# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1926_S16
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

16 Proceedings of the thirtieth convention

the children of the Missouri Synod in Oregon, Washington and North
Dakota collected $1,036.48. The Board has been advised
to use the present building (church and school under one roof)
exclusively for school purposes and to build a new church somewhat
farther into the city. That would cost about $10,000.
For school purposes the present building is ideally situated. — At Greer,
eighteen miles west of Spartanburg, the young station
was closed in the year 1925.

The Alabama Field.

In the Black Belt of Alabama lies our youngest, but most
promising and largest field. The work was begun here only in
January 1916. Superintendent Georg A. Schmidt says in
his report:

"This year the Alabama field celebrates its tenth birthday.
The field observed this tenth anniversary of the preaching of the pure
Gospel in a fitting manner at Eastertime. The festival offering
yielded a sum of more than $700. With this money and the $300
that is still to be added, a church and school are to be built
for the young sister congregation at Camden in Wilcox County.
The number of Negroes who attended the festival gatherings
is estimated at more than 5,000.

"The astonishing growth of our Lutheran Negro church in
this mission field is probably without parallel in the history of our Lutheran
missions. And when one considers that this growth occurred
in spite of bitter opposition in many places, in spite of the general ignorance
of the people and the like, one has here a clear proof
of the truth of the psalm words: 'This is the LORD's doing, and
it is marvellous in our eyes!'

"Today, after only ten years, we have here 23 organized
congregations as well as 3 preaching places and 1 higher institution for the training
of women teachers in the city of Selma. In the Alabama field
there work 28 coloured women teachers, 10 coloured male teachers, 6 coloured pastors,
1 white teacher (assistant to the superintendent) and 4 white pastors,
in all 49 workers. These serve 1,687 souls (increase: 428).
Of these 954 are confirmed members and 233 voting
members. The mission schools are attended by about 1,500
pupils.

"The number of communicants in the first half of the
present year was exactly 2,000. That means, then, that each confirmed
member in six months has come on average twice to the table of the
LORD.

"Who could measure the blessing that pours out over the spiritually and
otherwise bankrupt plantations of the South, where the wretched
Negro huts stand and where our Lutheran church labours among young and
old? And the work is far from finished. Touching
pleas: 'Come over and help us!' constantly reach our
ear. We must, however, often answer: 'We cannot come to
you; we do not have enough workers. You must wait.'

"The possibilities for our coloured Lutheran church to expand
are limited only by the number of men and other means.
We have in these ten years only touched the surface of the soil
in Alabama a little. In Florida, too, in Georgia, in Mississippi,
tens of thousands cry silently in their misery: 'Come over
and help us!'