The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1931, Page 163

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

163

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auditorium, and a good choir, — each of these has
its attractive force.

The result is that this and that rural church-
member is drawn to the town church by these and
other attractions, and the rural church loses in
strength and influence. The withdrawal of these
former members leaves the church weakened. It
may struggle along in a mere semblance of its for-
mer strength and vigor for a while, but very prob-
ably sooner or later it will have to close its doors.
And there is every indication that this decline of
the open-country church will continue and even
grow more rapid as the older generation passes off
the stage and the younger element, by circumstances
grown more familiar with town advantages and
thereby more drawn to town activities, takes the
place of the former community leaders.

A Missionary Opportunity.

While the former members of the rural church
thus transfer their membership to the town church
and find their religious wants there supplied, the
fact is not to be lost sight of that the abandonment
and closing of the country church leaves a large
proportion of the rural population without any spir-
itual care. Yes, the closing of the rural church
means the abandonment of dozens of children and
many grown-ups of the community. Here, then, is
a wonderful missionary opportunity for our own
rural churches. Our rural members should.recognize
those souls as a special responsibility thrust upon
them by circumstances. To neglect them would
prove an irreparable loss to the Kingdom. Pastors
of our congregations as well as their members
should mutually encourage one another to face the
situation and determine to readjust their programs
to meet needs and conditions. We know of cases
where congregations have reached out to people that
were in a measure spiritually abandoned when the
churches they had attended and where there chil-
dren had gone to Sunday-school were closed, and
the success in such cases has been encouraging.

May our rural churches not lose sight of these
inviting fields and ever be ready to extend the arm
of sympathy, helpfulness, and religious instruction
to these neglected people! May our rural member-
ship, wherever a survey has revealed homes that
have grown away from church by reason of the
abandonment of churches, not be neglectful of
their opportunities to help build hee peaseere

“QOwor it is lost, time is never found.”

The Mobile Conference.

The dates, September 2—6, will long be remem-
bered by all who were fortunate enough to be able
to attend the sessions of the Alabama Luther Con-
ference, held in the city of Mobile on the above
dates. For the first time in the history of our Ala-
bama Mission the conference met for its annual
sessions in the beautiful “Bay City,” a city rich in
historical lore and “beautiful for situation.” Located
on the shore of the Mobile Bay, the “gate” to the
great Gulf of Mexico, it may be said that Mobile
plays “hostess” to the world, for as one walks along
her wharfs, he may see the flags of almost all
nations fluttering from the tall flagstaffs of great
ocean-going steamers.

Not forgetting her réle as hostess, Mobile, on the

Faith Chapel, Mobile, Ala.

morning of September 2, flung wide her toll-gates
and welcomed a caravan of dusty travelers bound
for the heart of the city and intent upon a specific
mission. The caravan halted at the corner of Scott
and Congress streets, for it had reached its destina-
tion, a little canary-colored chapel, nestling behind
a beautiful evergreen hedge, the home of Faith Con-
gregation. Jor many in the caravan it was the first
trip to the “Bay City,” to many others it was a rare
opportunity to revisit old friends and renew old ac-
quaintances, and to all it was the first opportunity
to visit the faithful little congregation which had
extended to them the invitation to hold the 1931 ©
sessions of the Alabama Luther Conference in its
midst.

A: few minutes were spent in removing the dust
and grime of Alabama highways from faces and
clothing, and at ten o’clock, on the morning of Sep-
tember 2, Chairman Chas. Peay, a veteran of many