# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1851 06 24_S169
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Der Lutheraner.
"God's Word and Luther's doctrine pure shall to eternity endure." (Rev. John, Chap. 14, v. 6. 7.)
Published by the German Ev. Luth. Synod of Missouri, Ohio and other States.
Edited by C. F. W. Walther.
Volume 7.  St. Louis, Mo., June 24, 1851.  No. 22.
Terms: Der Lutheraner appears once every two weeks at the yearly subscription price of One Dollar for subscribers living at a distance, who pay the same in advance and bear the postage. — In St. Louis each single number is sold for 5 cents.
Only those letters which contain communications for the paper are to be addressed to the Editor; all others, however, which contain business matters, orders, cancellations, money, etc., are to be sent hither under the address: Mr. F. W. Barthel, care of C. F. W. Walther, St. Louis, Mo.

(Communicated.)
Call for the Formation of Young Men's Societies.
To all pious young men of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.

When in the spring of 1848 three boys from St. Louis were again to be brought to the Lutheran College then located at Altenburg, Perry Co., Mo., in order to be prepared there for service in the Church, there was found among these three one who could obtain no support whatever from his parents, and for whom the St. Louis congregation also did not dare to be applied to, since its resources had already been so heavily drawn upon for others. But the boy showed, besides a great desire to become a preacher of the Word of God, also special gifts; so that it would have been a pity if he could not have been received into the College merely for want of support. Then the thought turned to the young men, of whom there were many in the congregation, and it was supposed that they might undertake the maintenance of this boy. It was represented to them how, if they would join together, they could carry this out quite easily; how it was their duty thus to be active in the extension of the Kingdom of God, and that it would also give them much joy, if they should see how through their cooperation a new laborer had been placed into the great field of the harvest. The thought soon found entrance among several young people. They became enthusiastic for the cause. One told it to another. Meetings of young men were now arranged on Sunday evenings, statutes were drawn up, rules made; and so the Young Men's Society in St. Louis for the support of students came into being. The most notable provisions in its statutes are these:

"The purpose of the Society is to provide one or more students, who wish to prepare for the holy Ministry in the orthodox College of Missouri, with the necessary means of subsistence. — As members there may be received: confirmed young people who are attached to the Lutheran Church. — Should a member give offense by open sins, especially by drunkenness, dancing, or the manifestation of a heretical disposition, he shall, after a previous admonition which he has despised, be expelled from the Society. — On every first Sunday in the month there is a meeting. — The monthly contribution shall be at least 10 cents. — The Society elects a President, Secretary and Treasurer. The President has to keep order in the meeting; the Secretary to keep the minutes, to write letters and to preserve letters received. The Treasurer keeps the treasury and keeps an exact account of receipts and expenditures. — Whenever a beneficiary who is supported by the Society needs anything beyond the ordinary board money, he is to apply to the Society by letter, and his letter must be signed by the Director of the institution."

The Society has now existed three years and is at present in a flourishing condition. Besides the boy first mentioned, it was soon able to take charge of another student also, so that it now constantly provides for needy students entirely and completely in board, clothing, books and other necessities. It also already has the joy that one of those supported stands in the ministry. Yet this joy is not the only one. Whenever a letter of thanks comes, or one of their own preaches a sermon, so often the Young Men's Society receives a fresh impulse to go on cheerfully and gladly in the blessed work. At present there are over 70 young men in the Society, who assemble diligently. After the business of the Society is finished, the members entertain themselves in the meetings with the reading aloud of an edifying or generally useful book. The experienced take the inexperienced under their care. Where it is necessary, Christian brotherly admonitions and corrections take place. Now a beginning is being made to collect and procure a library of edifying, historical and generally useful books for the Society. Every year the anniversary of the founding of the Society, the 7th of May, is solemnly