Norway was at that time united to Denmark. When the Reformation, therefore, was introduced into that country, it was as a natural consequence established in Norway, in 1537. At first it found small favor with the people, who remained Roman Catholic, and in several places even used violence against the Evangelical clergy. Little by little, however, the Evangelical doctrine became better known and found more favor with the people. This was owing more to the bishops Geble Pedersen in Bergen, Jens Nilsen in Oslo and Jørgen Eriksen in Stavanger than to anybody else. Eriksen has been called “the Luther of Norway.” 8. The Lutheran Church in the United States of America 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.