The Lutheran Church was transplanted to North America in the sixteenth,
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by the immigration of Lutherans
from France, Holland, Sweden, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Finland
and other lands.
The Lutheran Church in America has always been in spirit and loyalty, in
character and institutions, an American Church.
According to the “Lutheran World Almanac for 1927-1928” there has been a
growth in membership from 900 in 1562 to 4,112,680 in 1927.
The Lutherans of America are divided into 21 general bodies, as follows:
United Lutheran Church, consisting of 35 constituent synods, 1,311,167
baptized members; Joint Ohio Synod, 256,575; Iowa Synod, 214,257;
Buffalo Synod, 11,083; Jehovah Conference, 1,500; Augustana Synod,
308,943; Norwegian Lutheran Church, 488,108; Lutheran Free Church,
43,094; Eielsen Synod, 1,200; Church of the Lutheran Brethren, 1,600;
United Danish Church, 29,259; Danish church, 19,200; Icelandic Synod,
7,936; Suomi Synod, 35,300; Finnish National Church, 8,032; Finnish
Apostolic Church, 50,000; Missouri Synod, 1,086,953; Joint Wisconsin
Synod, 212,558; Slovak Synod, 13,131; Norwegian Synod, 7,611; Negro
Mission of Synodical Conference, 5,123.
There are 27 Lutheran =Publication Houses=, publishing in 1927 177
papers, having 1,699,385 subscribers; also 541 new books, 237 reprints,
106 pamphlets, a total of 3,126,510 copies.
Of =Higher Schools= there were 159: Theological Seminaries, 33, with 180
teachers and 1,637 students; Colleges, 36, with 779 teachers and 14,203
students; Junior colleges and academies, 90, with 793 teachers and
15,813 students;--a grand total of 1,752 teachers and 31,653 students,
18,614 boys and 13,039 girls.
Each Synod maintains or supports some =Foreign Mission= work, both
through its regular Board of Missions and voluntary agencies,
particularly the women’s federations and young people’s societies. The
chief mission fields are in: China, India, Japan and Kurdistan, Liberia,
South Africa, Tanganyika, Madagascar and New Guinea; also among Indians
of North and South America, Negroes and Eskimos. 881 missionaries and
6,727 native workers are engaged in the foreign fields among a baptized
membership of 262,760, on an annual budget of $2,681,963.00.
The =Home Mission= Boards, with an annual appropriation of $2,352,125.00
try to gather the unchurched Lutherans of America into the Church and
aim also to bring the Gospel to the unchurched neighbors of every race
and color within the United States and Canada.
The work of =Charity= is pushed in many ways by Boards, Committees,
Societies and Institutions. Of institutions there are 73 =Orphans’
Homes=, with 597 employees, caring for 4,700 children; 69 =Homes for the
Aged=, with 387 employees and 2,499 inmates; 106 =Hospitals= and Homes
for =Defectives=, with 3,884 employees and 236,228 patients. There are
11 =Deaconess Homes=. The 31 =Home Finding Societies=, with 100
employees, placed 473 children in homes during 1927.
There are also many other activities, congregational, synodical and
intersynodical. One of the chief intersynodical agencies is the
=National Lutheran Council=, organized in 1918 to meet emergencies
requiring common action. This Agency has expended several million
dollars during the decennium in relief and reconstruction work in the
countries afflicted by the World War; also in rescuing the foreign
mission fields affected by the War.
The Lutheran Church in America emphasizes the importance of Biblical
teaching and preaching and strict obedience to the Word of God by its
members.
The Norwegian Lutheran Church of America was organized on June 9, 1917,
by the union of the Hauge Synod, the Norwegian Synod and the United
Norwegian Lutheran Church of America.