The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1924, Sheet 28

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26 I

The Lutheran Pioneer.

and the persecution of the Gentiles. Trusting in
His presence, they did not fear to face any foe.
+ Speaking of the quenchless enthusiasm of the
early Christians and their glorious intrepidity in
the service of the Savior and His kingdom, Law-
rence says in his Introduction to the Study of For-
eign Missions: “The main source of missions is
not, strictly speaking, in any motive at all, but in
a motor, in Christ Himself, as the Author, Oper-
ator, and Energizer of all divine vitalities and ac-
tivities. Christ is the one motive Power. Not the
command of Christ, not the love of Christ, not the
glory of God, not the peril or guilt or possibilities
of souls, no one of these alone is the controlling
force, but Christ Himself.”

Thus the poet puts these. words into the mouth
of Paul: —

Christ! I am Christ’s, and let the name suffice you.
Ay, for me, too, He greatly hath sufficed.

Lo, with no winning words I would entice you;

Paul has no honor and no friend but Christ.

Yes, without cheer of sister or of daughter,

Yes, without stay of father or of son,

Lone on the land and homeless on the water,

Pass I in patience till the work is done.

And now, if these were the reasons and causes
for the rapid growth of. the early Church, should
we not bring them back into the experience of the
Church of to-day and make them effective for our
work by letting Christ be to us what He was to the
early Christians? F.J.L.

‘Our Colored Mission in Cincinnati.

_ The six congregations of the Missouri Synod in
Cincinnati, about two years ago, decided that they
would enter into a federation for the purpose of
extending Christ’s kingdom in their city. The con-
stitution of the federation says that their body is
formed “‘to foster Christian fellowship and love; to
engage in joint gatherings of import to our Church;
to organize new churches; to do inner mission and
rescue work; to advance the cause of Christian
education.”

A Board of Directors has been chosen for the
federation, and this board has incorporated itself
under the Jaws of the State of Ohio, in order that

it may be empowered to buy property in the name

of the federation. -
And the first property that it is intended to
purchase is to be for Colored Mission purposes !
' The secretary of the federation, Teacher M. F.
_ Kollmorgen, reports the following action as having

been taken by the delegate body of the federation
in a meeting held January 28: —

“After various minor details had been deter-
mined, the committee centered its attention on the
question of purchasing property for the establish-
ment of a church and school for our Colored Mis-
sion. The committee which had been charged with
the duty of searching for a suitable location for
mission property reported that five lots were avail-
able on Hopkins Street, between Linn and Bay-
miller Streets. It was thought that these lots could
be bought for about $5,000. The trustees were in-
structed to purchase the lots.

“The question of suitable buildings to be erected
on these lots for purposes of worship and instruc-
tion was also discussed. A general estimate of the
cost of a necessary building brought the figure up
to about $5,000. After considerable discussion it
was resolved to empower the Board of Directors to
finance the purchase of the lots in question and to
erect a suitable building for church and school pur-
poses. The cost of lots and building is not to exceed
$10,000.”

Isn’t that fine! Remember, dear reader, that
our congregations in Cincinnati are not very large;
all six of them do not aggregate more than 1,200
communicant members. And-yet this small band
intends to provide our new Colored Mission in Cin-
cinnati with a home at an expense of at least
$10,000! God bless our Cincinnati Lutherans for
their fine missionary spirit!

Rey. Geo. Kase, the aggressive and efficient

worker in charge of the institutional mission-work ’ -

in Cincinnati, is the founder of the Colored work .

in that city. Concerning his labors among our
Colored brethren, he writes the following in the
new organ of the Cincinnati Federation of Evan-
gelical Lutheran Churches of the Synodical Con-
ference, The Cincinnatt Lutheran: —

“With a spirited determination our newly elected
Board of Directors intends to prosecute this mis-
sion which God Almighty has so obviously laid
before our doors. Now is the psychological moment
to act. In a year from now it may be too late.
There is no time to be wasted. Hell-hounds of all
descriptions are exploiting the immigrant Negro
from the South, and they are using ‘religion’ as
their decoy. Even Mohammedanism has stretched
out its coiled fangs and is devouring soul after soul
right here in Cincinnati. ‘The intelligent and
thinking Negro is becoming so disgusted with the
type of ‘Christianity’ and ‘religion’ that is preying