The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1925, Page 167

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

Surely we Lutherans cannot thank God sufii-
ciently for the gift of these buildings in Selma.
For we know that in them His Word will be taught
in all its truth and purity. May He bless this our
institution, and cause it to prosper to His glory!

W. F. Carson.

Harvest Home and Mission Festivals
in North Carolina.

August, September, and October are the prin-
cipal months for Harvest Home and mission-
festivals in our Colored Missions of North Caro-
lina. The writer attended a number of such
festivals this year and was impressed with the fact
that circumstances change in the course of years.
When he arrived at Concord more than twenty-five
years ago, such a festival was of more than strictly
local interest. It meant the gathering of colored
Lutherans from several counties. On that particu-
lar Sunday no services were held in neighboring
congregations because pastors and people attended
the festival of the sister congregation. They went
over rough roads in buggies or wagons drawn by
horses or mules.

gathering of Lutherans than they would see at any
other occasion, except probably at the dedication of
a@ new church. The church was decorated with
fruits of the field, which still is the custom. The
writer is not likely to’ forget the surprise he got
one day when he went to see how the work of the
committee on decorations was progressing — his
church had been converted into a corn-field. At
‘either end of the pews and wherever it could be
done, corn-stalks had been set up or fastened to the
woodwork. This is not written to encourage imita-
tion. A corn-field is not a cool place, nor does
quietness obtain when a gentle breeze is blowing
through it. There is also more or less confusion
when people are at a loss to find the entrance to
the pews. Experience has shown that it is better
to confine samples of the harvest to spots where
they can be seen without interfering with the move-
ments of the worshipers.
mission-festival in those days called for an article
in the PIonEER.

~ Now imules and horses have given way to auto-
mobiles; and there are’ hard-surface or -sand-clay
roads, but the festival no longer brings so many
congregations together since the festival has become

Strangers were naturally attracted.
to the’ services, but the preachers faced a larger —

“A Harvest Home and.

167

more of a local affair. Some Lutherans who could
formerly manage to get over the bad roads in their
own or a neighbor’s conveyance cannot afford to be
Tunning about in automobiles. Farm wagons are
still used in North Carolina, but it would doubtless
be a strange sight now to see a team of mules,
hitched to a wagon, standing on the asphalt pave-
ment in front of our Concord church on some
Sunday.

The main reason, however, for the difference
between now and then is naturally to’be found in
the greater number of such festivals. Our Concord
congregation now has eleven sister congregations
within a radius of twenty-five miles and therefore
could not think of dropping services every time one
of the others has a festival. Now pastors have to
face the problem how to accept invitations to preach
elsewhere without loss of service and collection at
home. If they refuse all requests, they cannot ex-
pect others to accept their invitations. The auto-
mobile, however, permits some wonderful trading
to be done with respect to exchange of pulpits, and
very likely it would be confusing to read, for in-
stance, an account of how three congregations cele-
brating on the same Sunday heard sermons preached
by different pastors.

But why let more than one congregation have
special services on the same Sunday? The Harvest
Home festival ought to be held some time within
the harvest season. As it is, some congregations
must have their celebration either rather early or
rather late in the season in order to ‘be able to
secure other preachers for that day. It is now
nothing unusual for the pastor of the congregation
celebrating its Harvest Home festival to deliver
one of the festival sermons himself.

It is with a tinge of regret that the writer
realizes that the Harvest Home and mission-festi-
vals are no longer what they used to be, gatherings
of congregations and ministers; they have become
too numerous. Doubtless the change is for the
better considering the number of strangers that
hear Lutheran sermons and the amount of money
raised in the field. But a Harvest Home and
mission-festival no longer seems to be an event call-
ing for an article in the Pioneer. The editor
would be overwhelmed if each celebration were to
be described. It is worthy of mention, however,
that the great drought of this summer and fall did
not diminish the number of festivals; the people
still felt that they had abundant reason to be thank-
ful and to praise the Lord. : J. P. SMire.