Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1950, Page 83

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

L

Ev. Luth. Synodical Conference of North America. 1950 83

was the calling of Student Ernest Mueller. The mission was for-
mally opened in the parish hall of St. Peter’s Congregation on
September 5, 1926, with about 40 Negroes and 160 whites in
attendance. Student Mueller was replaced by another student at
the end of the year. In 1928 Candidate Mueller was called as resi-
dent pastor, serving ably and faithfully for 18 years.

Another milestone in the history of St. Philip’s was the pur-
chase of St. Peter’s edifice in 1938 for the small sum of $18,000.
The congregation raised $2,000. The larger part of the financial
burden was borne by the District Mission Board and the Lutheran
churches of Cleveland. For this the Negro Lutheran Christians
are grateful to Almighty God and to their fellow Lutherans of
another race. The Rev. E. G. Mueller followed a call to Ayton,
Ontario, Canada, in 1945, and was succeeded by the present in-
cumbent. The congregation now numbers 432 souls and 260 com-
municants.

The physical properties of the congregation consist of a brick
church building seating approximately 1,300, a frame parsonage,
and a piece of ground 10070. The total value approximates
$155,000. ,

Cleveland’s Negro population continues to grow and was esti-
mated at 113,000 in 1949. Many coming from our Lutheran
churches in the South are lost to us because of lack of workers.
Our one great need at this time, we believe, is another experienced
Negro worker. It is no secret that our work requires not only
the regular duties of a pastor, but well-planned community pro-
grams, social activities, supervision of youth guidance groups, and
much “case work.” These activities are making ever greater de-
mands on the pastor’s time. We attempt to cover the territory
from Lorain on the west to Chagrin Falls on the east, and from
Akron on the south to Lake Erie on the north, but we know our
efforts are inadequate.

The possibilities for our Lutheran Church among the Negroes
of Cleveland are very promising. There are members within our
congregation who could very easily form the nuclei of two -addi-
tional congregations. In the area known as the 105th Street District
we have some thirty families, involving seventy-seven members,
In the Miles Heights District (where we have attempted to do work,
but were unable to secure a place of worship) there are twelve
families, involving twenty-five members. “Truly the harvest is
plenteous, but the laborers are few.” It is our ardent prayer and
hope that our God’s choicest blessings may rest upon our Christian
leaders in Lutheran Zion everywhere, for greater activities in the
proclamation of the Gospel “to every creature.”

Neighborhood Lutheran Mission, Fort Wayne, Ind.
The Rev. William L. Hofius, Pastor

In the year 1945 the writer of these lines, city and institutional
missionary of Fort Wayne, wrote to the acting Executive Secretary
of the Mission Board of the Synodical Conference for Colored
Missions, the Rev. Edmund L. Wilson, concerning the possibility
of starting Negro mission work in the city of Fort Wayne. The
advice Pastor Wilson gave was that Fort Wayne should start the