Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1950, Page 80

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80 Proceedings of the Forty-First Convention,

out into every sector of the people— counting in its membership
some half dozen who have not gone beyond the third grade in
formal education, and another dozen who have had college training.

Oklahoma City and Tulsa offer more in the way of a more
secure economic future for a church than does Muskogee, because
the wage scale in Muskogee is far lower. Nevertheless, the Mus-
kogee group has revealed itself to be a loyal and consecrated
people. Just five years ago they were subsidized almost entirely,
paying only $7.50 towards the pastor’s salary and meeting small
current expenses. Today this group is paying $100 towards the
pastor’s salary and defraying all the expenses involved in carrying
out the church’s program, keeping up with larger upkeep costs
in their new church, and paying all the expenses that go with
conducting their one-room school except the teacher’s salary. In
1949 the group raised $2,489 for home purposes and sent $199 for
the Church’s work elsewhere. And though several of the members
are pensioners and several others are still students and Muskogee’s
wage scale is low, the average gift per communicant was just a few
cents under $40 for the year.

NEGRO MISSION WORK IN THE CENTRAL DISTRICT
By the Rev. W. C. Birkner, Secretary of Missions and Stewardship

The close association between the Missionary Board of the
Synodical Conference and the Central District Mission Board
dates back to December 19, 1946, when Pastor Karl Kurth, Execu-
tive Secretary of the Missionary Board, appeared before the Central
District Mission Board to carry out the resolution of the 1946 con-
vention of the Synodical Conference, namely. to request that the -
District Home Mission Board “guide, direct, and supervise all
Negro missions of the respective District, encourage pastors and
congregations to greater zeal and closer co-operation, and study
mission opportunities within the District.” The proposal was found
acceptable by the Central District group after it had been informed
that no financial commitments were involved.

Subsequently the tentative agreement “to supervise” received
official approval by the Central District convention of 1948. It was
recognized that the argument of the Missionary Board was sound.
“More personal guidance can be granted its congregations if repre-
sentatives of the District Mission Boards are in charge than if the.
Executive Secretary of the Missionary Board attempted to cover
the entire territory of the United States himself, Congregations
of the Missionary Board are located as far apart as Louisiana,
California, Michigan, and New York. A request for financial sup-
port is not being made of the Central District at the present time,
but it may be taken for granted that this type of assistance would
be gratefully received even today, and it is conceivable that finan-
cial support may constitute a definite plea at some future time.”
(Proceedings, Central District, 1948, pages 76—77.)

Following the policy indicated by Synod at its 1947 convention,
three of the pastors and. congregations now subsidized by the
Synodical Conference made application for membership in Synod
at the Central District conventions in 1948 and 1949 and were duly
received, with the approval of the Missionary Board. It is antici-
pated that others will take similar action in the future.