NOVEMBER 24
FALCKNER WAS THE FIRST LUTHERAN ORDAINED IN THE NEW WORLD (1703)
“But what have I that I have not received Wherefore, I give thanks to my God, through Jesus Christ, who hath been pleased to give me the victory and I...”
Innes, A. Taylor. John Knox. Edinburgh and London: Oliphant Anderson, 1896.
Events
380
Emperor Theodosius deposes the Arian bishop, Demophilus, with all his clergy from the cathedral in Constantinople, transferring the cathedral church to Gregory of Nazianzus with the words: “This temple God by our hand entrusts to thee as a reward for thy pains.”
Authority for the date: Schaff, Philip. History of the Christian Church.1531
Death of Johannes Oecolampadius, a leader in the Swiss Reformation. He had sided with Ulrich Zwingli in the dispute with Martin Luther over the Lord’s Supper.
Authority for the date: Luachert, Friedrich. “Johann Oecolampadius.” The Catholic Encyclopedia.1555
Catholics in Locarno, Switzerland order that all Protestants who will not embrace Catholicism must go into exile.
Authority for the date: Good, J.I. “Anna Bullinger.” Leben 3 #1 (2007).1572
Death in Edinburgh of John Knox, the most notable of the reformers of Scotland.
Authority for the date: Standard encyclopedias.1703
Amidst singing and the music of an organ, viols, hautboys, trombones, trumpets, and kettledrums, Justus Falckner is ordained at Old Swede’s Church in Philadelphia—the first Lutheran pastor ordained in America.
Authority for the date: Sachse, Julius Friedrich. Justus Falckner, Mystic and Scholar. Philadelphia, 1903.1836
Ordination of Robert Murray McCheyne to the pastorate of St. Peter’s, Dundee. He will become a leader in the ensuing Scottish revival.
Authority for the date: Hatfield, Edwin. The Poets of the Church. New York: Randolph & Co., 1884.1838
Catholic missionaries François Norbert Blanchet and Rev. Modeste Demers arrive in Vancouver after crossing the North American continent to establish churches in Canada and Oregon.
Authority for the date: Reilly, L.W. “François Norbert Blanchet.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Appleton, 1907.&l1846
Death in Rome of Abbé Paul Macpherson, rector of the Scotch College in Rome. He had been the first Scot to head the school and had kept it alive during the Napoleonic era when its existence was threatened. He had also spent time in a French prison for trying to rescue Pope Pius VI.
Authority for the date: Wikipedia.1848
Pope Pius IX flees from Rome in face of the approach of revolutionaries led by Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi. Mildly liberal in outlook before the seizure of Rome, Pius IX thereafter becomes a reactionary.
Authority for the date: Paul Collins, Absolute Power p. 321850
Friedrich August Crämer arrives in Fort Wayne where he will begin years of work educating Lutherans for ministry.
Authority for the date: Rast, Lawrence R., Jr. "Friedrich August Crämer." Concordia Theological Quarterly 64 (January 2000).1860
Death in London of George Croly, a clergyman of the Church of England. He had been a hymnologist, publishing Psalms and Hymns for Public Worship. He also wrote the hymn, “Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart.”
Authority for the date: Cyberhymnal.1880
More than 150 African American delegates meet in Montgomery, Alabama, to form the Baptist Foreign Missions Convention of the United States. Liberian missionary William W. Colley is chief organizer, and the Rev. William H. McAlpine will be elected the convention’s first president.
Authority for the date: Martin, Sandy D. Black Baptists and African Missions; The origins of a movement 1880-1915. Mercer University Press,1964
Congo rebels seize American missionary Bill McChesney. He is suffering so seriously with malaria he needs help and his friend Jim Rodgers, a British missionary, leaps into the truck with him. Despite McChesney’s illness, the rebels beat him mercilessly the whole way to the prison where they will incarcerate him. Both men are beaten and trampled to death the following morning.
Authority for the date: McChesney, Audine. Through Congo Shadows, 1968.1966
Synøvve Mitchell, a missionary, cries to God in desperation for a sign that her work in Pakistan is worth continuing. Five days later a high-status Muslim woman named Bilquis Sheikh will approach her with questions about unusual dreams she has had. Bilquis soon will convert to Christianity and become a world-wide witness.
Authority for the date: Bilquis Sheikh, I Dared to Call Him Father