Baltimore, Md., in the fall, to prepare herself for parish deaconess work.

The topic for this session was “Believing— Our Faith." The paper on the first division of this subject, "What We Believe-Our Creed," was presented by Mrs. C. L. Warstler, of Whitestown, and was as follows:

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What we are and what we do depends largely on what we believe. As Lutheran Christians we moulded and influenced by the faith of our Church. The better we understand and the more heartily we accept the faith of our Church the better Christians we will be.

First in common with practically all of the Christian Church we accept the Apostles' Creed. We accept what it says about creation. We believe what it says about redemption and sanctification.

Our particular creed is the Augsburg Confession. In additon to the true teaching held by the Roman Church, false doctrine had been added or had taken the place of the true. Abuses flourished in the Church and many withdrew from the Roman Catholic Church. These were urged on by a desire for truth. Discussions among themselves and with others helped to clear their views. Then came the command of the reformers to present a statement of their faith to the Emperor Charles at the Diet of Augsburg, 1530. Then was brought about the statement of our faith that we hold as a Church.

The Augsburg Confession teaches of a God who has made all things. Not only has He made all things, but preserves them. This God is a triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Our creed humbles proud, self-satisfied human nature, and reveals unworthiness and shows the need of a Saviour by teaching that all men are sinners and are liable to eternal condemnation unless born again. It condemns that ever present and ever popular false belief that men can save themselves by their own works and merits.

Again in its teaching about Jesus Christ, it teaches that Christ is both divine and human and not just a mere man as some teach. Instead of Christ being only teacher and example as a man, we believe that He is also true God and Saviour who has redeemed us not with silver and gold, but with His holy and precious blood and innocent sufferings and death.

In the matter of faith we are assured and believe that faith is wrought in men by word and sacraments and are warned that faith comes in no other way.

Concerning good works we are taught and believe that faith brings forth good fruits. We do good works because we are saved. No one can do enough good to save himself. He is saved only through the merits of Christ.

Instead of the absolute uniformity in worship of the Church of Rome the Confession provides for the largest freedom in nonessentials and insists only that the Gospel be purely taught and the sacraments rightly administered.

Concerning the Church and the ministry the Confession teaches the largest freedom and yet guards the official teaching of the Church. We have the universal priesthood. There are no orders in the Church. Every believer may approach God in prayer. But when it comes to the public teaching in the Church only those who are rightly called are to publicly teach and administer the sacraments. Thus we may be reasonably sure of having Godly, rightly trained men for pastors. Even then we do not need to put our faith in men. Our Church does not teach sinless perfection even in its ministers. We do not put our trust in the ministry. We believe that we are regenerated and sanctified by the Word and sacraments. Should

it be found at any time that the one who baptized us or who has preached to us has proved unworthy our salvation is not in danger. God has only used him to bring to us the means of grace. God works in us by

these means.

We also believe that God's grace is bestowed upon those who believe in baptism, and we may look back with confidence that at a certain time and place we received God's grace and were admitted to His kingdom. We have the comforting assurance that through baptism our children receive the same blessings.

Concerning the Lord's Supper we are assured that

Scripture teaches that we receive the body and blood of our Lord and thus receive divine grace.

Instead of a Romish doctrine that there can be forgiveness only of those sins which are confessed to a priest we have the comfort that where there is true repentance we have the forgiveness of all our sins including even those which we may not know.

The confession reminds us that we will be sinners even after our baptism and that we will never attain to sinless perfection in this life, but that where there is sincere sorrow for sin and faith that God for Christ's sake will forgive our sins, we may hope that good works will follow as the fruit of repentance.

Whereas many Protestant Churches regard the sacraments as marks of profession among men we regard them as means of grace where they are used in faith. We are also fortunate in our doctrine of good works. Many in the Roman Catholic Church and in other Protestant Churches are distressed by a wrong belief in this matter. They think that to some extent at least their salvation depends upon their good works. Hence they are in doubt whether they have performed enough of good works to secure salvation. Others perhaps are in a state of false security be cause they put their trust in things they have done that can never merit salvation.

We believe there is a fullness of forgiveness where there is true repentance and faith in Christ and no other way regardless of how many or how few good works. We believe, however, where there is true faith in Christ good works are bound to follow, and that where there are no good works there is no saving faith.

Our position is often put this way, others do good works in the hope that they may be saved, we because we are saved. Now there are many other matters of faith mentioned in our Confession of which we have not spoken. But we believe that these touch upon the most important and may possibly be sufficient for our discussion this afternoon.

