The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1906, Page 45

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

45

St. Paul’s Church and School.

Our pictures present the church and the school
of our Colored Lutheran St. Paul’s congregation
in New Orleans. This congregation, as our readers
were already informed, recently celebrated with
great joy the twenty-fifth anniversary of its organi-
zation. It is reported by the missionary that espe-
cially at this station the Christian day school proved
a very important and blessed missionary agency,
St. Paul’s congregation being, “in the majority of
its members, an outgrowth of the school connected
with it.’ Others also have recognized the blessed
work done by our parochial schools in our colored
mission field. Some years ago a pastor, who is not
a member of the Synodical Conference, wrote:

While I was pastor in , the population in
the neighborhood of our church was about half
white and half black. The appearance of most of
the negroes was not very prepossessing. However,
just opposite from our schoolhouse and next door to
one of our own families there lived a negro family
that presented a pleasing contrast to many others.
The family had but lately moved there and soon
attracted our attention, more particularly that of
my wife, who was a frequent visitor with our lady
next door. We noticed that while they had a large

Colored Lutheran St. Paul’s Church in New Orleans.

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Colored Lutheran St. Paul’s School in New Orleans.

family of children, these were always cleanly and
neatly dressed when on the street, and were genial
and well-behaved. We also observed that one of
their boys was named Luther. Finding that the
girls worked out, we employed one of them, a girl
of perhaps fifteen, to help out, and found her a
very neat, cleanly and capable help. We found
also that this same girl, who was not ashamed to
do menial work in odd hours, was a bright student
in the Southern University. But the girl seemed
yery modest and in no way puffed up on account
of being a student.

One day as I passed on the side opposite their
house, I heard several of the children sing, “Com-
mit thy way confiding,” in a most touching manner.
Our interest was aroused as to this family. Finally
the wife and mother became ill, and then we learned

. that she was visited by no other than her pastor,

Rev. , of the Missouri Lutheran Negro Mission.
There the people were members, and there the chil-
dren attended the parochial school. ‘ And this re-
mains as an indelible impression of what can be’
done by negro mission work right down in darkest
New Orleans, especially by Lutheran work with a
good parochial school in connection. Would that
there were thousands and tens of thousands of such
mission schools and churches !

To serve God is to praise Him. — Luther.