The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1929, Page 99

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

99

her patronage is assured; many Lutheran parents
desire more for their children than an elementary
school education; and our new building will be
erected.

“With our prayer for Immanuel goes the firm
resolve to stand up for her, to do our best, so that
she may prosper. God help us to do so! Amen.”

The sermon was followed by several four-minute
talks. Director Drewes said in part: “I have been
requested to convey to you the good wishes of the
Mission Board. On this day we cannot help but
think of the mercies of God. Men who have been
charged with the management of this institution
are weak and frail. Yet God has been merciful.
He caused Immanuel to flourish, overruling our
mistakes.

“We give thanks for the men God has given us
during these years, beginning with the founder, the
sainted Pastor Bakke.

“Professor Berg, the old stand-by, intimated that
the future is bright. It is my pleasure to tell you
that the plans for the new Administration Building
arrived by air mail this morning at 8.30.

“As to the faculty, it has always been white.
It is not always to be that way. The three stages of
our mission must be: 1) self-supporting, 2) self-
governing, 3) self-propagating. No matter what
changes the next twenty-five years may bring about,
by the grace of God, Immanuel will stand on the
principles of the Reformation.”

Prof. P. G. Lehman of Alabama Luther College
said in substance: “With the sacred writer we shout:
‘The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we
are glad.’ It is conservatively estimated that at least
10,000 souls hear the Gospel annually because of
Immanuel. Multiply these figures by twenty-five,
and you have a quarter million — Immanuel’s in-
fluence.”

The Rey. W. O. Hill, president of the Alumni
Association, said: “This is a wonderful day for an
anniversary, May 30. The nation is paying tribute
to those who have fought her battles. To-day Im-
manuel remembers her soldiers. There have been
warriors who have made the supreme sacrifice. The
vanguard began marching a half century ago. They
said: ‘Our duty lies in the Southland.” They had
a vision, and they marched shoulder to shoulder
without ever looking back. Another wave came
twenty-nine or thirty years ago into North Carolina.
They sent a petition to the Board for a high school.
They, too, had a vision.

“To-day we remember the background of par-
entage. Old mothers who could not read, only

recently emerged from slavery, toiled that we might
have the opportunity to enter the portals of Im-
manuel. Boys and girls, don’t throw your oppor-
tunities away. Too much has been done to make
this day.”

Superintendent Frank Alston of the Southeastern
field, the very first student to register when Im-
manuel was opened, gave a vivid description of the
early days. Since this talk will be printed, we refrain
from giving excerpts.

The twenty-fifth annual Commencement Week
began on Sunday, May 26, with a baccalaureate ser-
mon by the Rev. Jesse A. Hunt, pastor of our church
at Winston-Salem, N. C. The Rev. Hunt said in
part: “All the secular knowledge you have received
will be buried in the grave; the knowledge of Jesus
Christ alone endures forever. But it is not sufficient
that you have a mere historical knowledge of the
saving truths of God’s holy Word; it is necessary
that you accept Jesus, whose blood cleanseth us from
all sin, as your personal Savior. Of such as remain
faithful unto death, our text, Mal. 3, 16.17, says:
“They shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that
day when I make up My jewels.’ ”

Commencement exercises were held May 30, at
three o’clock in the afternoon. By a happy coinci-
dence twenty-nine students received their diplomas
on the twenty-fifth commencement. The Rev. R. 0.
L. Lynn, president of Luther College at Selma, Ala.,
delivered the address. The gist of the address was
as follows: “What are you going to do with the
talent you have received here? What will be your
chief aim in life? Gold cannot bring happiness.
The rich man, according to the parable in Luke 12,
stored away much goods, so that he may say, ‘Soul,
thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take
thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.’ But God said
to him: ‘Thou foul, this night thy soul shall be
required of thee; then whose shall those things be
which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up
treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.

“To make the having of a good time the chief
aim in life does not pay. This fact is sadly illus-
trated by the example of the prodigal son.

“Let the spreading of Immanuel’s teachings be
your chief objective. Men are dying in their sins.
Some of these surpass you in the wisdom of this
world; but they do not know the one thing needful.

“In Alabama there are to-day 306,000 black boys
and girls who cannot read, who cannot sing one line
of a hymn. I wish you could bring the light to
them. Labor on, spend and be spent. It is the way
the Master went.”