The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1922, Page 58

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58

The Lutheran Pioneer.

were happy, even jubilant, for they were in the
sanctuary of the Lord and about their Master’s
business.

"Twas back in the latter part of the summer of

1912, at a conference held in a little, obscure chapel, -

situated among the rocky hills of North Carolina,
that the subject of a joint conference was first
broached, and now, after ten years of waiting, this
Year of Jubilee saw the realization of that dream,
the consummation of what at first seemed an idle
wish. From the metropolitan district of New York,
from the cities, towns, and out-of-the-way places of
the Carolinas, from the lone mission-post in the
State of Georgia, from the “Black Belt” of Ala-
bama, from the Mississippi basin of Louisiana, and
from the Lutheran stronghold in Missouri a band
of men, and women, too, set out in groups and
singly and wended their way towards a common
objective. Here and there along the route one more
pilgrim was added to’ the band and received the
hearty welcome of his fellow-travelers. And so,
after years of waiting and many hours of weary
travel, some thirty-odd men, ministers and teachers
in the Lord’s vineyard, a group of woman teachers
and an appreciable number of delegates from the
congregations of our Negro Missions met at New
Orleans. :

And that meeting, the first of its kind to be
held in the history of the Lutheran Church, will
long be remembered. In the years to come all who
attended the first general conference of workers in
the Negro Missions can and will cast far back in the
chain of memories and feel once more the link of
hands clasped for the first time and thrill in body
and soul at the memory of that clasp. The opening
of the conference was as it should be. Although
a great number of those present were strangers as
concerned personal knowledge of each other, yet
they showed that they were “fellow-citizens with the
saints” of God by making a common confession of
faith before the altar of Him who is the Father
- of all. This confession of faith was made by kneel-
ing in reverence before the Lord’s altar and receiv-
ing the body and blood given and shed for the
remission of all sins. And thus strengthened in the
unity of faith, these servants of the Lord were ready
to “carry on” in the work for which they had as-
sembled. At this opening service the choir, under
the efficient leadership of Teacher Wm. Seeberry, Jr.,
voiced the prayer in the heart of every one present
when it sang, “O Send Out Thy Light!” And He
who hears the slightest whisper heard this prayer

also, and He did send out His light during all the
sessions which followed, as He has done since the
world began and shall continue to do until the end
of time. 2

One idea seemed to predominate the entire con-
ference. The keynote was struck in the opening
sermon, and the echo was heard in the papers and
discussions which followed. ‘The idea, or rather
hope, was expressed by the entire conference that
our mission-congregations become self-supporting
and thus relieve the Mission Board of the ever-
increasing burden of caring for congregations that
are now old enough to stand alone. As a step
towards this ultimate goal the conference suggested
that the pastors ask their congregations to increase
their contributions to the Mission Board fifteen per
cent., and that they set aside each month a fixed sum
to be paid directly to the pastor as salary. ‘This
arrangement would relieve the Mission Board of a
considerable burden and at the same time help swell
its treasury, so that the light of the Gospel can be
carried into new fields. And may God speed the
day when every congregation, both large and small,
can pay the salary of its pastor out of its own
treasury, so that the help which it is now receiving
can be given to others, in order that. they, too, may
rejoice in the Gospel of their salvation!

As a thank-offering to God for the manifold and
undeserved blessings which He has poured out upon
them through the missionary efforts of the Synod-
ical Conference during the past forty-five years, the
congregations of the three mission-fields (North
Carolina, Alabama, and Louisiana) collected ap-
proximately twenty-five hundred dollars to be pre-
sented to Synodical Conference when it meets at
Cincinnati in August. This sum might seem a small
amount to be gathered from the three mission-fields,
but if we divide it into the separate contributions
from each field, we shall see what this sum meant
to the contributors. From North Carolina came
over twelve hundred dollars; Alabama brought
eight hundred, while Louisiana and the Berea Bible
Class of Trinity Congregation, Springfield, IIl.,
made an offering of four hundred. Do you realize
what the gathering of this sum meant to the mem-
bers of the congregations from which it came? It
meant a real sacrifice. ‘This money was collected
from washerwomen, house servants, and farmers
who are little better off than peons. Every cent
meant a real sacrifice on the part of those who
gave it. ; ;

The climax of the meeting was reached on Sun-

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