The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1929, Sheet 119

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

and the prospects are that this number will be doubled
in the next decade. The city is thirty miles long
and eleven miles wide. A large new field is at
Las Vegas, Ney., and another large field will be

Trinity Lutheran Church, Granby, Colo.

opened with the building of the Boulder Dam, since
thousands will be employed there for the greater
part of ten years.

Of the fifty-six counties of California, twenty-
six are without representation in our Church. Sad
to say, many of those who come to California from
the East seem to have left all thought of church be-
hind them and in many instances must once more
be gathered.

The Colorado District numbers only about 4,000
communicant members, for which reason it is very
apparent that the District itself is not able to supply
all the Home Mission needs of the territory it com-
prises. There are twenty-four home mission stations
in the District, served by fourteen pastors. Utah
is also included in the territory of the Colorado
District. Not a few of the members of this District
are patients and unable to contribute much for their
spiritual care. The missionaries receive a salary of
only $75 when married, because of the lack of funds.
To carry on its work, the District should receive
a subsidy of $20,000.

The Southern District has only 8,000 communi-
cant members. In its territory are found fifty-nine

‘Home Mission stations, manned by twenty-seven _ |

missionaries. The territory of this District includes
Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida,
and South Carolina. A big territory with big oppor-
tunities! The representatives of the District asked
for a subsidy of $20,000. Surely, a modest sum in
view of the work that could and should be done!
The Tezas District has a communicant member-
ship of 14,000. The District has fifty Home Mission
workers in the field. The mission prospects are
bright. The District is also conducting a mission

among German-speaking people in Mexico City
under great difficulties. The success of this im-
portant mission in Mexico depends largely upon the
procuring of a chapel. The Texas District asked for
an annual subsidy of $27,000, and in view of its
large and promising field the request is very modest.

The Ontario District, numbering 7,800 com-
municant members, has thirteen home missionaries
in the field, who are serving twenty-six stations.
A very promising opening for a mission in a neigh-
borhood numbering 800 Finnish Lutherans has been
pointed out to the District officials. Many other
opportunities are open, among them in cities of over
10,000 inhabitants without a Lutheran church; but
a lack of funds prevents taking advantage of these
opportunities. The representative of the District
in his modesty asked for a subsidy of only $4,500.

The Manitoba-Saskatchewan District covers an
immense territory, but has only a little over 3,000
communicant members. Twenty of its congrega-
tions are self-sustaining, though most of these are
very small. Fifty missionaries are taking care of
the Home Mission stations in the District. In the
last twelve months ten new men were called into the
District, because ten men had left the field. Men
are tempted to leave, in many instances no doubt
because of the low salary paid, due to the lack of
funds. The cost of living is very high; gasoline, for
example, costs 35 cents a gallon, and the rate of
interest is 20 per cent. Much better and more
lasting work could be done if the men would stay
longer; this, however, will not be the case till the
District will be able to give its Home Mission work-

A Parsonage on the Prairie, 1924.

ers a living wage. Schools are a crying need. The
representatives of the District asked for an annual
subsidy of $30,000.

The Oregon-Washington District also includes
Idaho and is one of the most extensive Districts of
the Missouri Synod. Its communicant membership,