The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1926, Page 118

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118

On June 20, down in Alabama, there was
another celebration. There was, comparatively
speaking, no multitude at this latter celebration,
‘but the joy and happiness of those gathered there
equaled that of the pilgrims assembled at St. Louis
‘on June 18. The participants in this Alabama
celebration came not from far-away lands and
crowded cities or even from modest villages and
unpretentious hamlets, but from the cotton- and
-corn-fields of Wilcox County, Alabama. They rode
not over smooth-surfaced highways, nor did they
walk along well-paved, wide sidewalks, but they
made their way to the place of celebration in
“‘broken-down” wagons, on muleback, and afoot.
They plodded over miles of burning sand; they
crawled over rail fences and under barbed wire en-
closures; they walked on foot-logs and jumped
ditches; they followed cowpaths and skirted brier-

The Old Church and School at Ingomar.

patches. ‘They walked not along shaded avenues
and policed boulevards, but they wandered along
under the moss-draped oaks and the whispering
Pines.

Along paths and roadways they came; across
‘abandoned fields and through chigger-infected
_ weeds they directed their course to the place of
* meeting. Ancient “uncles” plodded along and
wiped the sweat from their wrinkled brows with

faded bandannas or frayed cloths, fashioned from ~

:a flour or salt sack. Old and stout grandmothers
puffed along with their shoes thrown over their
‘shoulders and the perspiration streaming down
their faces. Young boys and girls, here and there,
stopped to extract a brier from a bare foot, or to
give first aid to a “stumped” toe.

Gathered before an old shack which for the past
five or six years has served as chapel, schoolroom,
_ and teacherage, these simple tillers of the ground

‘bade farewell to their old place of worship. After
the singing of a hymn and the reading of an appro-

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

priate Scripture-passage, a pastor reviewed the his-
tory of the work begun there in the name of the
Triune God. He pointed out that after years of
adversity and faith-trying days the prayers of the
faithful had been heard, and that they were now
about to bid adieu to their old house of worship
and enter into a new house to serve the Lord with
gladness.

When a second hymn had been sung, the pastor
formed the congregation into line, and a solemn
march towards the new. sanctuary was begun. The
pastor of the congregation, the teacher, and the
visiting pastors led the procession, followed by the
schoolchildren, members of the congregation, and
visiting friends. For a quarter of a mile the pro-
cession moved in silence beneath a broiling sun to
the new home of the congregation.

Arrived at the new place of worship, they beheld
not a wonderful park, beautiful flowers, and shrub-
bery; their eyes rested not upon an edifice of stone,
planned and erected according to the tried and
accepted standards of architectural technique and
the craftsman’s art; but they beheld a wide, open
country, decked with growing crops and flowering
weeds; their eyes rested upon a simple frame struc-
ture, erected in the middle of an old pine-field.
The weather-boards of this building were undressed
and unpainted and were nailed to the framing,
depot-fashion, with long, rough strips covering the
cracks. When the pastor read the dedicatory ser-
vice and the congregation sang “Praise to the Lord,
the Almighty,” there were no sounding-boards and
amplifiers to carry their voices to listening thou-
sands; but when these simple folk raised their
hearts and voices in prayer and song, the words and
melodies were borne to the throne of a listening and
gracious God, whose almighty power had fashioned
the field whereon they stood, whose gracious love
had made Christian hearts willing to make possible
this simple chapel, and whose Holy Spirit, through
the power of the Gospel, had led this congregation
from darkness to light.

When the pastor unlocked the doors of the new
chapel, the congregation marched in to the stirring
strains of “Onward, Christian Soldiers.” In the
sermon that followed, the speaker, on the basis of
John 8, 31. 32, pointed out to the congregation why .
it should continue in the Word of God; he showed
that to continue in the Word of God is a sign of
true discipleship; that the Word of God leads to
a knowledge of the truth and that the truth gives
perfect freedom. In the evening service another
speaker based his sermon on Josh. 4,9 ff. and em-

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