Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-10-24

COUNCIL TO BUY
LIBERTY BONDS
nr. r. E. Schmauk, Presi-
dent of Body, Makes
Ringing Plea
cu1rRCH LOYALTY PLEDGE

a, mark Of its loyal support of the
c.,ernment in the war, the General Coun-
- ~ the Evangelical Lutheran Church
:, the United states, which today assembled
~ rs aftieth anniversary celebration. was
,,rosd by its president, the Rev. Dr. T. u.
e.brauk. of Lebanon, Pa, to subscribe
s.o,r its funds to the Liberty Loan
roIlowing this appeal. Judge William \.
e,aora treasurer Of the board " trustees
,ha General Council of the Lutheran
church. announced that $775o worth of
rjberty Bonds had been purchased from the
trustees fund.
srecial committee to draft Resolutions
an loyalty was appointed this afternoon
9th Frank NJ. Ritter. former chairman of
,ho Civil Service Comm sson as chairman.
Tho delegates to the convention met this
.r,ernoon i'm w,therspoon Eall to hear the
annual report Of the president and other
ofHcers and to elect officers for the ensuing
biennial PERIOD
~, the President Of our country for united
sndeAvor by all citizens to increase our ma
tlon, resources" said President Schmauk,
81 recommend, as a pledge of our earnest
ness and loyalty, that we subscribe to the
liberty Loan out of the current funds of
over to the ministerial pension funds"
VAST MAGNITUDE OF WORK
"The occasion is Unprecedented said DR.
,schmauk in beginning his address, Our
country is at war. The magnitude of that
which confronts us, church within a ma
tion is vet to be realized by our people.
1t has become. and will be more and more
the duty of the Church to c lrry out and
live up to the principles of Lutheranism in
rfN.il nf IN md
obey the state. We must follow our SOL
diers and go after them with the gospel to
uphold them in a spiritual environment.
"a special committee has been appointed
on army and navy work to act in conjunc-
tIon with other Lutheran bodies. As the
Government desires to deal with the Church
ns a whole we have made an effort TO unite
with al other Lutheran cooperating bodies
with considerable success.
The grave situation created in our con-
Eregations by the temporary withdrawal of
a large part of our rising generation from
the home center must not he overlooked,
The situation is creating unparalleled OPP
pOrtunties for the building up of the King
dom of God among our youth in the field.
We must rise to our duty"
MISsIoNG AND PENSIONS
Missionary work in the Danish West In.
dies recently purchased by the United
States. and which are the Oldest Lutheran
settlements i'm the Western Hemisphere
was descr bed by Doctor Schmauk A com.
mittee sent to the islands last year
and has returned with a detailed statement
of the conditions there and a formal ap-
plicaton from the islands to be received
into the General Conference.
Doctor Schmauk told of past efforts tC
establish a pension fund for ministers. Il
being desired to make this a quadricenten.
NAL project. He referred to the beQuest
Of $4,000 left for this purpose In February
1917 by Mary l.. Baer a member of Trim
hy Church, Lancaster. Pa.
He called attention to the fact that the
councils contract with Krepp Seminary tC
obtain German pastors for the faculty eX
pires this fall This contract has not beer
he said. and the arrangement will not bt
renewed at the present time.
QUESTION OF MERGER
Taking up the important question of tn,
merger of the General Council with othei
bodies President Schmauk said the ques
ton today Is whether its separate eXistenc,
should he continued or whether 1t SHOULD
be merged into the United Lutheran Churc!
Of America. All Lutheran bodies have beer
discussing the question, he said.
He pointed out that the Norwegian
bodies have united and that several Ger
man bodies have gone together. For abou
quarter of century we have co-OperateC
with the general bodies who are now in
vitng us to unite with them" he said
These bodies stand on the same confes
slonal basis and have reached this bas
through the influence of the General Coun
Gil. The proposed constitution for thi
United Lutheran Church is In thorough har
mony with the principles and policy of tn
General Council and with its constitution
/ propose that We act on this matter i'm
mediately."
MEET IN HISTORIC CHURCH
thousand delegates. from every Stat
In the Union, from Canada and from for
eign lands. met in old Zion Church, ol
Franklin Square, this morning, 1t was iron
the pulpit of this church, when It stoo'
at Fourth and Cherry streets, that Genera
Lighthouse Harry" Lee uttered, 11S year
ago, that famous eulogy of Washington
First in war, first in peace. first in tn
hearts of his countrymen." Today, fror
lts pupi; came a ringing call for the Ii
heran Church in America to consecrate II
Sell, taking its inspiration from God, to III
SUPPORT Of the nation in its war.
The call was sounded by the Rev. ID
sehmauk His sermon followed an addres
OF welcome to the delegates by DR.. Edga
rams Smith, provost of the University c
pennsylvania. Confessional services wer
istered
The convention, which will continue fo
iull week, includes the biennial meetin
OF the General Council of the Nations
church and marks the fiftieth annlversar
OF the founding of the council and III
tOOth anniversary of the beginning Of III
protestant Reformation in Europe by MAJ
tin Luther
The Lutherans of the entire country. wh