The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1889, Page 26

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26

The Lutheran Pioneer.

A Beautiful Church.

That is a beautiful church which you see in
our picture. It is the Colored Lutheran church
in Springfield, Ill.

It is a substantial frame building, in the
Gothic style, 45X30 feet, with seating capacity
for 200 people. The tower is 70 feet high and
has a large bell, a present of Mr. H Stuckstede
in St. Louis. The front
entrance is reached by
massive stone steps of
easy ascent. The inside
finish, though modest,
is very chaste and at-
tractive. The heating
is by apparatus in the
basement. There isa
large schoolroom con-
nected with thechurch,

short time the friends of missions had con-
tributed about $25,000, for which the ship
“Camden’’ was bought. In it Williams, to-
gether with six other missionaries, sailed to
their island missions. In a few years, how-
ever, the ship, proving to be too small, had to
be sold. Then an appeal was made, in 1844,
to the children of England, asking them to put
together the contents of their savings banks

in which 100 pupils can

liams.’’ Several girls of London presented a
flag, on which they had stitched 2 dove with
an olive twig in its bill; others sewed and la-
bored for the outfit of the ship; and on June 5.
the stately vessel set sail from London, midst
the joy and tears of thousands of children, for
the islands of the sea. For twenty years the
ship rendered faithful service. It had encoun-
tered many a storm, but had been preserved in
every danger. Sud-
denly, on May 17,
1864, the ship struck
a crag off the island
Horden and, _ three
minutes after the pas-
sengers and crew had
taken to the boats and
thus escaped, she sank
with all her freight
into the deep.

be comfortably seated.

The church was ded-

icated to the cervice of

the Triune God with

Both in England and

of the islands there
was great grief when
they received the sad

news. At the same

appropriate serviceson

February 24th. The
congregation is in a
prosperous condition.
Since the dedication
of the church several
members have been
added to its member-
ship by confirmation;
others are still attend-
ing the preparatory in-
structions given by the
pastor, Rev. H.S. Kna-
benschuh. The aver-
age attendance at di-
vine services is 90
grown persons. The
day school numbers 40,
and the Sunday school
60 pupils.

We have called this
church a beautiful
church. And 50 it is.
Yes, it is a beautiful
church. But thatwhich
gives this church its
true beauty is the
preaching of the pure
Gospel to the salvation
of sinners. May the preaching of this Gospel
bring many of our colored people at Springfield
to the knowledge of their Saviour and to the
eternal joys of heaven in the beautiful city
of God.

———+- 41 0-0

What Children can do for Missions.

_ In 1838 John Williams, the pioneer mis-
sionary to the South Sea Islands, returned to
_ England with the view of raising enough money
to buy a missionary ship, s0 as to carry on the
work more successfully in Polynesia. In a

time, however, the

news was brought to

Colored Lutheran Church at Springfield, Ill.

aod buy a new missionary ship. This looked
like a large undertaking, but it was not too
large for children who had been used to save
their pennies and give them for missions and
the poor. The idea of buying a missionary
ship spread like wild fire through cities and
villages, through schools and houses. ‘The en-
thusiasm was catching. ‘The fire of zeal flew
from heart to heart, from hand tohand. From
every quarter the mites of the children were
sent. In Jess than four months about $82,000
bad been received. A beautiful, new ship was
bought and received the name ‘John Wil-

England that the
Christian children of
the South Sea were
~gathering contribu-
tions for a new ship.
Under the spur of

this encouragement
another appeal was
made to the children
of England, and not
in vain. For on Jan-
uary 4, 1866, the sec-
ond ‘‘John Williams”

and entered upon its
mission of mercy
among the islands of
the deep.
Title Missionary.

The Story of a Bible.

Not long since, an
old, worn and tattered
Bible, in a foreign lan-
guage, was sent as a gift to the British and
Foreign Bible Society. On the flyleaf of it
was this inscription:

“This Bible, unassuming and plain in its
appearance, and tattered and worn as to its
condition, has been the instrument of pointing
out the way of ralvation to a whole generation
of faithful children to God. Forty-six adults
have been added to the Protestant Church as
the result of reading this book. A number at
least equally great, who did not secede out-
wardly from the Romish Church, learnt, through

its teaching, saving faith in a crucified Saviour, .

and died a blessed death, relying only on the
grace of God in Christ.’’

among the Christians °

sailed from London .