Omaha daily bee., 1903-06-15
WORK OF LUTHERAN SYNOD
FOrty-P rs. Biennial Session Held at Balti-
more Just Ended.
CHURCH IN PRO Porous CONDITION
Reports of Secretaries Of Boards
show the Growth of the Sect and
It's Necessities Are Fur
ther Provided For.

-
BALTIMORE. Md, June 11.-(special
Correspondence. THE forty-hrst biennial
session OF the General Synod Of the Evan
gelical Lutheran Church in the United
States, after a deliberation Of eight days,
closed tonight. The convention took place
in the First Lutheran church. Rev. Ezra
X. Bell, d. D., pastor. This church is one
Of the finest in the city Of Baltimore and
eminently adapted for the purpose OF en-
tertaining more than 300 guests, delegates
and visitors.
To dwell for a moment on the growth
OF the Evangelical Lutheran church in n
quarter Of a century, let US follow the
report Of tho committee on state OF church,
as presented yesterday to the general synod
convention. The General Synod Lutheran
church has now twice as many members
as II had in 1876. and half as many more
churches than in that year. The amount
in the synodicai treasury then was T,771.12,
now It Is $4,000; beneficiary education then
S22.473, now nearly hve times as much, $685.
$50; home missions then s2e .40s. now over
f98.2N; church extension then SOS, 4s3. now
$132,S7 the net assets Of the Board OF
Church Extension then were 500, 2S4, now
S456,15; contributions for the publication
society then were Ss,5e7, now the church
owns n magnificent plant with assets Of
S1s7,g19
This growth IL due to the fact that this
country has grown and expanded wonder.
fully, not only in the east, but also in the
west. The number Of delegates showed
this, as the delegation Ii according to the
size Of synods, or the number of congrega-
lions belonging to this synod; Kansas had
twelve delegates, while Nebraska had
twenty-five. more than the old and long
o,3ohtt.bod A4orx.Iond svpod Thora
twenty-five district synods, with 246 regular
delegates on the list. representing about
LOO churches and 20 preaching stations,
with a communicate membership Of over
10000 and an infant membership OF nearly
5000, a total of 100000.
Eminent Men Present.
Among the 246 delegates, some of whom,
from the far west. were somewhat belated
owing to the floods in the west, were sew
eral prominent men whose names are
known all over the land. Conspicuous
among these were Judge Peter s. Grosscup
of the United States circuit court Of Chi
cago. who rendered the decision in the
recent anti-Beef trust proceedings In the
Windy City. The Judge was not only
called upon for his legal advice, together
with w. c. stoever, attorney for the
Society of Publication, who was instructed
on Tuesday to apply TO the court OF COM
mon pleas at Philadelphia for n new char
ter. 80 that twenty members instead OF ten
could be elected. and George Nen, an
eminent lawyer. spoke also feelingly on
President Mckinley.
Another eminent lawyer is a delegate to
the general synod from the same East
Ohio district synod. Judge Henry Harter Of
Canton. o., who sits in the court OF COM
mon pleas. And still another well known
name is that of Horace Lehr, mayor
of .Easton. Pa. Then there is J. L.
Zimmerman, who made a fight for the
democratic, nomination. for the governor
ship OF Ohio a couple OF years ago. as the
Baltimore American tells. its readers, A
number OF professors are alsU on the floor
OF the synod from Springfield. o.; Atchlson.
Kan. Gettysburg and other educational
centers. One OF these gentlemen was
chosen president of the present general
synod convention. while the other candi-
date was also a theological professor. The
names of these two candidates were:
Rev. 2. ]. Wolf. d. D.. LII. D., of the
Gettysburg (Pa.) seminary, and Rev. f. D..
Altman. president of the theological SEM
mary of Midland college, Atchison, Kan. 1t
can be seen from this that while the east
was triumphant over the west In the choos-
lhB VI a PICoAhEhAt y0N NlN NuutdAAOiuA tiN-
ment is predominant over the ministerial.
Work of the synod.
The synod opened on Wednesday evening,
the 4th inst, with a sermon by the retiring
president, Rev. DR.. w s.. Freas of Balti-
more. This was a fine discourse in which
the sentiment for union was expressed In
a marked manner. deploring the fact that
there are 143 religious sects in the United
States.
The First Lutheran church is a fine
structure and made a most beautiful sight
with Its chaste chancel and handsome dec
o~rations. It was lighted most beautifully.
On one occasion during a thunderstorm the
electric fuses were burned out and an
awful crash OF lightning sped through the
entire building, A woman, wife of a dele
gate from California. tainted, but the gas
Jets we're lighted and the speaker on the
floor continued his speech unrudied. An
other young lady. Miss Bell, daughter OF
the pastor, had her. arm burned by the
lightning.
A memorable sermon also was preached
last Sunday morning by Rev. DR.. Wolf, the
president of this. the highest ecclesiastical
body in the denomination, taking for his
text the words: Lead me TO the rock
that is higher than l." The president
spoke on these -FOUR topics: a. The Uni
versal Consciousness OF a Supreme Being"
90 THE Human Aspirations After God"
co. THE Unattainableness Of This Com
munion by Human Effort" ~ The En-
cacy of Believing in Prayer"
Many OF the pastors OF the synod occu-
pied the pulpits OF the city in all the diff
ferent denominations. The music. under
the direction OF Mr.. Harry NJ Smith, was
a treat during every evening OF the synod.
The regular church choir was assisted by
well known singers OF the city. such DIM
cult and elaborate music being rendered as
Send Out Thy Light OGounod), the
Gloria" from Mozart's Twelfth mass: the
"Innammatus" and Rossini's 'stabat
Mater"
DIR. Wolf as Chairman.
Or. Wolf was greeted with a great deal
OF applause when he first took his seat as
chairman, and he evoked a good deal of
laughter with his felicltious remarks. He
said that he himself had always caused
much disorder on the floor OF the synod
and that perhaps for that reason the
synod had elected him as chairman. since
he must hear others and have but little 10
say himself. lie notified the synod that he
had the sheriff Of Ralfimora NJ IA. "a.