The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1932, Page 50

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THE LUTHERAN. PIONEER

Alabama Items.

Dedication of New Building at Bashi.

January 10 was a day of great: rejoicing for our
Messiah Mission at Bashi, Ala., as it saw the dedica-
tion of the new chapel-school granted this congre-
gation by the Mission Board and made possible
through the generous gifts of friends of our Col-
ored Missions. After having spent three years in
a small, single-room shack, without a chimney (the
stovepipe was simply stuck out through the wall),
without sufficient light, with no desks or pews, but
only a few wobbly benches made of rough boards
nailed on blocks, both pastor and congregation felt
as though “they were in paradise,” as some member

: Yt

Superintendent E. A. Westcott.

put it, when they were permitted finally to enter
their new church home.

The building is on the usual T plan employed
at our rural stations. The front room is the chapel;
the rear, the schoolroom. It was built and furnished
at a moderate cost, six-inch siding being used for
weather-boarding, red composition shingles for roof-
ing, and four-inch number-two flooring for interior
ceiling. The desks and pews are of very simple
design, assembled on the spot from ready-cut boards
and slats. The heating is done by ordinary box-
heaters. The total cost, including land, lawyer’s
and suryeyor’s fees, will run between $1,200 and
$1,300.

The work here was begun by Pastor G. A.
Schmidt about three years ago. The congregation
now numbers 46 souls, 19 of whom are communi-
cants and 8 yoting members. The Sunday-school
has an enrolment of 39 scholars, and in the day-

school 33 pupils are enrolled. Pastor Peter R.
Hunt, last year’s graduate of our Immanuel Lu-
theran College in Greensboro, N. C., is working
energetically as missionary and schoolteacher to
build up a strong Lutheran membership at Bashi.
The members of Messiah Congregation wish to
thank the many unknown Lutheran friends who
have made it possible for them and their children
to have the light of the Gospel in their midst, and
they pray that God will bless in special measure the
generous donors who furnished the Mission Board
with the funds to build their new chapel-school.

A New Mission Field.
Last summer a call came to us again from people
who have been waiting for us for over three years
to begin work in their community, namely, in Vine-
land, about eight miles from a point on the Southern
Railroad known as Sunny South. We distinctly
remember the mud we had to fight to keep our first
appointment with these people, and Pastor P. R.
Hunt, who has been serving them since has a tale
to tell of mud, bogs, and narrow, hump-backed
roads, slippery as a greased razor-back hog. From
the very first large crowds have attended, and the
outlook for a strong station here is bright. 32 adults
and 38 children are being prepared for membership,
69 are enrolled in the Sunday-school, and 25 pupils
are attending the day-school. What is more, the
prospective members have pledged themselves to
send the Board at least $10 a month in appreciation
of their now having a Lutheran minister and
teacher. Our prayer is that many at Vineland will
be called out of darkness into God’s marvelous light.
Epwarp A. Wxsrcorv.

Church of Our Savior, Buffalo, N. Y.

Our new and beautiful chapel will be dedicated
to the worship of the Triune God on the Sunday
after Easter, April 3. In order that our many
friends and well-wishers may have opportunity to
celebrate with us on that day of rejoicing, three
services have been planned. The Rey. M. N. Carter,
president of the Northern Conference and pastor
of St. Philip’s Church, Chicago, will deliver the
dedicatory sermon.

The impetus which a suitable place of worship:
gives to a congregation is already being felt. The
attendance at services is steadily increasing. The
Sunday-school has outgrown its present inadequate.
quarters. An adult catechumen class of twelve is.