Rev. Jehu Curtis Clay

some notes on Gloria Dei church:

1638: The Swedes settled in the Delaware Valley.

1697: Reverend Andrew Rudman arrived from Sweden. He helped build the present church with his own hands.

1698: The first cornerstone was laid.

1700: The building was dedicated on July 2.

1731: The marble baptismal font was made. It is one of the oldest fonts in continual use.

1777: Betsy Ross married Captain Joseph Ashbourn on June 15.

1786: Nicholas Collin arrived and used the Episcopal Prayer Book.

1843: The United Swedish Lutheran Churches (Gloria Dei; Christ Church, Upper Merion; and St. James Kingsessing) dissolved, becoming three separate churches.

1845: The Church, no longer under the control of the State Church of Sweden, applied for admission into the convention of the Protestant Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, and was accepted. Dr. Jehu Curtis Clay, the first Episcopal Rector, guided the destinies of the Church during the Civil War.