Mühlenberg, Henry Melchior

Mühlenberg, Henry Melchior (1711–87) Protestant religious leader; born in Einbeck, Germany. He studied theology at Göttingen, taught at an orphan's school in Halle, and was ordained a Lutheran minister in 1741. The following year he emigrated to Pennsylvania, where he became pastor of three congregations, and, in 1748, organized the first Lutheran synod in America. As head of the synod he traveled extensively in the colonies. He retired from the active ministry in 1779.