Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1954, Page 164

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

164 Proceedings of the Forty-Third Convention,

Muskogee, Hope Lutheran Church

A_white-shingled former U.S Army chapel, attractively
located on property with three fronts on streets. That the church
is located at a-bus stop is very important, because the 10,000
Negroes in Muskogee live in outlying sections on three sides of
Muskogee.

The present building was dedicated in 1948 and represented
a much-needed improvement over the original site, located four
blocks from a bus line, but only a few feet from five railroad
tracks. This building on the old site had served as combination
church and parsonage, and its sale made the purchase of a parson-
age necessary also. An almost new stone parsonage was bought,
the original school added to the new church and remodeled, and
the parish was prepared to operate its program far more efficiently
and effectively. '

Previous pastors at Hope, started in 1937, are the Rev. Messrs.
Walter Moose, Werner Saar, Charles Wedig, and Karl E. Lutze.

Pastor at present is the Rev. Alfred Scholz, who came to
Muskogee in 1952 upon graduation from Concordia Seminary,
St. Louis. In that year 20 baptisms were recorded; in 1953 there
were 14; and it appears that in 1954 the number may be in excess
fe) .

These accessions have not been made under the easiest of cir-
cumstances, since the employment and wage situation in Muskogee
is relatively poor. This has meant that in the past three years an
estimated 2,500 Negroes have moved to areas offering better em-
ployment opportunities. In spite of this there has been growth in
this parish. At the present the congregation numbers 146 souls
and 77 communicants. The average attendance exceeds 70 per
Sunday, and on Easter this year a record of 153 were in attendance.

Teacher in Hope’s one-room, six-grade school is Miss Julia
Foard. Of the 22 children in her school, 19 are nonmembers. It is
from this group that many of the baptisms recorded have been
forthcoming. A very effective mission and educational agency in
the church is the summer vacation Bible school. Enrollment in the
past two years has been in excess of 250.

This congregation is organized and is a voting-member parish
in the Oklahoma District.

Oklahoma City, Redeemer

Though the State capital has the largest concentration of Negro
residents in Oklahoma, effective service to the Negro community
was not in our Church’s plans until 1948. But initial efforts brought
far from satisfying results. At first services were conducted in
a Seventh-Day Adventist Church in an older community. A bit
more success was realized when headquarters were moved to
newer Edwards addition, in the middle of a large residential area
of recent and current construction. But the building was a com-
mercial structure and did not afford the effective invitation to
would-be worshipers that an attractive church would.

Now in the same area, next to a park, on a boulevard, high on
a hill in green beauty, a new buff-brick house of worship done
in contemporary design stands to serve the community well. The
church enjoys a generous education area in addition to an attrac-