The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1931, Sheet 65

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER

of the Lutheran Church in America has been less
than with other church-bodies. This is a comfort,
but also an admonition.

A Book Mission.— The Book Mission of the
Norwegian Lutheran Church of America printed
and distributed 120,000 booklets and 115,000 tracts
last year. All this literature was given away.

“The Call of the Hour’ in Southern Cali-
fornia. — The Southern California District pos-
sibly is weak in number, but gratifyingly strong in
missionary enthusiasm, as the seven resolutions its
representatives recently passed at Los Angeles, in a
special session, plainly indicate. Southern Cali-
fornia is growing at the rate of 12,000 persons every
month and thus presents stupendous missionary op-
portunities to our brethren. And what is so very
pleasing is the willingness with which the young
District is applying itself to the task of gathering in
these multitudes. God grant them courage and suc-
cess in their blessed efforts and grant us the willing-
ness of the sons of Zebedee to come to the help of
our Western brethren in gathering in the “fishes”!

“Colored” Items. — St. Philip’s Lutheran
Church of St. Louis (colored) is a flourishing, self-
supporting, missionary-spirited congregation. Since
it moved into its new chapel some five years ago, it
has more than trebled its membership. It knows
from practical experience what it means to have a
real house of worship.

Some time ago St. Philip’s celebrated a mission
festival. ‘The collection was gratifying. What to
do with it? Somewhere, somehow, the news had
filtered through that the colored Lutherans of Buf-
falo were handicaped by an inadequate place of wor-
ship, that they needed a chapel, and needed it badly.
A check came through. The Chapel Fund of the
Lutheran Church of Our Savior, Buffalo, N. Y., was
enriched to the extent of $54.73,—a part of the
mission collection at St. Philip’s.

May the “love of Christ which constraineth”
these colored brethren also constrain our white
brethren to like deeds of Christian love!

Easlern District Bulletin.

Home Missions in the Iowa District. — This
District is employing thirty laborers in the Home
Mission field. They are serving forty stations.
Nine stations became self-supporting last year.
This District is carrying on most of its Home Mis-
sion work in the larger cities of the State. Over
3,000 souls are served, among them 1,882 com-
municants, ninety-four Christian day-school pupils,
and 650 Sunday-school attendants. The work is
preponderantly English. The mission-places last

year raised almost $33,000 for their own households
and almost $6,000 for benevolences. The District
subsidized the work to the extent of about $50,000.

Minnesota Home Mission Notes. — In this
District’s Home Mission field fifty pastors are sery-
ing 135 stations. The gain in persons served was
almost a thousand, the present number being 9,088.
The Sunday-school enrolment is 2,550. The missions
raised for home purposes over $20,000 and for
synodical treasuries $6,500. Five new churches were
erected on the mission-field. The missionaries con-
duct 423 services a month, by far the greater num-
ber in English. Despite the “depression” twenty-
two of the parishes have asked that their subsidies
be decreased.

The Home Missions in Texas. — Forty mis-
sionaries are serving 4,375 persons in the various
Home Mission congregations of this vast State. Of
the eighty stations served only. fifty-one hav: their
own chapels; there are only thirty-one parsonages
for more than forty missionaries, not considering
the ten teachers; and of the twenty-one mission-
schools only eleven are conducted in real school-
buildings. These figures plainly show that the
progress of Home Missions in Texas is greatly ham-
pered by the deplorable condition of the Church Ex-
tension Fund of the District and that of the General
Body. The superintendent says that, wherever he
turns, he sees opportunities for mission-work, but
lack of funds prevents the sending of men and the
erecting of buildings.

A New Professor Called to Immanuel. — We
understand that Rev. Arnold Pennekamp of Staun-
ton, Ill., has been called to the professorship at Im-
manuel Lutheran College, Greensboro, which had
become vacant by Professor Gehrke’s accepting the
superintendency of the Southeastern Field.

Death of Treasurer Theo. Eckhart’s Mother.—
On Monday, February 23, Mrs. Eckhart, the mother
of Treasurer Eckhart of the Board of Colored Mis-
sions, passed away. She had apparently recovered
from an attack of influenza, when pneumonia set in
unexpectedly. After a short service in the private
chapel of a local undertaker the remains of Mrs.
Eckhart were taken to Milwaukee, her home.

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