The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1916, Page 76

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16

The Lutheran Pioneer.

not fall, but grew mightily. We should seek to
follow Paul’s method to-day as far as possible.
A self-propagating, self-supporting Colored Lu-
theran Church should be our aim; for this essen-
tial aim of missionary effort we should work and
pray. May other congregations soon follow Grace
Church of Concord! F. J. L. ©

Another Letter from Concord.

Concord, N. C., September 6, 1916.

Dear BRETHREN IN FartTH: —

As I promised you when last I wrote you that
I would write another letter, I will not disappoint
you, but keep my word. I would have written
sooner, but as I was attending a conference of
some of our missionaries and laymen, I was pre-
vented from doing so.

I presume all of you read my last letter. What
did you think of the idea about starting a Church
Extension Fund for our Colored Lutheran Church?
If you thought it all right, what have you done to
put it into effect? Have you talked the matter
over, first, with yourself? What are you going
te do? Candidly now, unless you have yourself
agreed to help celebrate the four-hundredth birth-
- day of your dear Lutheran Church in an appro-
priate way according to the idea I wrote you about,
I have no hope of your inspiring others to assist
in gathering a fund by 1917. So, then, what have
you been doing to start the ball a-rolling? Have
you brought the matter to the attention of your
pastor and fellow church-member? If so, what are
they doing? Nothing? Then bring the matter up
again.. We cannot afford to let this opportunity to
create a fund for the extension of our Colored Lu-
theran Church pass by without doing at least some-
thing. The Church is depending upon us to do
our part in this great work. I am thinking es-
pecially here of the laymen of the Church. There
needs be a great awakening among them. More
activity is needed among the members. The pastor
and teacher cannot do all. They are but our
leaders; without our cooperation their hands are
tied. I do wish we laymen could some time get
together, and discuss the needs of our Church, and
devise ways and means to meet these great needs.
It would, I believe, help much in the creating of
this fund if we really understood the great neces-
sity for such a fund. It will undoubtedly be quite
a while before we can all meet, but you members

in each congregation could get together, and among
yourselves discuss the plan of gathering a Church
Extension Fund, and then you could surprise your
pastor by telling him that you are going to ask
him to arrange for a special service for such and
such a date, on which occasion you have agreed to
hear an address on the Reformation, and that at
the same time you expect to raise a special collec-
tion for our Church Extension Fund. Now, do
not wait with this. Start right now. Let us see
what we can do with the Lord’s help.

Before I conclude, I would like to impress the
fact upon your minds that something can be done
toward establishing such a fund, and that we are
going to try to do our share. Then, probably, some
of our friends, whom the Lord has given large pos-
sessions, after seeing that we are helping ourselves,
will thank God for this spirit in us by contributing ;
a gift toward this fund. But let us make the start.
Send all your collections gathered for this cause
to the treasurer of our Board, and mark them

- “Church Extension Fund.”

And now I commend you to the Father of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May He through
His Holy Spirit make you willing to lend a helping
hand in this movement, so that with your efforts
and cooperation you may make the Reformation
a blessing to some who are waiting for help from
out of Zion, and for whose soul’s salvation you are
responsible. Let us be up and doing; not a few,
but all; not little, but much.

_ With a prayer that the good Lord would in this
matter also help and direct us, and give His bless-
ing, I remain, with cordial greetings,

Your Fellow-Lutheran,
N. N.

Meeting of Immanuel Conference.

On Sunday, August 13, the workers of our
eastern mission-field met in convention at Meher-
rin, Va., the host being our Colored St. Matthew’s
Congregation, of which Rev. E. H. Polzin is pastor.

The Conference was opened with a service
held on Sunday morning, in which Pastor Polzin
preached the sermon, basing his discourse on Rev.
3, 11. Pastor John McDavid, of Charlotte, N. C.,
was to have preached in this opening service, but
was stricken with illness upon his arrival, and could
not attend the meetings of the Conference till the
last day. In the afternoon another service was”
held, in which Pastor 0. Richert, of Wilmington,