# The Lutheran Pioneer_St. Louis_1884_S48 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 48 The Lutheran Pioneer. The Outlook from the Editor’s Window. —TuE present number closes the sixth vol- ume of the LurHERAN PionEER. We trust that the Master will continue to own our little PIONEER in His service also in the future. ' We tender our thanks to the many friends who have helped us in the circulation of our paper, and we earnestly ask their continued and hearty co-operation. Those who interest themselves to procure subscribers are requested to report the result of their efforts as early as possible to our agent, M. C. Barthel, Concordia Publishing _ House, St. Louis, Mo. —Accorv1nG to Brobst’s Almanac for 1885 the ‘Lutheran Church in America’’ numbers 8,708 ministers, 6,529 congregations, 871,936 communicants. —Ten years ago the Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and other States had but two congregations and six parochial schools in } Cleveland, O.; now there are 7 congregations, 2 mission stations and 21 schools connected with the Missouri Synod in that city. —On the 9th of November the Lutheran Synod of Minnesota opened a new College at New Ulm, Minn. There are good prospects for a large attendance of young students who have the ministry in view. —Anpison, Ill., the seat of our Lutheran School Teachers’ Seminary, was recently incor- porated. The city council is composed entirely of Lutherans, the Rev. Professor Brohm of the seminary being one of the city fathers. —Onz of the ablest and most prominent men in Japan, Mr. Ito Hirobumi, returned from a visit to Germany some time ago, and it is re- ported that he addressed the Mikado urging the truth and importance of Christianity. He + states that he formerly supposed that the Em- peror William and Bismarck professed to be Christians as a matter of policy, while they had no regard for it at all in their hearts. But now he says that this was a mistaken idea. He found that both were sincere Christians, and both urged him to seek this religion for his own welfare and happiness as well as that of his country. Such has been the influence of Mr. Ito’s report that the chief officers in the cabinet are becoming interested in the study of Christi- anity, and the former Court teacher of Confu- cianism is no longer opposing the Gospel, but also carefully reading the Scriptures. In a course of study recently prescribed for all the Shinto priests, the Bible and “‘Martin’s Evi- ae dences of Christianity ”’ are included. _