LUTHERANS. 



367 



The subject discussed was What are the duties 

 imposed upon Christian parents and congrega- 

 tions by the baptism of children? The General 

 Council was represented at this convention by 

 the Rev. Gottlieb C. Berkemeier, D. D., of Mount 

 Vernon, N. Y. The next meeting will be held 

 at Waverly, Iowa, in 1905. 



General Lutheran Conference. The second 

 general conference of Lutherans in North Amer- 

 ica was held in Philadelphia, Pa., April 1-3, 1902. 

 Representatives in large numbers were present 

 from the General Council, General Synod, and 

 United Synod of the South, and numerous topics 

 bearing on the doctrines, worship, and life of the 

 Church were discussed. The opening address was 

 delivered by the Rev. Prof. Henry E. Jacobs, 

 D. D., LL. D., dean of the theological seminary at 

 Mount Airy, Philadelphia, who called attention 

 to the fact that while the center of the Lutheran 

 population is west of Chicago, the people of the 

 three general bodies represented in the confer- 

 ence are massed mainly near the Atlantic coast, 

 the original home of the early Lutheran settlers 

 in this country. The following subjects were pre- 

 sented in carefully prepared papers, and discussed 

 by the conference: Justification by Faith, the 

 Rev. L. G. M. Miller, D. D., Roanoke, Va.; The 

 Doctrine of Justification in its Relations, the Rev. 

 Prof. J. W. Richard, D. D., Gettysburg, Pa.; The 

 Relation of Young People's Societies to the Con- 

 gregation, the Rev. C. Armand Miller, New York 

 city; The Place of the Holy Spirit in Lutheran 

 Theology, the Rev. Jason C. Moser, D. D., Hick- 

 ory, N. C.; The Lutheran Doctrine of the Sacra- 

 ments, the Rev. L. E. Busby, D. D., Salisbury, 

 N. C.; Christian Liberty and its Limitations, the 

 Rev. Prof. Stephen A. Repass, D. D., Allentown, 

 Pa.; The Historical Deaconess Work and Amer- 

 ican Conditions, the Rev. Gottlieb C. Berkemeier, 

 D. D., Mount Vernon, N. Y.; Parochial Schools in 

 Relation to our Congregations, the Rev. George 



C. F. Haas, D. D., New York city; A Native 

 Ministry for Congregations in Foreign Fields, the 

 Rev. J. H. Harpster, D. D., Guntur, East India; 

 Women as Helpers in the Practical Work of the 

 Church, the Rev. J. P. Krechting, D. D., New Ger- 

 mantown, N. J.; The Spiritual Priesthood of Be- 

 lievers, the Rev. John A. Hall, D. D., Canton, 

 Ohio; Are our Present Methods of Sunday-School 

 Work Adequate? the Rev. David H. Geissinger, 



D. D., Pittsburg, Pa., and the Rev. Prof. J. A. Sing- 

 master, D. D., Gettysburg, Pa. ; The Attitude of 

 the Lutheran Church toward Current Discussions 

 concerning the Holy Scriptures, the Rev. F. H. 

 Knubel, New York city; Problems of Church 

 Polity, the Rev. Prof. Jacob Fry, D. D., Philadel- 

 phia; The Defamers of Luther, the Rev. J. J. 

 Young, D. D., New York city. 



Luther League of America. This associa- 

 tion of young people of the Lutheran Church 

 held its fifth national convention in St. Paul and 

 Minneapolis, Minn., July 8-10, 1902. Representa- 

 tives of 14 States, numbering 200, were present. 

 The officers of the society are: William C. 

 Stoever, Esq., Philadelphia, Pa., president; C. G. 

 Grauer, Buffalo, N. Y., recording secretary; the 

 Rev. Charles K. Hunton, Columbus, Ohio, statis- 

 tical secretary; the Revs. Charles L. Fry, Phila- 

 delphia, Pa., and George H. Schnur, Chillicothe, 

 Ohio, literary secretaries; and Mr. John F. Din- 

 key, Rochester, N. Y., treasurer. The first ses- 

 sion of the convention was held in the First 

 Swedish Church of St. Paul, w T hich is also the 

 oldest Lutheran church in that city. The busi- 

 ness sessions were held in the English Memorial 

 Church, beginning on Wednesday, July 9, 1902. 