The second division of this topic was "Why We Believe-The Ground of Our Faith," and this paper was presented by Miss Ruth Robeson, of Camden, which was as follows:

First-We believe because all the world of creation points to God as the cause of all things. The Psalmist says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork." He also speaks of considering Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained. The world could not just happen to be; it has to have a cause; God is the only cause, sufficient to explain the existence of the world.

Second-We believe because Jesus Christ the Son of God alone can meet the needs of men's souls. The Apostle Paul tells us, "But my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." No man can forgive his own sins. In one of David's prayers he said, "For Thou, Lord, art good and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon Thee." We are all sinful, but Jesus said, "For if ye forgive men their trespasses. your heavenly Father will also forgive you.' " and He immediately follows this statement by saying, "But if ye forgive not men their trespasses neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Only the Divine One can forgive. Our fellowmen can forgive us of our sins towards them, but if we cannot forgive them of their sins towards us what is the result? Why, God will not forgive us, as Ile can only forgive us we forgive men. So again I repeat, only the Divine One can forgive.

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Third-We believe because the proofs of Christ's claims being true are not to be disputed. We study the Bible and learn of His works which prove His divinity. His words, "Such as never man spake" bear testimony. The evidence of many witnesses tell us the Gospel story is true. The witnesses are the disciples, men and women who have felt His power in their own lives.

Fourth-We believe because experience teaches us that faith in Christ and God is not a false hope. Through faith lives of men are changed, their hearts are made pure. Paul says, "And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith" "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, evidence of things unseen,' or faith is belief in and reliance upon Jesus Christ. We can truthfully say

that there are two kinds of faith: First, the faith that relies, that trusts In this faith we trust our lives and their well being to the guidance and care of God. The other faith is that which apprehends, as a Christian takes for himself the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ and obtains the benefits of that death. This distinction we make almost without knowing it and yet true faith has but one center-that is our Lord Jesus Christ. All that God is to us, He is in Christ; and all that we know of God, we know through Christ. Hence, true Christian faith is a living apprehension of Christ Jesus our Savior and Lord. Faith alone saves. This is the great doctrine of our Church, that we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ and by faith alone; it is the clear and certain teaching of the Gospel. We cannot of ourselves live so perfectly that we will merit salvation. We are sinners all, and deserving of nothing of God's hands. But God the Father, out of infinite love for this poor lost world, sent His only Son to earth who took our place and died upon the cross. He suffered for us, bearing our sin and guilt. By faith in Christ and His atoning sacrifice we are saved through Him and in Him we have life. Our life when living away from Christ is no different than the life of the jailer who cried, "What shall I do to be saved," and Paul, without hesitation, answered, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved."

Faith enables us to overcome the world. John said, "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." The world is constantly striving to master us, to obtain us for itself. How shall we conquer it, with its low standards and its enmity to holy things? We conquer when by faith in Jesus Christ we are enabled to stand against its temptations, for Christ in us makes us strong. We conquer when by faith we live in Him and He in us. The indwelling Christ brings into our lives new and higher loves and aspirations, which dwarf the coarse pleasures of the world; we are now new creatures in Christ Jesus.

Faith can be lost. St. Paul said among his last words to his spiritual son, Timothy, "I have fought a good fight; I have kept the faith." There is implied in those words that which we dare not shut our eyes to, namely, that faith may be lost. I speak of this not to discourage or to lessen the lofty lessons of faith, but to urge earnest holding fast to the faith, which is your life. Men and women everywhere about us are loosing their faith. Faith is sometimes lost by overwork. "Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work," said God. Yet many are having their faith ground out of them by the dull round of heart breaking toil, which knows no day of rest or worship.

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Pleasure seeking is another way in which faith is lost. The god of good time takes all their love and service. Sometimes prosperity, sometimes adversity is responsible. To lose the faith is to lose life. Keep the faith. It is infinitely precious and valuable. is a channel of light, a bridge of safety, your strength and defence. This is a time for renewing and deepening of your faith in the Christ who died for you and for me. Keep the faith, precious faith.

Third Session

The Wednesday afternoon session opened with a devotional service conducted by Rev. W. J. Siberling, of Mulberry.

The subject for discussion at this session was "Knowing-Our Church-Her Missions," which was treated in a paper by Miss Ethel Boyle, of Butler, as follows:

The Church was organized to spread the Gospel. Those Churches having no broad outlook in the way of giving to others, in other words, those Churches having no missions are not advancing. In the great order of things it is the unselfish church that grows, not the one living unto itself alone. This spirit of giving is manifested in city, home and foreign missions. Sin creates the great necessity.

