# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1926_S7
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

of the Ev. Luth. Synodical Conference of North America. 1926. 7

us to be able to report that we have twenty-three persons in the
congregation who, besides the Colored Lutheran, also take and read other
church periodicals of ours." — The Sunday school of the
congregation is the largest in the whole mission; at the end of March
of this year it numbered 214.

3. St. Paul's, New Orleans. (Founded 1879. Missionary:
E. H. Wildgrube,* since March 1922.) St. Paul's congregation is our
largest congregation. It currently numbers 405 souls and 235
communicant members. Missionary Wildgrube says in his report: "In
these two years we had to record the following losses: 12 by
death; 8 by exclusion; 23 by dismissal to other congregations;
3 by disappearing without trace. Total loss: 46. Nevertheless
the congregation has increased in membership. Attendance at the
services could be much better. True, there is progress to record;
but it is hardly noticeable. You may ask: 'What has the
missionary done?' He has preached Law and Gospel to the
best of his ability, has visited the people and distributed tracts. [Remark
of the reporter: We have learned through official channels
that Missionary Wildgrube, for example, visited a man who did not use Word
and Sacrament 34 times before it came to exclusion.] Our monthly congregational meetings are now better
attended than ever, and the members show great interest in the
meetings. There are usually about 15 present.
That is very good for a congregation in New Orleans, when one considers
that one of our white congregations here with 800 communicant
members has only about 15 voting members at the congregational
meetings, as I was told. — On sick calls I find
that our Lutherans are only very rarely without a prayer book. The English
"Kleine Gebetsschatz" [Little Treasury of Prayer] lies either on the table beside the bed
or under the pillow. That is a good sign. — The Negroes
are a carefree people, and they like to sing and whistle. One often hears
nonsense and old plantation songs, but sometimes beautiful
hymns as well. Our church, but especially the school, has contributed much
to spreading among them songs that in times of tribulation
are a source of comfort to them: our glorious Lutheran hymns. Once, as
I was passing an unfamiliar house, I heard someone
singing the hymn in English:

By grace shall I be saved!
Heart, do you believe it, or do you not?
Why do you want to behave so timidly?
If what the Scripture promises is truth,
Then this too must be truth:
By grace heaven is yours.

I simply could not walk on until the song was sung to the end.
It was a real delight. Another time — it was early
on a Sunday morning — I heard someone outside singing: 'A mighty
fortress is our God,' etc. I ran outside to see who
it was. It was a young man, and to my surprise he
was not a member of our St. Paul's Church. He had surely learned this Lutheran hymn of battle
and victory in one of our Lutheran churches or schools.
As this young man learned this hymn from us, so
many a child and many an adult has learned the Gospel from us,
keeps it in his heart and draws comfort from it,
although outwardly he does not belong to our church." We should like to give
more from Missionary Wildgrube's interesting report,