The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1928, Page 154

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154 THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

were held in the spacious auditorium of the public
school building.

Though two revivals were being conducted by
churches in the immediate vicinity, the auditorium
was packed each night with old and young, who
listened attentively to the sermons and doctrinal
papers.

In the opening session on Wednesday evening,
Pastor Peay sounded the missionary key-note in a
wonderful sermon, using as a basis for his discourse
the words of Moses: “Come thou with us, and we
will do thee good.”

The papers read during the day sessions were:
“The Lutheran Teacher’s Work as Missionary,” by
Teacher Mrs. B. Skinner. It was brought out that
a teacher should be a Christian in action, speech,
and dress; that her conversation in her visits
should not consist of local gossip and the like, but
her chief theme should be Christ and her main
concern the souls of men.

A catechization on “The Person of Christ”
(God-man) was read by the undersigned. Con-
ference was used as a class. Following this, a paper
by Rey. Gauthreaux on “Prayer” was read, a paper
which led to a lengthy and interesting discussion.
It was an exhortation to us as Christians and as
workers to pray.

“Organizing Societies in Our Congregations,”
by Pastor John Thompson, a paper touching on
membership, purpose, and the like, brought out that
these societies are forces that make for Christian
helpfulness among young and old and aid the con-
gregation in its work among the unchurched.

Two doctrinal papers were read during the eve-
ning sessions. One of them was: “A Christian’s
Motive in Doing Good Works,” by Pastor Peay, in
which he showed that good works are what a Chris-
tian thinks, says, or does in faith, according to the
divine commandments. He also showed that a
Christian does not perform these good works to
merit salvation, but that they are performed out
of love to God for His loving-kindness to us.

In a paper on “Tithing,” Pastor G. A. Schmidt
brought out the following points: 1) What tith-
ing is; 2) that it was commanded in the Old Tes-
tament; 3) that, though it is not commanded in
the New Testament, the very weakest Christian
ought not give less than one-tenth of his income
to God.

A soul-stirring and inspirational sermon was
preached by Pastor Carlson on the “One Way to
Heaven,” a sermon in which he clearly set forth
that Christ is the one and only way to heaven.

Other edifying sermons were delivered by Pas-
tors Montgomery, Eddleman, Weeke, and Hafner.

On Saturday the Sunday-school convention went
into session. Superintendent A. Reagin pointed
out in his opening address the need of live and in-
teresting Sunday-schools as an aid to the church.
The reports on enrolments, attendance, and collec-
tions by Pastor Kreft showed that the Sunday-
school at Joffre again distinguished itself and that
the banner belongs to that Sunday-school for the
second time im three years.

Two papers, “Increased Sunday-school Atten-
dance,” by Teacher W. Steward, and “Increased
Sunday-school Collections,” by Pastor Westcott,
were well received.

The singing of hymns and recitations by the
Atmore Sunday-school children was an enjoyable
feature. This convention closed with an address
on “The Part the Sunday-school Plays in the Chris-
tian Training of Children,” by Pastor Carlson.

A stereopticon lecture, “At the Foot of Mount
Kilimanjaro,” and a short program under the
leadership of the Rev. Chas. Peay was enjoyed by
all on Saturday night.

Conference joined the Atmore congregation in
partaking of the Lord’s Supper on Sunday morning.
Pastor Kreft prepared the hearts for the Holy Sac-
rament by delivering the confessional.

Conference closed Sunday night with an address
by Pastor G. A. Schmidt. Basing his remarks on
the First Petition of the Lord’s Prayer, he showed
that God’s name is kept holy among us by unadul-
terated teaching and preaching of God’s Word and
by a godly life. This is impossible unless God
gives us power and strength; hence we ask God in
the First Petition to grant us grace to keep His
name holy among us.

The next session of Conference will be held
at Rosebud, Ala., in the cradle of Alabama Lu-
theranism.

Selma, Ala. K. L. Grace.
Notes.

1. The representation was good, 24 of the 29
congregations having sent delegates.

2. Eleven years ago conference consisted of
about 15 members. The Atmore convention was
attended by almost a hundred pastors, teachers,
delegates.

8. One of the pastoral conferences held after
sessions lasted until 2 a.m. Is this the record in
synodical circles ?

4, Africa and the effort to begin mission-work
over there received considerable consideration. It

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