# The Lutheran Pioneer_St. Louis_1929_S46 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) THE LUTHERAN PIONEER. 45 Throughout the Lutheran Church of America renewed activity on the part of Lutheran church- bodies in Home Mission work is to be noted for the year 192%. The success of this Home Mission endeavor is proved by the notable increase in mem- bership, the increase in the number of congrega- tions, especially the urban centers, the metropolitan districts of New York, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, St. Paul, and similar centers. In Canada a concerted effort is being made by the various synods in order to reach the unchurched Lutherans; even the formation of a “Lutheran Church of Canada” is under consideration. The work of the United Lutheran Church in Home Missions was marked by a notable advance during the first year of the existence of the con- solidated Board of American Missions. All the work of the former five boards was advanced, and new work was inaugurated, notably among the American Indians and the Hungarian immigrants. This Board of American Missions aided the work of 509 pastors in 638 parishes, consisting of 777 con- gregations of the United Lutheran Church in America. ‘The board has outstanding church- extension and interest loans totaling more than $2,000,000. The United Lutheran churches on the Pacific Coast have been strengthened during the year. The New York Synod of the United Lutheran Church successfully established the Lutheran Builders’ As-" sociation of Metropolitan New York and started a fund for loan on church-extension and home- mission building in the metropolitan territory. The New York and the New England Synod created a fund of $100,000 for a similar purpose. The Joint Ohio Synod established a new Board of American Missions. It is thus proved that the con- sciousness of the need and responsibility for Home Mission work has at last reached the layman in the pew. : Throughout the Iowa Synod, district auxiliaries for Home Mission work have been organized, and in the Augustana Synod, Illinois Conference, $70,000 for church extension was raised. The Nor- wegian Lutheran Church reports 275 pastors giving most of their time to Home Mission work. The United Danish Church established a West Canada Board to care for Home Missions in Canada, and the Lutheran Men’s Association of Portland and Vicinity was formed during the year by men, mostly from the Danish churches, for the purpose of advancing the Lutheran Home Mission work in New England, especially Maine. The Missours Synod reports a keener realization of opportunity and responsibility due primarily to their evangelis- tic work among the churches. The Negro Mission Work of the Synodical Conference celebrated its fiftieth anniversary, or golden jubilee, in Selma, Ala., August 24 to 27, 1927. Inner Missions. Distinct advances were made by the Inner Mis- sion work of the Lutherans, both institutional and non-institutional. Under the United Lutheran Church is to be noted the establishment of the Williams-Henson Home and School for boys at Mount Olive, Knox- ville, Tenn., the erection by the congregation of Albuquerque, N. Mex., of the National Lutheran Sanitarium, a one-hundred-bed institution for tuberculars, on a 160-acre farm located at the foot of San Dia and Manzum mountains, at the edge of the city of Albuquerque. The Lutheran hospital facili- ties were increased in New York, Brooklyn, Mil- waukee, Pittsburgh, Cuero, Tex., and a $50,000 chapel was erected on the grounds of the Augustana Synod deaconess ‘home at Omaha. In the Norwegian Lutheran Church, the Department of Charities, or Inner Missions, grew during the year, extending its work in the care of orphans, old people, and the otherwise unfortunate. The Canada Synod established an Immigration Board to aid Lutheran immigrants to Canada. The Missouri Synod maintained uniform Lenten services throughout the various cities of the United States, as did groups of churches in many other general bodies. ; The Inner Missions Conference held a successful meeting at Baltimore, in 192%, and looks forward to a similar meeting in Chicago during 1929. The Associated Lutheran Charities of the Synodical Conference held their 1917 convention in Cleveland. Their statistician, M. Ilse, reported the following interesting figures covering Synodical Conference Inner Mission: work : — z E ae 3 Institutions and Societies Se] 32 3 7] 33 Bs APES |S Hospitals .........--- 32002|$3879397/$1549863 Deaconess Schools .....| 4)..-[------[e+ssseee]eeees ae Orphanages ........... 199863 Child-placing Societies. |10 138366 Educational Institutions 182474 European Institutions. . City Missions ......... Woman Auxiliaries .... Homes for the Aged... en een mo