CHURCH HISTORY TODAY

What happened in the church today.

February

February 1
1750
Anglican clergyman and hymn writer John Newton marries Mary Catlett. Their marriage lasts forty years, until Mary's death in 1790. John Newton, author of the hymn 'Amazing Grace," died in 1807.

1909
Birth of George Beverly Shea, Canadian-born music evangelist, who sang at many of the Billy Graham Crusades from the 1950s through the 1970s.

February 2
1881
The first formal church youth organization is established in the Williston Congregational Church in Portland, Maine, by the Reverend Francis E. Clark. Originally called Christian Endeavor, it becomes the forerunner of denominational youth fellowships in modern churches.

1881
American Quaker holiness author Hannah Whitall Smith writes in a letter, "Slowness of movement is no disadvantage in the more advanced stages of spiritual growth— God is always slow when He is doing a
deep and lasting work."

February 3
1832
Birth of William H. Doane, American Baptist hymn writer and editor of Sabbath School Gems (1862) and The Baptist Hymnal (1886). Doane also composed the hymns "To God Be the Glory," "Precious Name," I Am Thine," "More Love to Thee," "Near the Cross," and "Rescue."

1985
In South Africa Desmond Tutu becomes Johannesburg's first black Anglican bishop. A trained ecumenist, Tutu later becomes archbishop of Cape Town and Anglican primate of South Africa.

February 4
1874
English poet and devotional writer Frances Ridley Havergal pens the words to the popular hymn of commitment "Take My Life and Let It Be."

1906
Birth of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German Lutheran pastor and theologian. A secret member of the German resistance movement during World War II, Bonhoeffer was arrested by the Gestapo in April 1943 and later hanged at the Flossenbiirg concentration camp. Bonhoeffer's best-known writings are The Cost of Discipleship (1948), Ethics (1950), and Letters and Papers from Prison (1953).

February 5
1631
English-born clergyman Roger Williams arrives in America. He soon begins questioning Massachusetts' religious policies that fuse church and state matters. Banished to Rhode Island five years later, he established the first Baptist church in America in Providence.

1705
Death of Philipp Jakob Spener, German Lutheran churchman and founder of Pietism. Spener introduced reforms in church discipline, use of the catechism, and the training of youth, and his methods became the foundation of confirmation. Spener's Pia Desideha (1675) encourages private devotions among serious Christian believers.

February 6
1924
Radio station KFSG (Kail Four Square
Gospel) goes on the air. One of the earliest licensed radio stations, KFSG broadcasts the services of Angelus Temple, the flagship congregation of the International Foursquare Gospel Church, founded in 1923 by Aimee Semple McPherson.

1931
American missionary and literacy pioneer Frank Laubach writes in a letter, "There is a deep peace that grows out of.. .loneliness and a sense of failure. God cannot get close when everything is delightful. He seems to need these darker hours, these empty-hearted hours, to mean the most to people."

February 7
1528
The Swiss canton of Bern officially embraces the Protestant faith of reformers Ulrich Zwingli and John Oecolampadius.

1832
Birth of Hannah Whitall Smith, American Quaker evangelist, reformer, holiness evangelist, and speaker. Her most influential publication, The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life (1875), remains a popular devotional guide to this day.

February 8
1693
The College of William and Mary is founded in Williamsburg, Virginia, for the purpose of educating Anglican clergymen. It is the second-oldest institution of higher learning in America, after Harvard.

1936
Death of James Henry Fillmore, Ohio-born clergyman, singing schoolteacher, and sacred music publisher. He wrote and published many cantatas, anthems, and hymn tunes, including "Resolution" ("I Am Resolved No Longer to Linger") and "Hannah" ("I Know That My Redeemer Liveth").

February 9
1812
Pioneer missionary Samuel Newell marries fellow Congregationalist Harriet Atwood. They afterward sailed for India with Adoniram and Ann Judson. Harriet Newell and Ann
Judson became the first American women commissioned for missionary work abroad.

1914
Birth of Bruce Manning Metzger, American Presbyterian New Testament scholar. Metzger taught at Princeton University (1938-1984) and was a member of the Revised Standard Version Bible translation committee.

