The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1933, Page 66

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

66 THE LUTHERAN PIONEER

An Easy Way.

Wouldst thou be wretched?

"Tis an easy way:

Think of but self, and self alone, all day;
Think of thy pain, thy grief, thy loss, thy care,
All that thou hast to do or feel or bear;
Think of thy good, thy pleasure, and thy gain.
Think only of thyself; ’twill not be vain.

Woudst thou be happy?

Take an easy way:

Think of those round thee, live for them each day;
Think of their pain, their loss, their grief, their care,
All that they have to do or feel or bear;

Think of their pleasure, of their good, their gain.
Think of those round thee; ’twill not be in vain.

Securing Readers for Our Missionary
Monthlies.

At the last convention of the Synodical Con-
ference it was decided that special efforts be made
by the Mission Board, the District representatives,
and the editors of the two missionary monthlies,
Missionstaube and PIoNEER, to make special efforts
to increase the number of readers of these papers.
The writer would make bold to offer the following
suggestions, which, he thinks, if followed, might
lead to an appreciable increase in subscribers.

The Appointment in Every Congregation of an
Energetic and Enthusiastic Agent. — A glance over
the lists of churches will reveal the fact that the con-
gregations with many subscriptions to our church-
papers are those where some one has taken a special
interest in getting readers. Every member should
be an agent for the church-papers, but the fact re-
mains that in actual life they do not function as
such; hence the getting of readers should be made
the special duty of some particular member who
himself is an interested reader of the church-papers.
Of course, an agent who does not read the PioNEER
himself cannot intelligently speak for it; and so it
is with every other paper. We have heard of an
agent for a missionary magazine who called for
sample copies and asked as he was leaving, “What
is this monthly about anyhow?” If the canvasser
cannot afford the price, he should be presented with
a copy!

Use Sample Copies. — Concordia Publishing

House is always ready to furnish sample copies of
the PionzER and the Missionstaube. Canvassers

should order a reasonable supply of these, leave

copies at the homes of prospective subscribers, and

later call for the subscriptions. This distribution
of sample copies will introduce the monthlies to a
large number of new readers and will probably serve
in gaining new subscribers.

Include Church-Paper Subscriptions in the
Every-Member Canvass. — Concordia Publishing
House makes provision for this by inclosing a spe-
cial envelope for the purpose. Everybody that can-
vasses for the support of the congregation and for
Synod’s benevolences at the same time becomes also
a canvasser for the church-papers.

What the Pastors Can Do.— Pastors are the
best advertisers. We have pastors in the Synodical
Conference who realize the value of our missionary
monthlies and other church-papers not only in
arousing interest in the benevolences of the Church,
but in cultivating a spirit of service and sacrifice
among their members, and who therefore promote
their circulation by frequently referring to them in
their announcements or, what is still better, quoting
from them or referring to articles contained in them
in their sermons. Some pastors have even canvassed
their congregations for subscribers for the regular
church organs and our missionary monthlies.

Use the Subscribers. — Present readers ought to
be good advertisers and salesmen. If they talk mis-
sionary magazines and the things they read in them
in season and out of season, they will be sure to
make some impression, and this may lead to a new
reader.

Missionary Committee of the Walther League.—
A certain young people’s society had a missionary
committee, and this committee asked the pastor to
give it some definite work of a missionary character
to do. The pastor suggested to the members of the
committee that they aim to place a copy of the mis-
sionary monthly in every home of the congregation.
Sample copies were sent for, and a copy was placed
in each home. After two weeks the homes were
visited again and subscriptions solicited. It was
quite a task, but it developed the missionary activity
of the society and secured many new subscribers.

Lhe Sunday-School.— We do not use enough
the immense amount of energy in our Sunday-
schools. We have read of a case where a class of
five thirteen-year-old boys gathered fifty-five new
subscribers in ten days and a class of ten girls se-
cured fifty-eight subscriptions in a church of 200
members where only ten copies had been taken
before. ;

Have a Magazine Fund.— We know of two
ladies’ societies that have a sort of magazine fund