Philadelphia Brethren Church, Bucharest, Romania

17 August    

1635: English Puritan Richard Mather, 39, first arrived in Boston. A staunch defender of the congregational form of church government, Mather is remembered today for founding the “dynasty” to which was born his son Increase Mather in 1639, and his grandson Cotton Mather in 1663.

     1761: Birth of William Carey, pioneer English missionary to India. He taught at the newly founded Fort William College of Calcutta from 1801 until his death, and helped found the Serampore Press, which made the Bible accessible to over 300 million people.

     1775: Anglican clergyman and hymnwriter John Newton wrote in a letter: ‘It is no great matter where we are, provided we see that the Lord has placed us there, and that He is with us.’

     1780: Birth of George Croly, Irish churchman and author. During his life he published writings of biographical, historical and religious importance, but is primarily remembered today as author of the hymn, “Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart.”

     1809: In Pennsylvania, Thomas Campbell, 46, and his son Alexander, 20, formed the American Movement for Christian Unity, which later became the Disciples of Christ Church.

     1942: Birth of Don Wyrtzen, contemporary Christian songwriter. Among his most enduring sacred compositions are “Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow” and “Worthy is the Lamb.”

     1972: African-American Methodist clergyman from Dominica, West Indies, Philip A. Potter, 51, was named general secretary of the World Council of Churches. Serving until 1984, Potter gave strong spiritual guidance to the work of the WCC.

16 August

1815: Birth of St. John Bosco, Italian educator. Poverty among the children in the city of Turin led him in 1859 to establish the Society of St. Francis of Sales (the Salesians). Bosco was canonized by Pius XI in 1934.

1852: Birth of Adolf von Schlatter, Swiss Protestant New Testament scholar. His 1921 History of Christ maintained that the success of any systematic theology had to be based on a foundation of solid biblical exegesis.

1875: Death of early 19th century Presbyterian revivalist Charles G. Finney, 82. Converted at 29, he led revivals for several years before affiliating with Oberlin College in 1835, where he spent the rest of his professional life.

1942: Birth of Don Wyrtzen, contemporary Christian songwriter. Among his most enduring sacred compositions are “Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow” and “Worthy is the Lamb.”

1972: African-American Methodist clergyman from Dominica, West Indies, Philip A. Potter, 51, was named general secretary of the World Council of Churches. Serving until 1984, Potter gave strong spiritual guidance to the work of the WCC.

15 August

1096: The armies of the First Crusade set out from Europe to deliver Jerusalem from the occupying forces of Islamic Turks. Championed by Peter the Hermit in 1093, Pope Urban II had sanctioned the crusade at the Council of Clermont in 1095.

1534: The Society of Jesus (Jesuits) was founded by Ignatius of Loyola, 43. Created to foster reform within Catholicism, and to undertake education and missionary work, this colorful religious order was formally approved by Pope Paul III in 1540.

1549: The first Christian missionaries to reach Japan landed at Kagoshima (on the coast of Kyushu, southernmost of the four main islands of Japan). They were a band of Spanish Jesuits, led by pioneer Catholic missionary Francis Xavier, 43.

1613: Birth of Jeremy Taylor, Anglican clergyman and devotional writer. Two of his works became classic expressions of Anglican spirituality: “The Rule and Exercise of Holy Living” (1650) and “The Rule and Exercise of Holy Dying” (1651).

1790: Father John Carroll, 55, was consecrated by Pius VI as the first Roman Catholic bishop (later, in 1811, the first archbishop) of the United States.

14 August

1739: English revivalist George Whitefield wrote in a letter: ‘Our extremity is God’s opportunity.’

1810: Birth of Samuel S. Wesley, grandson of Methodist hymnwriter Charles Wesley. Himself a sacred composer, Samuel Wesley penned over 130 original hymn tunes. The best remembered of these today is AURELIA, to which is sung “The Church’s One Foundation.”

1814: During the American Revolution, American patriot Francis Scott Key (1779-1843) was held overnight as a British prisoner during their shelling of Fort McHenry in Baltimore. In the morning, Key penned what later became our national anthem “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

1848: Death of English devotional writer Sarah Flower Adams, 43. In 1845 she published The Flock at the Fountain, a catechism containing hymns for children. One of those hymns remains popular to this day: “Nearer, My God, To Thee.”

1944: German Lutheran theologian and Nazi martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in a letter from prison: “God does not give us everything we want, but He does fulfill all His promises … leading us along the best and straightest paths to Himself.”

13 august

1587: In Roanoke, Virginia, Manteo became the first American Indian converted to Protestantism, and was baptized into the Church of England by members of Sir Walter Raleigh’s expedition to the New World.

1682: The first Welsh immigrants to the American colonies arrived in Pennsylvania. They were Quakers, and settled near modern Philadelphia.

1727: In the German village of Herrnhut, religious reformer Count Nicolaus von Zinzendorf, 27, organized a group of Bohemian Protestant refugees into the first Moravian community of “Unitas Fratrum” (united brotherhood).

1908: Death of Ira D. Sankey, 68. He was Dwight Moody’s song evangelist from 1870. During their revival crusades, Sankey penned many hymn tunes, of which the most enduring today are HIDING IN THEE (”O Safe to the Rock That is Higher Than I”) and SANKEY (”Faith is the Victory”).

1919: Birth of Rex Humbard, pioneer radio and television evangelist. In 1958 Humbard established the Cathedral of Tomorrow in Akron, Ohio, from which he afterward based his television ministry.

Source: William D. Blake. Almanac of the Christian Church, Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987. Additional information supplied by the author. Contact via E-mail: William D. Blake. (pilgrimwb@aol.com)

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