, and Zagel and
their congregations, so far as they belong to the Synod. Professor
Crämer, the vice president, visited on my behalf Pastor Husmann and
his congregation, as well as the filial [branch congregation] of
Pastor Friedrich in Whitley Co., Ind.

On the whole I found gratifying progress in the congregations
visited. Worship services were on average carefully attended to; but
unfortunately, in most rural congregations, the catechism examination
is still tacked on as an appendage to the Sunday morning main worship
service. This is no small failing, because it keeps both the sermon
and the instruction in Christian doctrine from receiving their full
due, and because such simultaneous spiritual overloading hinders the
spiritual digestion and assimilation of each individual piece. Only in
one of the rural congregations visited does the catechism examination
take place in the afternoon, and it is diligently attended by young
and old alike. — I was also able to note, on average, gratifying
progress in the growth of knowledge; for just as the readers of "Der
Lutheraner" have increased almost everywhere, so too have the readers
of the Altenburg Bible, which is used in homes more and more as time
goes on. — I also found a growing willingness to give, in several
congregations, toward the maintenance of our synodical organization,
which is of course aimed solely at the preservation and support of our
dear Church. And where this was not the case, I still found no
unwilling ear for my exhortation. The effect of the divine Word could
also be noted in that worldly lusts no longer hold the power they once
did, but rather the fear and discipline of the Word of God, so that
Christian morals are either increasingly taking shape, or being
purified and made firm. To be sure, the counter-working of the devil,
the world, and the flesh is nowhere absent either, particularly in
that stinginess and drunkenness are also seeking here and there to
assert themselves. Likewise, the prevailing bearing and character of
the young men and young women growing up in this or that congregation
awakened no particular hopes for the future of the congregations,
since little Christian earnestness is to be sensed in their personal
disposition. May God help and improve this through His Word and the
dear Cross. — Finally, mention must still be made of the sad schism
that unfortunately occurred in the congregation at Pomeroy. It