Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1958, Page 72

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72 Proceedings of the Forty-fifth Convention

Pastor Kramer, during his declining years, served Concordia 4
Congregation together with all the other work which fell upon him a
as superintendent of the Field. Concordia is now being served by,
Pastor Theodore Cooper of Bethlehem Congregation until Con- 4
cordia will be taken care of by a theological student from our 4
Springfield seminary during the next year. :

St. Paul’s, New Orleans, La.

We have already stated in our report of the Southern Field “
that much of the increase we are able to report at this time for 3
this congregation has come through the faithful work of our ¥
teachers. Of the 102 people that have been gained during the past 3
2 years 33 have been gained through our day and Sunday school, 4
by Baptism. BS:

During this past school term we have found almost one third 3
of the children attending our day school to be unbaptized. 3
Although we have not received permission to baptize 16 children,
yet permission from their parents was received for the 33 children
who are now our members.

It has been a great pleasure for us to give these children spe-
cial instruction concerning Baptism before their day of Baptism,
and it was a pleasure to see the great joy in which the children
came for this heavenly washing or were brought to it by their
parents. This took place on the Day of Pentecost.

The gain of these 33 children has shown to us that our school
can feed the church also. Although we have had some gain through
the school through the years, we have never had such a large gain
at one time as on this occasion.

The attendance of many of our members at our services and
at the Lord’s Table also brings great joy to us, though there are
some members who bring heaviness to our heart by their absence.
Through the year almost half of our 500 confirmed members, who
are at home, come to our services regularly. These also contribute
nicely. During the past year these, together with the rest, have
contributed more than $11,000. — The school’s tuition, which helped
the congregation to maintain its school, came up to more than
$5,500 during the past year. Yet we need much more than church
and school are presently bringing together. Our workers’ salaries
are below standard and need adjustment, and our buildings need
repairs and paint. Financially we have just managed to come
through each month without going in the red. And now that our
working men seem to get a little more work, we thank God for
this. This will ease our financial responsibilities. When our people
receive, they also give; and they give with a willing heart. May
God give work to all of them, so that they in turn may be able
to give more to the church.

St. Paul’s now numbers 1,062 baptized members, 586 commu-
nicant members, and 47 voting members. We have had an enroll-
ment of 160 children in our day school during the past school term,
and 175 children are enrolled in our Sunday school. Four teachers
have taught the day school and 10 teachers are teaching the Sun-
day school.

This congregation is entirely self-supporting.

E. H. Witpcruse