The ever changing customs of our people, the general social order, the present commercialism and industrial conditions, even the problems of amusements and recreation, all call for redoubled efforts on the part of home missions.

The ignorance, the unsanitary living conditions and the absence of a Christian spirit make the foreign

missionary a necessity. Our efforts are limited because of our ignorance of what it actually means to live in a non-Christian land.

Even the unscriptural theory that our extra Bibli cal provision has been made for the heathen were true, yet the Christian religion is necessary simply for temporal happiness.

Just one Sunday of work would convince us of this. Our greatest drawback is the lack of knowledge to appreciate what it must mean to exist-not to live without Christianity.

Our first missionary work began in the sixteenth century and has been increasing. Lutheran missionaries from Sweden came to America in 1638 to work among the Indians. Denmark sent missionaries to Greenland. Africa and India have their Lutheran missions. Every Lutheran land, including Polana and Finland, is now supporting foreign missions. The deaconesses deserve special mention along this line.

Truly "Charity begins at home" and our greatest opportunity is in our own beloved land, but we must not neglect the foreign call from India, Africa, China, Japan and Oceania,

Our missionaries not only supply spiritual life, but in the hospitals and schools they are building this by means of physical well being and intellectual development. Not only do we reap the results of the missionaries themselves, but the nations whom they edu cate in turn are Christian workers and so we have an endless chain of good in each foreign missionary. The names of Christian Frederick, Schwartz, John Christian Frederick Heyer, John Henry Harpster, David A. Day and Samuel Christian Hinsinger are noble examples of great lives given over to the cause of Christ and are worthy of our serious study and imitation.

The hope of our missions is better living by the salvation of the world when the Golden Rule will be the only guide.

The discussion of this subject was opened by Rev J. B. Gardner, who emphasized the fact that we know so little about the mission work our Church is doing. We should be better informed, and are in need of information and literature along that line.

An interesting general discussion followed. Fourth Session

The vespers of the Wednesday evening session were in charge of Rev. J. B. Gardner, of Butler.

The choir of First Church of Indianapolis rendered a beautiful anthem, "Great God, Attend."

The convention was favored with the presence of Rev. S. P. Long, of Mansfield, Ohio, who gave one of his characteristic addresses on the subject of "The Philosophy of Providence."

He said in part:

We are told in the Word of God that the very hairs of your head are all numbered. I think I preached for ten years, if not fifteen, before I understood what that phrase meant. I always supposed that it meant that God knew how many hairs you had on your head. But it is not that that He means at all. Whether you have one hair or 10,000 on your head, every hair has a number on it, and that being true is one of the most remarkable evidences of God's providence we can imagine The very number on a hair is the most wonderful revelation of God's providence and it does bring out the greatness of little things.

It was a little thing in history for a young man to be called to leave a certain place and go somewhere without knowing where, but it was that call that gave to the world the Jewish race, and that gave to the world the Saviour, and that gave to the world the greatest financiers found on the globe today.

It was a little thing for the mother of Joseph to make a little coat of many colors, but it was the making of that little coat that revealed the jealousies of the brothers that caused him to be sold to send him to Egypt, to make him the ruler to prepare a people and for the people who should become the children of Israel.

It was a little thing when we look back in history for a man like Cæsar to sit down and write an edicta man whom God knew, a man who knew not Godthat all the world should be taxed, and yet if it had not been for that little edict Mary would not have gone to Bethlehem, Christ would not have been born in Bethlehem and the prophecy of God's Word would not have been true and the Bible would have been false,

It is a little thing that there was found in the River Nile a very little box and a very little boy in it, but if it had not been found there would not have been a Moses, the law giver.

It was a little thing for a little nephew to stand and hear a little remark made by one of a great mob, but if the nephew of St. Paul had not heard what was said that night Paul would have been killed that night and there would not have been fourteen Epistles of the Bible and that great missionary would never have appeared on the pages of history.

It is a little thing that your hairs are all numbered, yet in that one sentence you find the philosophy of God's providence.

The philosophy of Providence sealed. Let us notice in the first place that it is sealed, in the second place that it is revealed, and in the third place let us notice it unreeled.

sin.

