Danish emigrants arriving here fifty years ago very quickly felt the lack of churches. At home the church was an institution, a part of the landscape. It had been there always and had been the old folks' spiritual refuge as far back as one could remember.

Emigrants of half a century ago preserved closer ties with their native land than do emigrants nowadays. Modern people are more or less cosmopolitan in their behavior, which by most of them is considered an advantage. That may be a matter of doubt, however. We have too many "jacks of all trades but masters of none". Before very long these emigrants of early days began to resume their traditional religious activity. To begin with, they received aid from home, but soon they were able to hold their own and even to accumulate a surplus with which to help others.

It is often difficult for people accustomed to look at the church as a state 2institution to feel at home as members of a privately owned church. At home the church was maintained, and the minister's salary paid in good times or bad, while over here good or bad times are reflected very clearly on the church.

In spite of the fact that only a minority of Danish emigrants have been actively interested in church work the results obtained are by no means negligible. Moreover, most of the churches have been built while the builders themselves were hard at work establishing their own homes and positions in life.

Of course there are Danes who are members of churches of other denominations than the Lutheran, and a great many particularly in the cities, have joined American churches. Some belong to Norwegian churches. However, the majority of Danes interested in religious activity belong to the Lutheran organizations, of which there are two, namely, "The Danish Church" and "The United Church".

The Danish Church has a combined staff of fifty-eight ministers. During recent 3years several ministers have left for Denmark. There was a shortage of ministers at home, and over here quite a few difficulties arose on account of the use of two languages.

At present there are thirty-seven ministers in Denmark who once served in the Danish Church in the United States. Most of them are candidates in theology from the University of Copenhagen who accepted positions with the Danish Church in the United States for longer or shorter periods without the intention of emigrating. The Danish Church consists of ninety-eight community churches spread from coast to coast. The total value of church property is $831,334.

The total membership is hard to determine because in some cases the memberships are held by single persons and in others by families numbering two or more. We calculate that there are 6,315 paid-up memberships, but there are actually about 20,000 people who belong to the Church. In addition to active members and their families there are those who attend church services and make use of the spiritual conveniences only occasionally.

The Danish Church has always adhered to the open-door policy, and we doubt that there is any considerable number of Danes who have not at least once in their lives benefited directly by the presence of a Danish church.

The Danes are somewhat shy in their religious affairs. We are far from being so aggressive as are the Americans. We let people come and go as they please because we do not believe in high pressure and persuasive methods. However, it would probably do no harm for the members to advertise the program a little more than they do.

A lot of people outside the Church would like to become members if somebody would ask them, and no doubt they would get a lot of satisfaction out of being active in the good work.

Young people's societies affiliated with the churches have a total approximately of 2,235 members. Churches affiliated with the Danish Church had a total 5expenditure of $151,227 last year, of which $22,213 went for operating expenses. Besides its church work the Danish Church operates a school in Des Moines, Iowa, an Old People's Home, and several Children's Homes.

The United Church is a younger organization with a total membership of 27,715. The total property value is $1,770,950. Its staff of ministers, missionaries, and professors numbers 132, thus outnumbering the 58 ministers of the Danish Church to quite an extent. Sixteen ministers who previously served in the United Church are now in Denmark. The total income of the United Church was $117,771 last year. Of this amount $70,732 went for operating expenses. Local expenses such as ministers' salaries, maintenance, and alterations, were $225,000. The United Church maintains a school in Blair, Nebraska, and several Old People's Homes and Children's Homes. The Danish Church pays the salary of a missionary in Santalistan, and the United Church has missionaries in Japan, among the Mormons, and among the Indians.

These figures may serve as information about the activity of [the two] Danish churches in the United States. There are no other Danish organizations in this country comparable to these in extent of membership and in activity, and the blessings brought about by this work should not be measured in figures either.

A. Th. Dorf