 Among the reports presented was that of the sta- 



tistical secretary, the Rev. Charles K. Hunton,. 

 of Columbus, Ohio, which estimated the member- 

 ship of the league at 34,305, although a large 

 number of leagues had not reported. A conserva- 

 tive estimate places the total membership at 

 70,000. A large part of the time of the conven- 

 tion was devoted to the discussion of papers read. 

 The topic of the convention was Praying and 

 Working; Working and Praying, and this theme 

 was chiefly considered in all the papers and 

 addresses. The first paper was by the Rev. John 

 E. Whitteker, D. D. , of Lancaster, Pa., on Work- 

 ing and Praying must be Joined. The second 

 paper was by Miss Josephine Maedel, of Kansas 

 City, Mo., on Power and Prayer. Other papers 

 followed bearing on different phases of the gen- 

 eral subject, as Prayer without Work; Work 

 without Prayer; Praying and Working the 

 Forces Moving the World. The interest of the 

 convention was enhanced by the presence of Miss 

 Ellen M. Stone, lately released from captivity 

 among the brigands of Bulgaria, who spoke of 

 her experience and release from captivity as a 

 wonderful result of the power of prayer. Ac- 

 cording to its usual custom, the convention held 

 a grand rally meeting, as its final session, in the 

 auditorium, which comfortably held the 2,500 

 persons present. A special feature of this meet- 

 ing was the Luther League Chorus of 200 voices, 

 under the direction of Peter Johnson, of the 

 First Swedish Church of St. Paul. Among the 

 selections rendered by this chorus was Luther's 

 great battle hynm A Mighty Fortress is our 

 God. 



The most conspicuous event of 1902 in the his- 

 tory of the Luther League of America, as re- 

 ported by the Rev. Charles L. Fry, of Philadel- 

 phia, is the election of its first general secretary, 

 who is to devote his entire time to the further- 

 ance of the league's work and have general over- 

 sight of its affairs. The election was held in 

 Philadelphia on Nov. 15, 1902, and resulted in the 

 unanimous choice of the Rev. Luther M. Kuhns, 

 of Omaha, Neb. The major part of his support 

 was generously tendered by the Luther League 

 Review, a monthly published in New York city 

 in the interest of the association. The league has 

 also added another proof of its substantial value 

 to the church as an educational factor, espe- 

 cially among young people, by beginning the pub- 

 lication of a Lutheran Calendar, under the edi- 

 torship of the Rev. Charles L. Fry, giving 365 

 data of all phases of missionary activity and 

 rescue work now prosecuted by the Lutheran 

 Church in all countries on the globe. The salient 

 features of each institution and agency named, 

 from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, are set forth in a few 

 terse sentences. Women's missionary societies, 

 representing the General Synod, the General 

 Council, and the United Synod of the South, have 

 combined with the Luther League in publishing 

 and circulating the calendar. To bring about 

 such a cooperation of all the bodies in the Lu- 

 theran Church of America was one of the chief 

 objects of the league's organization. 



The Lutheran Liturgical Association. 

 This association was organized at Pittsburg, Pa., 

 Oct. 3, 1898. Its officers are: The Rev. Luther 

 D. Reed, Allegheny, Pa., president ; the Rev. Prof. 

 Elmer F. Krauss, Chicago, vice-president; the 

 Rev. R. Morris Smith, Baden, Pa., secretary and 

 treasurer; and the Rev. Prof. George J. Gonga- 

 ware, Greensburg, Pa., archivarius. Its member- 

 ship consists of clergymen and laymen in all 

 parts of the Lutheran Church who are interested 

 in promoting beauty, correctness, and a desirable 

 uniformity in the external life of the Church 