February 10
1859
Birth of Jonathan Goforth, Canadian Presbyterian missionary to Honan and Changte, China. Goforth was noted for training native evangelists and preachers.

1929
In London renowned Baptist clergyman and devotional author F. B. Meyer preaches his last sermon. He died on March 28.

February 11
1790
The Society of Friends (Quakers) presents a petition to the American Congress calling for the abolition of slavery.

1948
U.S. Senate Chaplain Peter Marshall prays,” We ask Thee not for tasks more suited to our strength, but for strength more suited to our tasks."

February 12
1644
Birth of Jacob Ammann, Mennonite minister from Alsace/Switzerland and founder of the Amish Mennonites.

1948
The Pentecostal awakening known as the "Latter Rain Movement" traces its origin to this date, when students at the Sharon Orphanage and Schools in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada, begin experiencing a mass spiritual awakening.

February 13
1919
Birth of Ernest Jennings "Tennessee Ernie" Ford, Christian country entertainer. Ford hosted his own television program (1955-65) but is best remembered for the many sacred musical recordings he made during his career.

1936
The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod organizes the Lutheran Army and Navy Commission for the purpose of commissioning chaplains for military service overseas. In 1947 the organization changed its name to the Armed Services Commission.

February 14
On Valentine's Day cards will be given away as a symbol of love and affection, which begs the question: Who was Saint Valentine and when and why did the holiday begin?

The history of the actual Saint Valentine is hazy and legends vary. Stories center on a third-century Christian priest named Valentinus who defied the Roman emperor Claudius II—either by ignoring a law forbidding the marrying of Christians or for concealing persecuted Christians—and was sentenced to die. One legend has it that while imprisoned Valentinus was moved by the faith of a blind girl, and on the eve of his punishment (stoning followed by decapitation) he wrote her a touching adieu, signing it "From your Valentinus."

Later, in 498, February 14 was declared "Saint Valentine's Day" by Pope Gelasius, a date most likely selected to commemorate the day Valentinus was martyred or to co-opt a popular Roman holiday.
 

1760
Birth of Richard Allen, the first African-American ordained in the Methodist Episcopal Church (1799), and founder of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church.

1985
The U.S. Rabbinical Assembly of Conservative Judaism announces its decision to begin accepting women as rabbis.

February 15
1386
King Jagiello of Lithuania is baptized into the Christian faith. Lithuania was the last heathen nation in Europe; thus, Jagiello's conversion became the final mlfrllment of the Macedonian vision in Acts 16:9, which led the apostle Paul to begin taking the gospel to Europe.

1905
Death of Lewis Wallace, American Civil War soldier and author of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1880). The Boyhood of Christ (1888), and Lew Wallace: An Autobiography (1906).

February 16
1809
Former U.S. president John Adams writes in a letter to Judge F. A.Van der Kemp, "The Hebrews have done more to civilize men than any other nation…[God] ordered the Jews to preserve and propagate to all mankind the doctrine of a supreme, intelligent, wise, almighty sovereign of the universe.. .the great essential principle of morality, and consequently all civilization."

1865
English clergyman Sabine Baring-Gould publishes "Now the Day Is Over," a hymn based on the text of Proverbs 3:24: "When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid.. .and thy sleep shall be sweet."

February 17
1816
Birth of Edward Hopper, American Presbyterian clergyman. Pastor of several churches in New York, Hopper is better remembered for authoring the hymn "Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me.”

1889
Billy Sunday, baseball player turned preacher, makes his first appearance as an evangelist in Chicago. Sunday preaches Fundamentalism, supports temperance, and opposes scientific evolution. More than 100 million people would hear him preach in his lifetime.

February 18
1546
Death of Martin Luther, German Augustinian priest and reformer. In 1517 Luther symbolically inaugurated the Protestant Reformation and remained its leader until his death. Luther also translated the Bible into German and penned the hymn "A Mighty Fortress."

1678
John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress is published in England. Frequently imprisoned between 1660 and 1672 for preaching without a license, Bunyan used these times to collect the ideas he used in his masterpiece of Christian literature.

