# The Lutheran Pioneer_St. Louis_1925_S167 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) THE LUTHERAN PIONEER. Surely we Lutherans cannot thank God sufii- ciently for the gift of these buildings in Selma. For we know that in them His Word will be taught in all its truth and purity. May He bless this our institution, and cause it to prosper to His glory! W. F. Carson. Harvest Home and Mission Festivals in North Carolina. August, September, and October are the prin- cipal months for Harvest Home and mission- festivals in our Colored Missions of North Caro- lina. The writer attended a number of such festivals this year and was impressed with the fact that circumstances change in the course of years. When he arrived at Concord more than twenty-five years ago, such a festival was of more than strictly local interest. It meant the gathering of colored Lutherans from several counties. On that particu- lar Sunday no services were held in neighboring congregations because pastors and people attended the festival of the sister congregation. They went over rough roads in buggies or wagons drawn by horses or mules. gathering of Lutherans than they would see at any other occasion, except probably at the dedication of a@ new church. The church was decorated with fruits of the field, which still is the custom. The writer is not likely to’ forget the surprise he got one day when he went to see how the work of the committee on decorations was progressing — his church had been converted into a corn-field. At ‘either end of the pews and wherever it could be done, corn-stalks had been set up or fastened to the woodwork. This is not written to encourage imita- tion. A corn-field is not a cool place, nor does quietness obtain when a gentle breeze is blowing through it. There is also more or less confusion when people are at a loss to find the entrance to the pews. Experience has shown that it is better to confine samples of the harvest to spots where they can be seen without interfering with the move- ments of the worshipers. mission-festival in those days called for an article in the PIonEER. ~ Now imules and horses have given way to auto- mobiles; and there are’ hard-surface or -sand-clay roads, but the festival no longer brings so many congregations together since the festival has become Strangers were naturally attracted. to the’ services, but the preachers faced a larger — “A Harvest Home and. 167 more of a local affair. Some Lutherans who could formerly manage to get over the bad roads in their own or a neighbor’s conveyance cannot afford to be Tunning about in automobiles. Farm wagons are still used in North Carolina, but it would doubtless be a strange sight now to see a team of mules, hitched to a wagon, standing on the asphalt pave- ment in front of our Concord church on some Sunday. The main reason, however, for the difference between now and then is naturally to’be found in the greater number of such festivals. Our Concord congregation now has eleven sister congregations within a radius of twenty-five miles and therefore could not think of dropping services every time one of the others has a festival. Now pastors have to face the problem how to accept invitations to preach elsewhere without loss of service and collection at home. If they refuse all requests, they cannot ex- pect others to accept their invitations. The auto- mobile, however, permits some wonderful trading to be done with respect to exchange of pulpits, and very likely it would be confusing to read, for in- stance, an account of how three congregations cele- brating on the same Sunday heard sermons preached by different pastors. But why let more than one congregation have special services on the same Sunday? The Harvest Home festival ought to be held some time within the harvest season. As it is, some congregations must have their celebration either rather early or rather late in the season in order to ‘be able to secure other preachers for that day. It is now nothing unusual for the pastor of the congregation celebrating its Harvest Home festival to deliver one of the festival sermons himself. It is with a tinge of regret that the writer realizes that the Harvest Home and mission-festi- vals are no longer what they used to be, gatherings of congregations and ministers; they have become too numerous. Doubtless the change is for the better considering the number of strangers that hear Lutheran sermons and the amount of money raised in the field. But a Harvest Home and mission-festival no longer seems to be an event call- ing for an article in the Pioneer. The editor would be overwhelmed if each celebration were to be described. It is worthy of mention, however, that the great drought of this summer and fall did not diminish the number of festivals; the people still felt that they had abundant reason to be thank- ful and to praise the Lord. : J. P. SMire.