# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1947_S420
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

420 MISSIONS

posing a directive concerning the future work of the Army and
Navy Commission, and so we shall limit ourselves to the business
of reporting.

A rather comprehensive statistical report is being submitted
in order to make the War work of our Church a matter of record,

Chaplains

Total number of chaplains (including 5 from Canada), 253;
total number on duty at any one time, 236; total number serving
overseas, 203; total number on duty as of January 31, 1947, 56
(USN, 7; USNR, 2; USA, 9; AUS, 37; Canadian Army, 1); total
number of discharged chaplains, 193; number of chaplains who
died in service, 6; full-time chaplains serving in the Veterans
Administration, 9; number of Veterans Hospitals as of January
31, 1947, 124; number of hospital pastors we have serving VA
hospitals, 105; estimated number of patients in VA hospitals by
1965, 300,000.

Chaplains’ and Service Pastors’ Reports

Chaplains’ Service Pastors’
Reports Reports

(from October 1, 1940 {from August 1, 1942

to December 31, 1946) to December 31, 1946) Total
Baptisms __o 2,261 308 2,569
Confirmations 622 309 921
Marriages . 3,808 1,129 4,937
Number communed .... 228,568 53,410 281,978
Sermons —.._. _ 87,676 8,999 96,675

Centers

Highest number of service center pastors on duty at any
one time, 28; total number of service centers operated w/NLC
and alone, 47; total number of parish centers of Missouri
Synod, 44. Outside Continental United States, service centers
were operated in Panama, Frankfurt, Alaska, Kunming, China,
Australia, Manila, Paris, London, and Honolulu.

Service Personnel

Total number of service personnel, 135,000; men and women
serving overseas at peak, 77,000; chaplains overseas at peak, 155;
number of fatalities reported, 3,738 (to these “In Memoriam”
scrolls were issued); total number of changes of addresses re-
ported, 355,250; total number still on file December, 1946, 15,345;
highest number of names added in any one month, October, 1942, ©
5,309; highest number changes of addresses in any month, April,
1944, 17,466; mumber of cards sent requesting new addresses,
157,295; average amount spent by ANC on each person in service,
$16.71.