February 19
1802
Birth of Leonard W. Bacon, American Congregational clergyman, educator, and editor. Bacon pastored First Congregational Church in New Haven, Connecticut (1825-81), and was a leader in the antislavery and temperance movements. He also authored the hymn "O God, Beneath Thy Guiding Hand."

1812
Congregational missionaries Adoniram and Ann Judson set sail from New England for Calcutta, India. For their subsequent work in Burma, they became two of the most famous American missionaries of their day.

February 20
1743
Colonial missionary to the American Indians David Brainerd writes in his journal, "Selfish religion loves Christ for his benefits, but not for himself."

1878
Italian cardinal Gioacchino Pecci is elected Pope (Leo XIII) after the death of Pope Pius IX. Leo XIII's papacy is best known for his teaching encyclicals and for the establishment of the Pontifical Biblical Commission (1902).

February 21
1864
St. Francis Xavier's Church in Baltimore, Maryland, the first Catholic parish church established for African-Americans, is dedicated.

1945
Death of Eric Liddell, Scottish Olympic champion runner and missionary to China. Liddell's college running days are portrayed in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire.

February 22
1906
Louisiana-born Baptist evangelist William J. Seymour arrives in Los Angeles and begins holding evangelistic meetings at the Apostolic Faith Mission, located at 312 Azusa Street. The 'Azusa Street Revival" soon breaks out under Seymour's leadership and becomes one of the landmark events in the history of twentieth-century American Pentecostalism.

1985
Death of Alexander Scourby, American film actor, whose most memorable screen role was in Giant (1956). Best known for his resonant bass elocution, Scourby read the King James Version on early audiocassette tape recordings of the Bible.

February 23
1685
Birth of George Frideric Handei, German-born English composer of Messiah (first performed in 1742). He also composed hymn tunes such as "Christmas" ("While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night"); "Antioch" ("Joy to the World! The Lord Is Come"); and "Maccabeus" ("Thine Be the Glory, Risen, Conquering Son").

1982
The U.S. Supreme Court rules that members of the Old Order Amish Church who operate businesses must pay Social Security and unemployment taxes, despite their religious belief that paying taxes is a sin.

February 24
1208
St. Francis of Assisi receives his vocation in the Italian village of Portiuncula. The following year he founded the Franciscan Order, and he is regarded by some Catholics as the greatest of all Christian saints.

1902
Birth of English missionary Gladys Aylward. The award-winning 1958 film Inn of the Sixth Happiness (starring Ingrid Bergman) was based on Aylward's life and work among the Chinese (1932-48).

February 25
1738
English revivalist George Whitefield writes in a letter, "God, I find, has a people everywhere; Christ has a flock, though but a little flock, in all places."

1913
Pioneer missionary Eduard L. Arndt arrives in Shanghai, China, ten months after founding the Evangelical Lutheran Missions for China. Arndt later established mission schools in the Hankow territory and translated hymns and sermons into Chinese.

February 26
1732
In Philadelphia Mass is celebrated for the first time at St. Joseph's Church, the only Roman Catholic church built and maintained in the American colonies before the American Revolutionary War. The service is led by the Reverend Joseph Greaton.

1857
Birth of Charles M. Sheldon, American Congregational clergyman, social reformer, and devotional writer. His religious novel In His Steps (1897) was a best seller and eventually sold 23 million copies. In His Steps introduced the question, "What Would Jesus Do?"

February 27
1838
Birth of William J. Kirkpatrick, American Methodist sacred composer. He is best remembered for composing the melodies to such sacred favorites as "He Hideth My Soul," " 'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus," "Redeemed, How I Love to Proclaim It," and "Lord, I'm Coming Home."

1847
The Reverend John L. Lenhart is commissioned as chaplain of the U.S. Navy. In 1862 Chaplain Lenhart became the first U.S. Navy chaplain to be killed in action, when the Confederate ironclad Merrimac sank the Union frigate Cumberland off Hampton Roads, Virginia.

February 28
1784
English churchman John Wesley charters a movement within Anglicanism that comes to be known as Methodism.

1865
Birth of Sir Wilfred T. Grenfell, English-born medical missionary to Labrador, Newfoundland. Grenfell built hospitals and schools, and outfitted the first hospital ship to serve fishermen in the North Sea.