# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1930_S49
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

of the Ev. Luth. Synodical Conference of North America. 1930. 49

congregation holds its services in the school of the congregation of P. Katt,
so far free of charge, which is quite worthy of thanks. Since June of this year
the mission congregation pays $10 a month for rent.

9. Cincinnati, O. Founded 1922. Missionary: Omar F. J. Rau. Souls: 49.
Increase: 10. The building in which church and school are held belongs to the
Lutheran Church Federation in Cincinnati.

10. Buffalo, N. Y. Founded 1926 by city missionary H. F. Wind. Missionary:
E. R. Pflug, who also works in the city mission. Souls: 40. Increase: 25. A
chapel is an urgent need. As the white Lutherans in Chicago, Cincinnati and
St. Louis have helped the mission congregations there to a church, so, it is to
be hoped, will the dear fellow Christians in and near Buffalo do.

11. Los Angeles, Cal. Founded 1919 by the PP. J. W. Theiss and Walter Tröger.
Missionary: John McDavid. Souls: 95. Increase: 20. Property: church. P.
McDavid works in three public institutions.

12. Oakland, Cal. Founded 1926. Missionary: John McDavid. Since June 1929
Prof. Otto Theiss has conducted the service on three Sundays a month. P.
McDavid reports about his assistant: "He is not only a capable man but also
a zealous missionary." Souls: 23. Increase: 3. The services are held in a lodge
hall.

The numerical strength of the four mission fields is as follows: 11 independent
congregations and one preaching station with 963 souls, or baptized members,
who are under the pastoral care of our missionaries; 8 congregations in
Louisiana with 1,657 souls; 28 congregations and preaching stations in the
Southeastern field with 1,743 souls; 32 congregations and preaching stations
in Alabama with 2,567 souls. Total: 6,930 souls.

Again Three Remarkable Records.

The increase of about 17½ percent in the number of souls in this biennium is
remarkable in itself. Moreover, there are further proofs of divine grace, which
give us cause for joy and thanksgiving. The first record is

The Remarkably Low Death Rate in Our Mission.

We repeat what we have said before: Many people who hear of our mission work
among the Negroes here can form no idea of the change that takes place in and
upon those blacks who accept God's Word and Luther's doctrine from the heart.
The Apostle Paul writes: "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature." That
applies also to our Lutheran Negro. Heart, mind, courage and thoughts, words
and works have become different. That is one reason why the death rate in our
mission is so strikingly different from the general death rate of the Negro
population here. According to the latest report available to us from our
national government, eighteen out of every thousand Negroes die each year. In
our Lutheran Negro church, on the other hand, only about nine out of every
thousand died last year. That is an astonishingly low figure. Here we have,
then, a tangible proof that our Lutheran Negroes lead an entirely different life
from the rest of their racial fellows.