# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1904_S63
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

of the Ev. Luth. Synodical Conference of North America. 1904. 63

made the baptismal covenant and 14 renewed it. May the LORD keep them steadfast in the right faith to the end! Six have during this time, as we confidently hope, attained the end of their faith and now behold him who drew them to himself out of great love. 358 guests came to the table of the LORD and were thereby enabled to be certain of the forgiveness of their sins, to strengthen their faith, to comfort their conscience and so to receive strength for a new life. The services were attended on average by 45 hearers and the Sunday school by 42 pupils. In the weekday school we had mostly about 30 children; the average attendance was 18 — also proof that, owing to the absence of father or mother, there was a great lack of domestic order. In this time 7 little children of our German mission congregation here were also baptized by me." This congregation now numbers about 140 souls and can become of great blessing to our Negro Mission through its confession of the pure doctrine.

Springfield, Ill. The Negro candidate L. Thalley took up his office here a year and a half ago. At his side stands our colored teacher McDavitt. The mission has made no progress outwardly in the last two years. There is, however, a number who regularly attend the services and partake of the Holy Supper. The number of souls is 57; of these 39 are communicant and 11 voting members. The services are attended on average by 29 adults and 17 children. Inwardly the congregation has grown. Brotherly reproof, church discipline etc. is practiced. Two members on whom church discipline had to be exercised have returned penitent and have been received again by the congregation. The members are poor in earthly goods — they are day laborers. Nevertheless they have paid their contributions regularly and covered the current expenses. Hope of increase is otherwise slight, but just now 3 adults have had themselves registered for admission.

In the school Teacher McDavitt works also under great difficulties. For in Springfield the same schools are open to the Negro children as the white children attend. They are naturally proud of this, and our Negro mission school must suffer under it. In the congregation itself there are few children of school age. The school is attended on average by 20 children. Teacher McDavitt is to be transferred shortly to North Carolina, and the school will then be taken over by the missionary there. This congregation also experiences the blessing of a Christian congregational school. Only recently Missionary Thalley buried a young woman from the congregation who in her childhood years had attended our Lutheran congregational school. When she then lay seriously ill, her parents and others tried to persuade her to join the Methodist church. But their art of persuasion was in vain: she held fast to what she had learned in the school from God's Word, asked the missionary for still more instruction from the Scripture, and died blessed in the LORD.