Nicholas Collin was the last remaining priest of the Swedish mission and the first priest of the new American Gloria Dei.
Reverend Andreas Rudman (1668-1708)
Andreas Rudman supervised the construction of the new church at Wicaco, beginning in 1698. The church was dedicated on July 2, 1700. Rudman’s deteriorating health led to his replacement as pastor by Anders Sandel in 1702. That same year, Rudman accepted a call to pastor at a Dutch Lutheran congregation in New York City, and […]
Reverend John Dylander (d. 1741)
The 1730’s through the 1780’s was an era dominated by controversy and efforts to maintain the Gloria Dei congregation in the face of strong competition from other denominations. The pastorship was vacant from 1733 to 1737, and the beloved John Dylander had to rebuild the congregation. He was largely successful in this before his untimely […]
Reverend Olof Parlin (1716-1757)
On the 22d of December of 1757, Mr. Parlin died, of pleurisy, after an illness of four days. His remains lie beneath the chancel of Wicaco church, by the side of his predecessors, Rudman and Dylander.
Peter Kock (1704-1749)
According to “Annals of the Swedes on the Delaware, From their First Settlement in 1636, To the Present Time,” by The Rev. Jehu Curtis Clay, D. D., the following marker appeared under the chancel floor of the church in 1834. This marker appears to be missing today. “Siste, viator. ingemisce mortalium fatis. PetrusKock, Suecus, qui […]
