The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1932, Page 66

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66

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER

Dedication of the Church of Our Savior,
Buffalo, N. Y.

We have no direct account of the dedication of
our new colored church in Buffalo, but from the
fact that Missionary E.R. Pflug favored us with a
clipping from one of the Buffalo papers of the day
prior to the day set for the dedication and also
a program of the dedicatory services afler the pro-
posed time of dedication, we feel that we may with
certainty say that the colored Lutheran Church of
Our Savior in Buffalo was dedicated to the service
of the Lord on Sunday, April 3.

Three services were held on the day of dedica-
tion, in all three of which Pastor M. N. Carter of
Chicago preached. These services were held at
11 4.M., 3 p.a., and 8 p.m. The actual dedication
was performed by Missionary E. R. Pflug. He was
assisted in the various services of the day by Presi-
dent Verwiebe of the Eastern District and Pastors
Ruhland and Krueger.

The program shows that a number of vocal
selections were rendered by the church choir and
soloists.

We are sorry not to be able to state how these
dedicatory services were attended, but from pre-
vious statements we read concerning the increased
interest the colored people of Buffalo were showing
in‘our work since the building of the new church
had been begun and from the great concern shown
by the members of our white churches in the
progress ‘and welfare of Our Savior Church, we feel
that we may take for granted that all the services
had record attendances.

The program sent us reveals the fact that ser-
vices were held on five evenings following the dedi-
cation. On Monday evening Pastor Hugo Kleiner
preached on “The Business of the Church”; on
Tuesday evening Pastor H. F. Wind spoke on “The
Church and the Child”; on Wednesday evening
Pastor Wm. Drews chose for his subject “The
Church and Youth”; on Thursday evening Pastor
“A. H. Dallmann presented the topic “The Church
and Its Societies”; and, finally, on Friday-evening,
Pastor Martin Walker’s discourse was on “The
Church and the Community.”

History of Our Savior Church.
We take the following brief sketch from the
program of the dedicatory services: —
_ “It was in June, 1925, that Chester Robinson,
while lying sick in the Buffalo City Hospital, was
_ brought into contact with our Lutheran Church

through the ministration of Rev. H. F. Wind, Super-
intendent of Lutheran Institutional Missions. After
his recovery he began a canvass of the Cold Spring
section of the city in order to determine the mis-
sionary possibilities among the colored people in
this territory. As a result of this survey it was
learned that sixty-five families would be interested
in the establishment of a Lutheran mission in this
section.

“Divine services were inaugurated in the house
at 1424 Jefferson Avenue, corner Woodlawn, on
New Year’s Day, 1926. Twelve people assembled
for the first service. The Sunday-school opened
with an enrolment of eight, which increased to
twenty-two on the following Sunday. Eight people
registered in the first mid-week Bible class.

“The mission-work was carried on by Rey. IH. F.
Wind, E. E. Mueller, and other Lutheran pastors of
the city, while the work of the Sunday-school has
been under the supervision of Miss Clara Menard,
visitor for Lutheran Institutional Missions, from
the beginning. The following served faithfully ag
teachers in the Sunday-school: Mrs. A. Klocke,
Miss Thelma Mattil, Miss Edna Shore, Miss Alma
Burow, Miss Clara Mueller, Miss Helen Mueller
Miss Bernice Washington, Miss Alice Washington,
Mr. H. P. Kreinheder.

“The ladies’ aid society and the girls’ club were
founded in the spring of 1926.

“During the summer of 1926 @¢.dent Ralph
Burow, now missionary among the Mohammedans
in India, served the mission as student pastor.

“During the summer of 1927, on the occasion of
the first confirmation service in the mission, the
name ‘Lutheran Church of Our Savior’ was adopted.
In the fall of that year Student Albert Dominick
of Immanuel College, Greensboro, N. C., arrived to:
take charge of the work of the church. Mr. Dom-
inick remained for a period of two years, returning
to Greensboro in the fall of 1929 to complete his
studies.

“On October 6, 1929, the Rev. Edgar R. Pflug
was installed as a worker in the field of Lutheran
Institutional Missions and as pastor of the Lutheran
Church of Our Savior. It was under Pastor Pflug’s
leadership that the new house of worship was
erected.

“Ground was broken for the new church at
96 Northland Avenue on November 3, 1931. The
corner-stone was laid on November 29, 1931, and
the church was dedicated to the service of the
Triune God on April 3, 1982. At the time of