the Lutheran Church in
America abundantly, more than in any other country of the world. From a
few scattered groups she has grown into a great people. In 1740 there
were in America about 50 Lutheran congregations. In 1820 the Lutheran
Church numbered 6 synods, with almost 900 congregations, 40,000
communicants, and 175 pastors. In 1867 about 1,750 pastors, 3,100
congregations, and 332,000 communicants. Twenty-five years later, 60
synods, with about 5,000 pastors, 8,390 congregations, and 1,187,000
communicants. In the jubilee year, 1917, the Lutheran Church in America
embraced (besides about 200 independent congregations) 65 synods, 24 of
which belonged to the General Synod (350,000 communicants), 13 to the
General Council (500,000 communicants), 8 to the United Synod South
(53,000 communicants), and 6 to the Synodical Conference (800,000
communicants). The entire Lutheran Church in America reported in 1917
about 9,700 pastors; 15,200 congregations; 2,450,000 communicants; 28
theological seminaries, with 112 professors and 1,170 students; 41
colleges, with 640 professors and 950 students; 59 academies, with 404
teachers and 6,700 pupils; 8 ladies' seminaries, with 72 instructors and
340 pupils; 64 orphanages, with 4,200 inmates; 12 home-finding and
children's friend societies; 45 homes for the aged, with 1,650 inmates;
7 homes for defectives, with 430 inmates; 9 deaconess homes, with 370
sisters; 50 hospitals; 19 hospices; 17 immigrant homes and seamen's
missions; and 10 miscellaneous institutions; a large number of
periodicals of many kinds, printed in numerous Lutheran publishing
houses, in English, German, Swedish, Norwegian and Danish, Icelandic,
Finnish, Slavonian, Lettish, Esthonian, Polish, Portuguese, Lithuanian,
etc., etc.

Early History of American Lutheranism.

LUTHERAN SWEDES IN DELAWARE.

9. New Sweden.--The first Lutheran pastor who set his foot on American
soil in August, 1619, was Rasmus Jensen of Denmark. He was chaplain of
a Danish expedition numbering 66 Lutherans under Captain Jens Munck,
who took possession of the land about Hudson Bay in the name of the
Danish crown. In his diary we read of the faithful pastoral work, the
sermons, and the edifying death, on February 20, 1620, of this Lutheran
pastor. However, the first Lutheran minister to serve a _Lutheran
colony_ in America was Reorus Torkillus. He was born in 1609 at
Faessberg, Sweden, educated at Linkoeping, and for a time was chaplain
at