A Note from Pastor
Christmas Day in North America...1619
In December 1619, there was the first known Lutheran service on the continent (of North America). A Danish expedition, attempting to find a northwest passage to Asia, wintered at Churchill, Manitoba. They were accompainied by a Lutheran minister, Rasmus Jensen, who led the group in a service of Word and Sacrament: "The Holy Christmas Day was celebrated in customary fashion. we had a sermon and Communion and our offerings to the minister after the sermon were in accordance with our means." Two months later the minister died of scurvy.
(Wolf - Lutherans in America - p. 2 - as quoted in The Blessings of Weekly Communion, CPH, 2006 - p. 123, 124)