Evening star., 1933-11-11
LUTHER MEMORIAL
| SERVICE ATTENDED
BY CROWD OF 1900
Celebration Eulogizes Birth
of German Reformer
$50 Years AGO.
ELIGI0US PAGEANTRY
H0NORS ANNIVERSARY
Rev. Paul Scherer and DR.. Hans
Luther Refer to Ideals of
Great Churchman.

A plea to America to stop butterfly.
chasing" and following the ritual Of
the half gods" was made by Rev. Paul
Z. Scherer,. pastor of the Holy Trinity
Lutheran Church of New York, at a
celebration of the 450th anniversary Of
the birth of Martin Luther last night
in Constitution Hall.
All Protestant denominations in
Washington united with the Lutheran
churches in paying tribute to the leader
of the reformation, whose ideals, Dr..
Seherer said, need to be adopt ted)todav
to lift the world out Of the rit ssdf'
economic depression and halt the ten,
deney toward mass movement; which Is
destroying individuality, ~ ;
Four thousand or more persons, in
GLIDING members of the diplomatic
corps, high Federal and District Off,
cials, members of Congress and pronli-
nent educators attended the exercises
which took the form of colorful relig.
ious pageant. The services were opened
with an impressive procession, led by
massed choir OF 800 voices, which
fled down to the altar to the strains
of the professional hymn Come. Holy
Spirit, God and Lord" written by
Luther in 1924.
"Rediscovery' is Needed.
DR.. Scherer took for the topic of his
sermon. When Half Gods Go, the Gods
Arrive" He drew upon the dramatic
life Of Luther to point out that the
masses cannot go on forever SubSti-
t1ltinp "6rfinF for truth . and N.alrrfrNey
upon Investigations and surveys for
facts when there must be rediscov-
cry of man, truth and faith"
There strikes time" he said,
when to be God-headed and an idealist
means recovery, and to be hard-boiled
and practical means revolution.
We dare not go on substituting for
truth any fiction that pleases us at
the moment. We cannot go on thump-
ing our heads against a stone wall
before the half-gods.
Modem man feels contemplate. He
has been taught to thumb his nose
at himself. The modern worlds efforts
to set itself right have been marked
with gross stupidity. I give to you
Martin Luther and the dawn of a saner
world
DR.. Scherer referred briefly TO the
create
things more beautiful and more pre-
tentious, than ever before. He described
this as butterfly chasing" and pointed
specifically to Americas latest citadel
OF entertainment in Radio City 'To
be present there when the lights 20
on" he declared, sis like being present
at the creation ITSELF"
DIR. Hans Luther, German Ambassador
to the United States and a collateral
descendant of Martin Luther, outlined
the reformer's influence on Christendom
The new German church was de-
scr1oed by DR.. Luther as comprising in
its organization the totality of the
Reich in its church life in full analogy
to the long hoped for and finally ac-
complished unifcation/ of German po-
htical life.''
y Sees Unlfication Tendensy.
In praising the aspirations and in
huence of Martin Luther, the An1bas-
sador said that despite various aspects
OF Professionalism in the United States,
tnere are evidences of tendency to-
ward greater unification.
The oftlciating clergy consisted Of
Rev. Charles Enders. pastor of the Con-
w. Snyder, pastor of ST. Paurs Lu-
theran Church; Rev. Carl G. Rasmus-
sen, pastor of Luther Place Memorial
Church; Rev. S. T. Nicholas, pastor of
Keller Memorial Church, and Rev.
Howard E. Snyder, pastor OF the Lu-
theran Church of the Atonement.
A feature Of the celebration was a
vesper service, under the direction of
John Monroe, organist and choir di-
rector of the Concordia Lutheran
Church. Dr. c. E. Christiani directed
the orchestra.