The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1926, Page 164

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

164

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

- 47. Bethany, Nyland, Wilcox Co. (Rural charge.
Founded in 1918. Missionary: James Montgomery,
since September, 1921.) Missionary Montgomery

-is a native of Alabama and serves three other
stations besides Nyland: Pine Hill, Lamison, and
Flatwood. Baptized members at Nyland, 64; com-
municants, 38. Montgomery also teaches school
at Nyland.

48. St. Peter’s, Pine Hill, Wilcox Co. (Rural
charge. Founded November 1, 1922. Missionary:
J. Montgomery.) A kind friend in California
donated the sum of $1,000 necessary to give Pine
Hill a chapel. Besides this, the children of the
California and Nevada District and several friends
of the Mission contributed $1,437.38. Chapel and
school are under one roof.

49. Lamison, Wilcox Co., Mission. (Rural
station.) The work was begun here in November,
1925. The average attendance at the services is
twenty-five. The services are held in an old,
abandoned log house, without a doubt the most
wretched-looking house of worship that I have ever
seen. The Savior was born in a poor stable, but
I do not believe that it was as poor as that log hut
at Lamison where our people worship. May these
few remarks contribute toward giving Lamison a
respectable chapel in the near future. — Missionary
Montgomery’s fourth station is

50. Flatwood, situated on the eastern border of
Marengo County. Superintendent Schmidt began
the work here in the spring of 1926. The.min-
sionary generally has between thirty-five and forty
persons in his services. It is probable that the
services here are likewise held in some abandoned
log hut. Our superintendent writes that Flatwood
is about fifty miles from Selma and “far removed
from what the kind readers would call civilization.”
He adds: “If our Lutheran Church with its pure
preaching of the Gospel and its schools were to

leave the Black Belt of Alabama, that would be.

like slamming the door of heaven in the face of
thousands of colored people.”
: 61. St. Andrew's, Vredenburgh, Monroe Co.
(Rural charge. Founded in 1916. Missionary:
E. B. Cozart, since the fall of 1924.) The congre-
gation has suffered because of removals. But those
who moved away were not lost to the Lutheran
Church. They have gone where they can attend
their Lutheran services as they could at home.
Superintendent Schmidt says: “Our plan is to
Move the chapel to the little sawmill town of
_ Vredenburgh, which is about three miles distant.

We shall find much mission-material there. The
moving would cost about $700.” Communicants,
17; baptized membership, 42.

52. St. James’s, Buena Vista,
(Rural charge. Founded in 1916. Missionary:
E. B. Cozart, since the fall of 1924.) The baptized
membership rose from 80 to 107 in the last two
years (gain, 27) ; communicants, 56. The congre-
gation consists mainly of young people. The neigh-
borhood is thickly settled. The members are
collecting money to complete the interior of the
chapel. “As the congregations in Alabama grow
in age and size, they learn more and more to look
to themselves for help rather than to the Mission
Treasury,” says Superintendent Schmidt.

53. Faith, Mobile. (Founded 1920. Missionary:
G. G. Kreft,* since March, 1926.) Rev. W. Schink
of the Wisconsin Synod accepted a call to Cran-
don, Wis. Rev. Kreft became his successor. Bap-
tized membership, 46; communicants, 21. Two
lady teachers are instructing 88 children. — Two
years ago the children of the Wisconsin Synod
were asked to collect $5,500 for a chapel and school
at Mobile. But their zeal for the Savior and His
kingdom was so great that they gathered over
$6,889 for Mobile! Circumstances, however, pre-
vented our purchasing a suitable site until July of
this year. The site cost $2,150.

54. Ebenezer, Atmore, Escambia Co. (Founded
in 1925. Missionary: G. G. Kreft,* since November,
1925.) Mary McCants was one of the first three
catechumens at Rosebud when we took up the work
there in 1916. Her twin sister and Rosa J. Young
were the other two. It so happened that she
moved to Atmore. Superintendent Schmidt writes:
“Though there are several sectarian churches there,
she refused to join any one of them, inspite of the
fact that she was subjected to scorn and ridicule.
She remained true. to her faith. She prayed. She
wrote letter upon letter, begging us to open a
mission at Atmore. But we could not do so since
we had no man to send. She continued to pray
and to write letters. The result? We now have in
Atmore a flock of 49 baptized members, among
them 24 communicants. Atmore is one of our
most promising stations. A building. is needed
there. We are having our services, and are con-
ducting our school, in a colored lodge-hall. The
cost of a building would be about $1,500.”

55. Pensacola, Florida. (Founded in October,
1924. Missionary: G. Kreft,* since March, 1926.)
This is our first and only station in Florida. Mem-

Monroe Co.