The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1927, Page 76

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76 THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

Gospel of Jesus Christ among these people. Thus
the lecturer told us of one of the professors in our
institution among the colored people who teaches
as many as forty hours a week. And when he was
told that he could earn much more money in a dif-
ferent calling and that it was foolish of him to stay
in such a place as a college for colored folks is, his
reply was that through the Lutheran Church he had
learned to know, and believe in, his Savior, and
therefore he was going to remain true to his calling.
This made a profound impression on the audience.

Many people imagine all colored people to be
shiftless and unreliable; but last night we learned
that the Lutherans among the colored people are
a reliable, well-behaved, and God-fearing people.

All in all, the impression made by the lecture
was a good and lasting one.

Personally, I should like to have seen a few more
pictures, for example, of my old friends, Rev. F. J.
Lankenau and the first white teacher in our Colored
Missions, Eugene R. Vix, and above all a picture of
the old Zion Church and School in New Orleans.
However, maybe next- time when Pastor Drewes
comes, he will have these.

_ The lecturer visited about twenty-two places in
Texas, traveled through the heart of the State, and
was well received by the Lutherans. We hope that
our good State of Texas and its people made as good
an impression on Pastor Drewes as he and his lec-
ture made on us. Possibly, he will tell us through
the columns of the PronEEr of his impressions
among us. ?

The collections lifted are to be used for ‘the
new building at Immanuel Lutheran College in
Greensboro. G. W. FiscHer.

A New Venture in Our Negro
Missions.

Although our Colored Missions are this year
celebrating the Golden Jubilee of their founding;
although they are looking back upon years of un-
precedented growth and prosperity; although they
can truthfully exclaim, in view of these blessings
bestowed upon our feeble efforts: “This is the

Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes’; and:

although our Colored Missions have the continuance
_ of divine protection assured, yet there is one enemy
they, along with the rest of the Church, must fight.
That enemy is Satan, the eternal and untiring foe
of God and His Christian Church. From the days

of Adam and Eye the devil has been seeking to

destroy man’s faith in God. And this will con-
tinue to be his chief aim as long as the world
exists. One need but read the pages of Holy Writ
to see the craftiness, subtlety, intrigue, charm, af-
fability, and polish which Satan uses to accomplish
his desires. Eve was beguiled and seduced, Saul
was fooled, David was embroiled, Peter was en-
meshed, Judas Iscariot was trapped.

So it is today. Satan uses every art and wile
at his command to separate the Christian from
God. And some of the artifices are harmless; yes,
even good —at first glance. One of these appar-
ently harmless things of satanic origin is unionism.
The hue and cry of sectarianism to-day is: “Not
creeds, but deeds!” ‘Unite the churches and save
money, time, effort, and man-power!” “We are all
founded on the Bible; we all believe the same God;
we are all working for the same goal: so why not
unite into one big Church and impress the world ?”
And without analyzing such statements, one is apt
to be impressed with the fairness and feasibility of
such a proposition. Our Lutherans, too, some-
times are tempted to yield to these apparently
harmless words. And here we have the prime cause
for the new venture in our Colored Missions.

In many sections of the South the various sects
have burial societies connected with the. church
organizations. The Love-and-Do-Well Society hap-
pens to be such an association. For the monthly
fee (insurance premium) of anywhere from twenty-
five cents to two dollars and fifty cents one receives
a death benefit of not less than ten dollars and not
more than twenty-eight dollars!
fees must be paid, of course. But to pay them, the
assured must attend a unionistic service, after which
the collector gathers in the fees. Thus, if some of
our own colored Lutherans sought to protect their
families from making debts because of funeral ex-
penses, they were brought under the influence of
sectarian preachers and thus endangered their souls,
both by contact with them and by practising
unionism, even though unwittingly. Moreover,
when a funeral took place, the members of such
a burial association had to be present at the grave,
take part in the lodgelike ritualistic service, and
also pay an assessment. Failure to do so meant
suspension, loss of protection in many instances,
or a fine.

It so happened at Oak Hill, Ala., that the Lu-
therans were to be expelled entirely if they did not
conform. to the Baptist and Methodist burial as-
sociations’ rules. What a dire calamity such expul-
sion would be for our impoverished colored folk only

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