In 1877, the Synodical Conference had just severed ties with the two German mission societies it had previously supported, the Leipzig Society and the Hermannsburg Society. Its 1877 convention appointed a committee of three pastors to decide whether the Synodical Conference should devote attention to "heathen mission among the Negroes or Indians". The committee recommended launching this mission this way, "If we make no use of the desire of our Lutheran Christians to do something for heathen missions, they will surely apply their money where we would not like to see it go." The Synodical Conference created a mission board to oversee its "Colored Missions" called "The Mission Board of the Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America, for Mission Work Among the Heathen and the Negro," which was often referred to simply as "The Mission Board". The conference elected three members to oversee the mission work, and on October 16 of that same year, John Frederick Doescher was commissioned as a missionary to African-Americans. From October to April, Doescher toured the states of Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida to organize local mission committees to serve those who became interested in his work until a missionary pastor or teacher could be sent.