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First of all I say, let us notice that the philosophy of Providence is sealed. Sin is in the world. Original sin is here. Every child that has been born from the days of Adam and Eve has been born in The overlooking of this fact has brought false doctrines into the world, has pushed infant baptism out of some churches and brought error into theology. Not only is original sin here in the world but actual sin is here. The transgression of Divine law-there isn't sacred law anywhere that the people of this world have not broken. Not only is sickness, but sickness is here. It is a world of sickness. We may talk all we please about sickness being imaginary. We may talk all we please about the wonderful strides of the medical fraternity of the present day, but the truth of it is, the longevity of the people at large has grown shorter, instead of longer, and the fact is that all the medical science in the world cannot prevent sickness. Nor can Christian Science do away with it. A woman belonging to that cult this past week in my home town broke her arm and she sent for a physician to set it. He said why don't you think it is not broken. She had to have it set. In other words, sickness is here. Suffering is here. There is suffering on every hand, More suffering than the world knows of. Right in this house tonight how many people there are who are hiding their suffering and never let the world know. Suffering is here. Intense suffering. Not far from this church tonight people are dying. It is a world of sin. It is a world of suffering. It is a world of sickness and Satan is here. We are living in a time when some people imagine it is only superstition which would acknowledge the personality of a devil. Why they tell us it belongs to the dark ages. That there is no such a thing as a personal devil at all. Last fall I went hunting with some of my friends. There was no snow, We came to a little hole, and I said to him. There's a rabbit in that hole. And he said I would like to know how you can tell. I cocked my gun and the first thing there lay a rabbit, and he said how in the world did you find that out, and I said I am not a hound, but I can see a track. Now my friends I have seen tracks of the devil everywhere. How can there be tracks if he did not exist? Why so many devilish deeds done if there is no personal devil? Why all this murder? Why all this hatred? Christ the Son of God was tempted by the devil. If there is no devil there is no God. If there is no hell there is no heaven. alive and in this book. Satan is here. Sinners are perishing. Eight hundred million of people tonight on the face of God's earth without hope of being saved. Not only are sinners perishing, but science is limited and science is puzzled. Why all these wars and all these murders? Where is the God

Both are

who numbers the hairs on our heads? When the cannons are roaring and when the smoke is flying, and the men and women, if you please, are dying and perishing, where is God? Where is the God that numbers the hairs on our heads when nations are at war with each other? Silence. Silence is God. The philosophy of Providence is sealed. Only sealed, however, to those who have not found it revealed by God himself. As I hold in my hand this book tonight I hold the revelation of Providence, and it is my purpose this evening to hand you the key to unlock this book, to find out what Providence really is, and in order to do this I would have you remember a number of words beginning with a little m. In the first place, if you want to know what the philosophy of Providence is, you must keep in mind the mind of God. The mind of this book. When I open up a new book which I never saw before the very first thing I want to see is the name of the author. The second thing, what is the mind of this author. If he has a good message I will take time to read this book. If he's got an evil mind I do not care to spend my time on his book. But I want to say I have never seen a book in all my life that was so deep that it could not be fathomed. Man can fathom the minds of men, but I hold here a book that differs from every other book in the world. It is the only book in the world that explains to me the providence of God. I find the mind that says nothing is to be added or taken away. I find, no difference where I open this book, it is not an old God, but it is God yesterday, today and forever. It is the mind of the Trinity. It is the mind of God and none else. There is only one mind that runs through this book, and it cannot be any other mind than the mind of our God in

heaven.

Sixth Session

On Thursday afternoon the devotional service was led by Rev. C. L. Warstler, of Whites

town.

A round table discussion of Luther League problems was then conducted by Rev. W. J. Siberling, based on the following:

1. Devotional meetings.

2. Business meetings.

3. Methods of finance.

4. Junior Leagues.

5. How to interest the newly confirmed.

The fact was emphasized that the Luther League stands for a more enlightened and educated laity. The chief idea of the Luther League is to train and educate in the teachings, history and doctrines of our Church.

The first paper of the third division of the theme of the convention, "Doing-Our Practice-The Work of the League," prepared by Miss Elva Ginard, of South Bend, was read by Miss Lodema Wener and was as follows:

The Luther League exists to work, else why should we have such an organization? Its work should be all for the Master, and its main object to win souls for Jesus Christ. The League needs workers -workers who will perform any task, no matter how small or humble. May we never work for the honor and praise of men, but let us do our duty faithfully and punctually for Christ's sake. A lack of interest of only one member of the society retards its work to a certain extent, so we can't afford to have any shirkers in our Leagues.

