The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1917, Page 84

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84 The Lutheran Pioneer.

Has the Lutheran Church had a part in this on-
ward march of the black man? Has she contributed
toward this growth? We helieve we have a right to
answer this in the affirmative, even though we are
challenged by some, who claim that we have done
nothing. That the Negro owes, in a measure at least,
his progress to the Lutheran Church is due to the
fact that the Lutheran Church has something to offer
the Negro which is absolutely necessary for progress.
And furthermore, we think the Lutheran Church has
made an effort to give her possessioys to the Colored
people. It is true, she has confined her activity to
the establishment of churches, Christian day-schools,
and two higher schools of learning, but still we
maintain that this all has been a contribution to
the advancement of the race, both spiritually and
temporally. Go to any community where there is
a Lutheran church for the Colored, and we assure
you that you will find there a leaven that leaveneth
the whole lump. Wherever the Lutheran Church
has been planted, she has made herself felt as a
force unto good. She has always stood for intel-
ligence both in the pulpit and in the pew. And she
has carried these aims out now for forty years, and
her efforts have not been in vain. We believe, more-
over, that her responsibility is not over, but has just
begun. As the Negro advances and grows, the more
responsibility does she have toward the man from
Hthiopia.

If we realize that, to save them, we must pursue
courses that are perhaps novel, but still purely legiti-
mate, then let us do that. By novel ways we mean
methods that are fully in accordance with the Word
of God, but which have hitherto not seemed to us
to be necessary to employ in the prosecution of our
work among the Colored, and which, if introduced,
would perhaps be novel in the estimation of some
of us. Let us, once and for all times, come to the
realization that we are dealing with Colored people,
and also, that the Colored people of to-day are not
the Colored people of forty years ago, when we
inaugurated our blessed work among them. In
working among Negroes we are confronted with

_ problems different from those to be solved when
working among white people, because of the dif-
ferent conditions. Necessarily, if the conditions are

- different; the application to meet the needs must be

different. Some may believe this if we call atten-
tion to some methods employed by our missionaries

in India. Our missionaries there preach in the vil-

lage streets. Why? Evidently because they find it
necessary to do so if they wish to reach the masses

with their message of salvation. They would not
do the same thing among the whites in the United
States. Certainly not, but because in India they
are dealing with a different people and with people
living under conditions entirely different from those
prevalent here, they make use of the village street
to reach people whom they would not be able to
tell the sweet Gospel-story otherwise, We admit,
this seems to us to be a little different from our
accustomed Lutheran *practise, and yet we do not
believe that any of us condemn such action of our
missionaries in far-away India. ;

But let us come back to America and the Negro.
To reach the masses of Negro people we must study
their particular needs, and accommodate ourselves
to the conditions in which we find them, even
though this seem novel to us. Such novel way
would be industrial training in our higher schools
as a part of the course offered. We do not hesitate
to say that the introduction of such a plan in our
educational system would not only be a step forward,
but at the same time it would bring more students
to our institutions, and in consequ:nce we would
reach more people and get more people into our
churches.

To meet an argument which will be advanced
against such an innovation, we would again call
attention to the fact that the Negro helongs to a
rising race. ‘l'o advance they must aceds be pro-
ducers of wealth. The Negroes theiuselves realize
that this will not come without work. and to be
able to get anything for their work their hands must
be trained as well as their mind. And when the
Colored man feels that he will get returns for the
money he invests in education, he will take advan-
tage of the opportunity to get such an education.
As we stated above, this would give us a larger

student-body, which, in turn, would enable us to

graduate more young men as ministers for our
Church. Then, too, a larger student-body would
mean a larger influence. We may think this un-
necessary, or too expensive, yes, sotne of us may
think this un-Lutheran, but we wil) have to make
these arrangements if we expect to reach more people
and gain more Negroes for the Lutheran Church.
This we may call one novelty.

Another novelty would be for an interested and
competent layman to make a tour of the South and
visit our institutions and principal mission-stations.
This, of course, would have to have the sanction of
the Mission Board. This man coulé see the work
that is being done, could see the work that ought