The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1914, Page 91

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

Some one has truly said: Too many Christians
have only been playing at missions, instead of work-
ing at missions as the main business of their lives.
Paul calls himself a debtor of the Jews and bar-
barians; he explicitly says that he owes them the
Jospel. And so do you. If you are truly grateful
for your own salvation through the Gospel; if you
really want to obey Christ, who has commanded us
to preach the Gospel to every creature; if you
actually have compassion for your fellow-men, who
would be forever lost without the Gospel; and if
you are really convinced that the Gospel is the only
remedy able to cure all the spiritual ailments of
your fellow-men, — then you must also be convicted
of the debt you owe them, and you cannot but be
ready and willing to discharge it.

In Paul the conviction that he was a debtor to
irecks and barbarians was immediately followed by
the resolution to discharge this debt, for he says,
“So much as in me is, I am ready to preach the
Gospel.” May it be so with us, too! May the con-
viction of the debt we owe go hand in hand with
the earnest desire’ to meet it. Then there will be
no lack of missionaries, no lack of prayers, and no
lack of money. F. J. L.

+2 _____

Immanuel Lutheran Chapel.

That is the name of a new plant which has
sprung up in our mission field in the North. ‘This
mission is located at 1524 Bergen St., Brooklyn,
N. Y., where service is held every Sunday morning
at eleven o’clock.

his mission had its beginning in the home of.
Mrs. Henry Plunkett, 1402 Bergen St., a former
member of Grace Congregation at Concord, N. C.
The parlor of Mrs. Plunkett was used as a preach-
ing-place from June to October, 1912. After the
rough weather had set in, it was quite inconvenient
to hold services in one’s parlor, and, having no
other place, it was found necessary to close this
preaching-place, at least temporarily.

After about a year and a half, during which
time your missionary kept in touch with this field,
‘another attempt was made to establish a permanent
mission in Brooklyn. ‘The first difficulty to be
faced was, Where should we locate in’ a city of the
size of Brooklyn? And the next question was how
to secure a proper. mission hall at a reasonable rate.
After many disappointments these and many other
minor difficulties were overcome. A store-room at

91

93 Utica Ave. was rented, a few camp-chairs and a.
small table were placed there, and with a supply
of hymn-books, lent by Pastor Von Schlichten’s
congregation of Yonkers, and your missionary’s
hand Bible the place was now equipped for work.

Sunday, July 19, 1914, dates the opening of
this mission hall. ‘Two services were held. In the
afternoon service 9 people were present, and 28 at-
tended in the evening. After two and a half months
in this place we have been able to secure a more
comfortable place, with cheaper rent, at 1524 Ber-
gen St., where we hope to remain for some time.

At the close of the Reformation service, which
was held on Sunday evening, November 1, a meet-
ing was held for the purpose of selecting a name for
this mission. Several members of Bethany Congre-
gation, of Yonkers, had accepted the invitation to
be present in this meeting. From six names sug-
gested the name Immanuel Lutheran Chapel was
selected. —

In Caldwell, N. J., a preaching-place has been
opened. ‘Through the direction of our Field Secre-
tary, the Rev. N. J. Bakke, your missionary got in
touch with Miss Sadie Mitchell, an ex-student of
Immanuel College, Greensboro, N. C. After a few
visits to the place a service was arranged. Here,
too, we found a friend who was willing to open her

house to us, in the person of Mrs. Arthur Berry.
On Sunday evening.
:this place to hear the Word of God. Another ser-
‘vide was held. on Thursday evening, October 29,
‘at which we had an attendance of 12. In the future,

, October 18, 15 assembled at

God willing, we shall hold services in the home of
Mrs. Berry once a month.

Caldwell is a place inhabited edt by rich
business men of New York City. But in and

’ around this village is a colored population of about

75 people, 3 of whom are Lutherans who were
members of our congregations in the South. There .
is no colored church in Caldwell.

May God, who has begun His work in these new
fields, continue it until the day of His coming.
~ Sunday, November 1, was Rally Day in Bethany
Congregation, Yonkers, N. Y. Armed with copies
of The Lutheran Messenger, our little advertising
medium, the members had gone forth to herald the
coming of the Reformation festival. And their
labors were not in vain, for a good crowd, quite a
number of whom had never visited our church be-
fore, assembled in the service at 4 P. x£., and listened
attentively to a discourse showing how the Word
of God was graciously restored to the Christian