The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1920, Page 52

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52

The Lutheran :-Pioneer.

therans Announce for Holy Communion?” In the
Teading and discussion, the great difference be-
tween Lutheran announcements to. the pastor and
Catholic confessions to the priest was ably set forth.

Pastor John Alston gave a report of the North
Carolina field and of his own charge in Atlanta, Ga:
In this session also the fraternal delegates to the
other two conferences were elected. They are as
follows: Pastor G. M. Kramer, to the Alabama
Lutheran Conference, Pastor C. P. Thompson,
alternate; Rev. A. Wiley, to the Immanuel Con-
ference; Pastor W. Tervalon, alternate.

Sunday morning the Rev. Alston filled the pul-
pit of Bethlehem. A large chorus of children from
Bethlehem School sang in this service. ‘The clos-
ing service Sunday night formed a grand climax
to the convention. Every seat was literally jammed,
and the aisles were crowded. The-Rev. N. J. Bakke
occupied the pulpit, speaking to the great throng
upon the subject of “Loyalty to the Lutheran
Church.”

During the sessions the choirs of Mount Zion
and Bethlehem rendered anthems.

Last, but not least. At noon on both Thursday
and Friday the. ladies of Bethlehem ‘invited the
Conference toa Jong table COTS with good things
to satisfy the “inner man.” Sumptuous?
the word. No wonder, the brethren made such
fluent speeches after dinner. God bless the ladies
of Bethlehem! :

Thus the 1920 convention of Luther Conference
was brought to a close. “The grandest and most
successful ever!” that was the universal sentiment
of those who have attended our conventions in the
past.

May God continue to shower His choicest, bless-
ings upon Luther Conference! , A. WILEY.

Keep Smiling!

DEAR READER : — , ¢
In what mood are you at present 7 eloomyo or

cheerful? Cheerful, we hope:
“Smile, and the world smiles with you.” You've
heard that often, haven’t you? Well, that is just
_ what we are doing —smiling. And-we want to tell
you why in this brotherly little chat. Then, we want
you, too, to rejoice with us — to smile with us. We

want you to say: “Thank God! the good old Gospel :
message is still being proclaimed, and though it
_ often falls upon deaf ears, its sound shall never

- cease.”

‘Yes, dear reader, , we often meéet with no

That's’

response to our message. Perhaps you have the
same,experience. But we don’t stop. Do you? We
hope not. Instead, with that characteristic, true .
Lutheran spirit of unswerving determination and
“stick-to-it-iveness,” we glance backward over the
ground covered, another glance forward at the work
that lies ahead, then — forward! ‘The reward is at
the end! Quite eagerly with renewed and greater
energy, we bend our sinews to the task of extend-
ing Christ’s Kingdom — and go ahead.

Therein lies the secret of our smile, here at
St. Paul’s, dear reader. We are going ahead.  ‘T’o
deviate :

Aren’t empty pews discouraging? -Be-the ser-
mon ever so inspiring, ‘ever so edifying, hayen’t you
often noticed the feeling —a feeling of depression
— that has obsessed you as you glanced over a thin
audience? But didn’t you feel better when you saw
the crowd thickening — continually thickening —
a rusli, as it were, to hear the blessed Gospel of
Jesus Christ? Well, such has been our experience
also. We’re improving 3 greatly improving. A large
audience which, inereestors. has been an event with
us, is getting to be a habit. Ah! now you see why
we’re rejoicing, don’t you? We are evincing our
love for the Gospel by coming out regularly to hear
the Gospel when it is preached.

Ever since Christmas we have had splendid
audiences. ' While reference to our Christmas cele- —
bration comes at a tardy date, yet we cannot resist
mentioning a word or two about it. In formal
order, that is, according to our respective class-
rooms, we took up the prophecies, the Annuncia-
tion, the fulfilment, and the coming of the Wise
Men. Of course, fitting recitations were appropri-
ately interspersed. But the songs of the children
—or rather the rendition — are always an import-
ant and interesting feature of the Christmas pro-
gram. Surely you, too, would consider it remark-
able to hear small children sing two- and three-part
songs. Such features characterize’ our -program.
Oh, how eagerly the. Christmas spite was peaught

up by us all! —

On Sunday, March’ 21, the athe examination -
of a large class of catechumens took place.’ These
were confirmed on the following Sunday, Palm

Sunday. On both of these occasions very large

audiences were present. But Maundy ‘Thursday,
Good Friday, Easter! “Oh, it’s but natural to have
representative audiences on these special festivals,”
we hear you say. True, say we, but’ when the at-
tendance ranges above what we formerly considered