# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1886_S72
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

72 Proceedings of the eleventh convention

Business Proceedings.

I. Negro Mission.

Pastor O. Hanser first read the following report of the
mission commission:

Fifth Report of the Commission of the Ev. Luth. Synodical Conference of
North America for the Negro Mission [*Negermiſſion*, the period's term for the mission among African Americans], covering the period from
August 1884 to August 1886.

In accordance with its commission, the Commission for the Negro
Mission takes the liberty of presenting to the Reverend Synodical Conference [*Synodalconferenz*] the following report on the
state and progress of this work, first of all on the
individual stations.

I. Meherrin, Lunenburg Co., Va.

At this station Missionary Bühler labored until the end of March of this year. Since he
in April followed a call to Strasbourg
in Alsace to a girls' high school, and the Commission did
not dare, on its own responsibility, to let the little light of pure doctrine
kindled here go out in spite of the unfavorable conditions, it has
provisionally filled the vacant post, through the kindness of the theological faculty at Spring-
field, with a seminarian, Mr. S. Hörnicke.
— The state of this station is now as follows, whereby for comparison
we include the figures of the last report of 1884:

Weekday school      1884 — 40 children,    1886 — 35 children.
Sunday school      1884 — 16 children,    1886 — 15 children.
Church attendance  1884 — 30 persons,     1886 — 35, mostly women.
Baptized            1884 — 12 children,    1886 —  9, namely 6 in-
                    fants, 2 girls aged 13 and 14, 1 youth aged 19.
Number of communicant members 1884 — 4, 1886 — 9.

Accordingly, as far as the success of the mission is brought to view in figures,
the state of this station in the last two years has remained approximately
the same. No progress is to be recorded, nor exactly any
retrogression. One Negro has in this time fallen blessedly asleep in the faith and confession
of his Savior. A number of Negroes wish from the heart
the continuation of our mission among them. The difficult, not to
say hopeless, aspect of this station, however, lies in the fact that most