# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1902_S98
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

98 Proceedings of the 25th General, or

greatest difficulties, with great self-denial, perseverance, and
faithfulness, and according to the means God provides.

"Of this year's candidates the commission has called two to the
preaching office, namely two Black men — Messrs. Thalley and Doswell.
Both are from North Carolina and both are to work in North Carolina,
especially since the race question plays a large role there. — These
two Black men are the 'firstfruits' who have been raised, schooled, and
trained among us and can now be sent out furnished with the best
testimonials. There are at present still 8 Black students at our
institution in Springfield.

"We thank God for these firstfruits, and our prayer shall be that many
more may follow these two Black candidates. How splendid it would be if
we had churches and schools in all the cities and villages of the
Southern states in which Black ('native') preachers and teachers, too,
could preach and teach. What a blessing for the mission to Black
Americans it would be if we had, as soon as possible, a seminary in
which 'natives,' that is, Black people, could be trained as preachers and
teachers of their own people.

"Of this year's candidates for the teaching office at Addison, the
commission has called two into the mission to Black Americans, one of
whom is to work in New Orleans, La., and one in Concord, N.C.

"Our Christians in our congregations still hold the mission to Black
Americans dear — this is shown, among other things, by the gifts that
have come in regularly and abundantly to support the mission in the last
two years. God bless the givers and the gifts! The Black congregations
themselves have also sent in regular contributions. In the last two
years the Black congregations have raised about $4,000.00 for church
purposes.

"Our two mission papers, the 'Missions-Taube' [Mission Dove] and the
'Lutheran Pioneer,' should still be distributed more zealously, and we
think the pastors and schoolteachers could here render a great service
of love to the mission to Black Americans without particular difficulty.
Out of love for the mission, every Lutheran family should take one of
these papers — or both. The surplus flows into the mission treasury.

"The following is a brief statistic on the present state of our mission
to Black Americans: the mission comprises 21 stations: 4 in Louisiana, 1
in Illinois, 2 in Virginia, and 14 in North Carolina. These were served
by 13 pastors, 8 teachers, and 1 professor, with the assistance of
students. At the close of the year the mission counted 1,498 baptized
souls, 640 communicant and 167 voting members, 795 day-school pupils,
924 Sunday-school pupils, and 19 organized congregations. 1,394
communed during the year; 104 children were baptized (2 adults);
confirmed were 49 children and 17 adults; 33 adults and 86 chil-