MARCH 12
August Francke Pioneered Faith Ministries (1663)
“If you are not saved my dear friend flee to the merciful Savior, as you would fly, into this warm room tonight out of the cold streets the drifting sn...”
John Wanamaker’s letter to his Sunday school class members.
Christians Will Be Like Christ (1864)
We shall be like Him 1 John 3:2 (KJV). Like whom? Like Jesus in His glorified humanity. As free from sin, as perfect in...
Events
417
Death of Pope Innocent I, who acted in international affairs, such as excommunicating Pelagius, defending Jerome, and negotiating with barbarians.
Authority for the date: Standard encyclopedias.604
Death of Pope Gregory the Great, known for his Dialogues, his teachings, his revision of the worship service, and promulgation of Gregorian chant, as well as the evangelization of England.
Authority for the date: Standard encyclopedias.1022
Death at Paloukiton (across the Bosphorus from Constantinople) of Symeon the New Theologian, of dysentery, after thirteen years of exile. He had emphasized the importance of experiencing directly the grace of God and described his own mystical experience with “Divine Light.” Although contemporary church authorities had condemned his teachings, later generations in the Eastern Orthodox Church will declare him a saint and honor him with the rare title “theologian.”
Authority for the date: Wikipedia.1622
Gregory XV issues the bull “Decet Romanum Pontificem” which regulates the ceremonial for papal elections and introduces the secret vote. It is the second bull the pope has issued to bring order to—and break deadlocks in—papal elections. The same title had also been used for a bull excommunicating Luther.
Authority for the date: Ott, Michael. “Pope Gregory XV.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910.1672
Death of evangelical hymnwriter Ludaemilia Elisabeth Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Countess of Schwarzburg, from measles. The best known of her two hundred hymns was “Jesus, Jesus, Only Jesus.”
Authority for the date: www.lutheranhistory.org.1734
Protestant refugees from the Catholic city of Salzburg land in Georgia where five days later they will found the town of Ebenezer.
Authority for the date: Georgia Salzburger Society.1908
J. Wilbur Chapman and Charles Alexander attempt city-wide evangelization of Philadelphia, dividing the city into forty-two districts, sending an evangelist-musician team to each. The result is about 8,000 conversions.
Authority for the date: http://www.truthfulwords.org/biography/chapmantw.html1925
Death in Beijing of Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat-sen, who had made some claim to be a Christian and who will be given a private Christian funeral.
Authority for the date: Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Christianity.1947
Death in Yorkshire of British evangelist Smith Wigglesworth, a notable Pentecostal speaker and faith healer.
Authority for the date: Biographical Dictionary of Evangelicals.1950
Pope Pius XII issues an encyclical “for combating atheistic propaganda throughout the world.”
Authority for the date: Anni Sacri. www.papalencyclicals.net.2000
Pope John Paul II asks God’s forgiveness for the sins of Roman Catholics through the ages, including wrongs inflicted on Jews, women, and minorities.
Authority for the date: “Pope Says Sorry for Sins of Church.” The Guardian (13 March 2000).