Sometimes the shirkers are due to the improper assignment of work. Many times work which requires the Leaguer to come before the public is assigned to a timid person who shrinks from such a duty, but if he were given work which could be done in a more quiet way it undoubtedly would be performed punctually. Then, too, there are other Leaguers who are willing and anxious to assume responsibility-responsibilty which, if shouldered upon the more timid members, might tend to drive them out of the society.

We should take care also to divide the work as near equally as possible, and not leave it to those who are the most capable, for when it is left to one or two, or a few indivduals, it becomes burden

some.

In order to have a successful League, its work must be done in the most systematic way and founded on the soundest of business principles. Too often we put up with what is called "loose business" in our societies, but we never can expect successful organizations so long as we work on those principles. It is just as necessary that we be particular in the management of our League affairs as it is for a business firm, because our work is still more important than theirs, since ours is done for the Master, and theirs only for an employer.

Much care should be taken in the selection of committees, as they have so much to do with either the success or failure of the League. If their work is done faithfully and punctually the League cannot do otherwise than succeed, and if its committees are indifferent and lazy, no progress can be realized. These committees should consist of people who are honest and sincere, with clean Christian characters.

The Luther League does a great work when it helps to extend Christ's kingdom. Education and organization assist greatly in the carrying on of this work. Our interest and enthusiasm will be aroused and awakened only when we become acquainted with facts. Let us educate our Leaguers by the constant use of the Scriptures, together with our Topics, and always have the best books on the shelves of our librariesbooks that people will read. We like to think of

the League as an army in training tor Christ's work, and in order to be trained properly, we must be well versed in the Bible, and much of this knowledge may be gained in the League by the use of the Scripture references.

In John, the fifth chapter, the thirty-ninth verse, we read: "Search the Scripture, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of Me."

Our organization will expres itself largely through our committees. If we have committees which are wideawake and alert, our League shows good organization. We can work and realize a great deal more progress in the extension of Christ's kingdom if our society is educated and organized.

Another simple way in which we may all help to extend His kingdom here on this earth is by wel

J. F. FRANK LAUGHNER,
New president of the Indiana League.

coming the stranger into our Church. It costs only a small effort to give the newcomer a hearty handshake and a warm invitation to come back again. It would be absurd for anyone to plead that he had not the ability to do this, but yet many young people seem to think that this duty belongs only to the older members of the Church.

Our Luther League will not have the Church problems and difficulties to face in Church work that our forefathers had, since we meet in conventions and discuss these problems long before the work is intrusted to us.

We may assist our Church both spiritually and financially. We may assist the Church spiritually by holding together its young people in both devotional and social meetings of the League. We come together in our devotional meetings with the expectation of feeding their souls, and in our social meetings to feed them with pure and wholesome entertainment, something which the world does not furnish today.

The last paper of the convention, on "The Work of the Individual," was presented by Miss Lena Cook, of Mulberry, as follows:

In these modern days of machinery in the industrial world the work of the individual has been largely superseded by the invention of machinery, so intri cate and wonderful as to duplicate even the mind of the individual as well as his hands and arms. The manufacturing of article of merchandise, such as shoes, garments, nails and matches; in fact, nearly all of the things needed for the use and comfort of man, are no longer hand made, but the daily output of these articles has been increased manifold by machines,

which are doing accurately the work of many hands and fingers. The self-binder and the combination mower, binder, thrasher and separator have reduced the amount of individual work to a minimum.

The typewriter, linotype and adding machines have even duplicated the work of the individual mind, so that the work of the individual in the industrial world has been lessened by the invention of machinery. But not so in the kingdom of God. It has pleased God to reach the unsaved through individuals, and personal contact with the indifferent, the careless, and the sinner is just as necessary now as it was in the beginning. We are workers together with God, and no amount of Church and Luther League machinery or organization can do the work that God expects the individual to do.

We are living in an age of multiplied organizations in the Church, and the Church individual is in danger of making himself believe that individual work is no longer needed and that sinners will now be converted by machinery rather than by hand. This is especially true of those pastors and congregations who believe that revivals with their multiplied machinery will in a few weeks accomplish the work of a number of individuals in a year, and as a result the Church is each year receiving a number of these hastily machine made Christians who soon get out of order and, like cheaply made articles, are soon of no account. The good old hand work of our catechetical method may be a slower process, but we believe the material that the Lutheran Church and other Churches employing the same method are turning out each year is far more substantial than the material turned out by the wholesale by the modern trivial machinery. All this justifies the statement that organizations and committees in the Church and in the Luther Leagues to do effective work must depend on the work of the individual. On our League work this is very evident.

The League as an organization in the congregation, the district, the State and the nation does its most effective work through individuals who are grouped in committees, and in our Local Leagues so much depends on the work of the individual. The work of the program committee, the social committee, the lookout committee, the membership committee and any other committee depends on the individual members of these committees, and the do-nothing committee are always made up of the do nothing individuals.

Another weakness in our League work is the mistaken idea that after the officers have been elected and the various committees have been appointed the work of the League is delegated to the officers and committees as deputies, while the other members not on committees fold their hands and feel that they have done their duty.

Let us go home and resolve that as individuals we will do our full share in the work of our Local Leagues, and thus set the pace for the inactive and the ones who are ever trying to shirk their duty.

What a joy to that Luther League who can point to careless and worldly young men and women who have been brought into the Luther League and Church thus helped to a better life by their personal invitation and efforts.

What a joy to look forward to the time when in God's harvest time we may return home bringing these golden sheaves with us.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Following this session the delegates and visitors were favored with an automobile ride to the interesting points about the city. This was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Seventh Session

The last session of the convention was held on Thursday evening. The vespers were in charge of Rev. H. L. Bosserman, of Frankfort.

The speaker for the evening was Rev. Leander S. Keyser, of Springfield, Ohio, who

gave a most excellent address on "Lutheran Union and Co-operation."

He said in part:

I am going to talk to you this evening for as brief a time as I can upon one of my hobbies; that is, Lutheran unity and co-operation, and, to my mind, there is no theme that is more fitting for a Luther League convention than that. There can be no doubt about it that Jesus Christ, according to the chapter that has just been read in our hearing, desires that His disciples should be united just as much as possible. He even wants that relation to be so close that it might be compared to the relation that exists between Him and the Father. I want to say that I have an enthusiasm for the unity of the Lutheran Church. I am not talking so much about organic unity, for I think that is still pretty far distant, but I am talking about that kind of unity which means concord and good will and co-operation. I believe, my friends, that every effort ought to be made to bring the scattered Lutherans and the divided Lutherans of our country into unity and into harmony. More than that, I am convinced that we as Luther Leaguers ought to sound the note of peace and concord on every occasion in good report and evil report. I believe we ought to see what are the things that will make for co-operation. Being a student of theology, for I always say to the boys, Fellow students. Being, therefore, a student of theology it would be natural for me to look at the matter, at the situation, in more or less of a way. I believe if you can get the ministers and the theologians to agree, that all the rest will come into beautiful concord in good time and very speedily. Now, I don't mean to say that the theologians and the ministers are a quarrelsome set; I simply mean to say that they are the guardians of your doctrines, so say again that if we can bring the various branches of our Lutheran household into doctrinal concord that the day of concord will come about very speedily. Now, let us look and note what a beautiful spiritual unity the Lutheran Church of America already is. I think I am prepared to say this evening that there is not in all the world beneath God's shining sun such a unity as there is in the Lutheran Church on spiritual and doctrinal matters, and when I say that I mean not only the gen eral counsel and the general synod and the united synod of the South, but I mean all the various branches of our great Lutheran synod here in America. Here is the great pivot around which all of us revolve. I believe that the Bible is a book that comes from God; I believe that the Holy Spirit has inspired it all from the beginning of Genesis to the conclusion of Revelation. There are some people who call us from civer to civer Christians. I know how to use good language about as well as most of the critics anyway, but if they want to put it in that coarse way and call it "civer to civer," I say that I am one of them. So I say, I for one, who have been studying these questions all my life still stand for that view of the Bible which takes it from cover to cover.

When we desire Lutheran harmony and good will and when we pray for it, then we will work for it. We will do everything in our power to bring about this great consummation. We ought to lay aside our prejudices. We can love them and treat them kindly, not to keep up the quarreling. I tell you you cannot have much of a fight between two men if one of them won't fight; if one will always give the soft answer and show the forgiving spirit. Let us lay aside our prejudices.

God grant that that day may come just as speedily as possible.

Think what a spiritual and moral power we would be in this country if we all marched side by side and kept perfect step with one another.

Lo, what a pleasing sight are brethren that agree. After the solo, "Consider the Lilies of the Field," by Miss Marie Hansen, and a few appropriate remarks by the pastor loci, a very interesting and profitable convention was brought to a close.

All went home feeling it was good to have been there.