JULY 17
ABRAHAM MAR THOMA, A METROPOLITAN FOR INDIA (1944)
“The mill owners obtained their wealth by overworking and by defrauding the factory children. They were praying people, but took care their work people...”
www.cooper.edu/humanities/core/hss3/r_oastler.html (accessed June 2002)
Lord, grant us full assurance (1670)
Whilst in this world I stay, some hopes have I That I shall reign in Heaven eternally But when my time is past, and I am...
Events
1203
During the Fourth Crusade, a two-pronged Venetian and French assault captures the towers of Constantinople. The usurper Alexius III flees the city.
Authority for the date: http://www.historynet.com1429
Charles VII of France is crowned at Rheims, largely as a result of the inspiring efforts of Joan of Arc.
Authority for the date: Britannica1799
Death of Samuel Medley, an English Baptist preacher. Converted after reading a sermon by Isaac Watts, Medley had pastored two different Baptist churches in Liverpool between 1767-99. “O Could I Speak the Matchless Worth,” one of his hymns, will be sung for centuries.
Authority for the date: cybehymnal.org1831
Baptism of Indian convert Radhu Das, having abandoned his high caste, his idolatry, and his self-righteous acts. He will become an educator and then a merchant, respected for his integrity and his passion to win souls.
Authority for the date: Oriental Christian Biography.1836
Death of William White, American patriarch of the Episcopalians. It was White who coined the name ‘Protestant Episcopal’ for the American church when it separated from the Church of England.
Authority for the date: Standard encyclopedias.1853
Confirmation of sixteen-year-old Frances Havergal in Worcester Cathedral. She becomes a notable hymnwriter, author of “Take My Life and Let it Be” among many others.
Authority for the date: Companion to the Lutheran Hymnal.1902
Ying Lianzhi, a Catholic convert in Nanjing, publishes the first issue of a newspaper called Da Gong Bao that will deal with such controversial issues as missionary attitudes toward the Chinese. He will also become a co-fonder of Fu Jen University.
Authority for the date: Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Christianity.1944
Abraham of Travancore becomes metropolitan of the Mar Thoma Church of India, sometimes called the “Syrian” church.
Authority for the date: Eddy, Sherwood. Pathfinders of the World Mission Crusade.1950
Death of Evangeline Cory Booth, Salvation Army general. The daughter of founder William Booth, Evangeline had supervised the field operations of the Army in Great Britain, Canada, and Alaska. In 1904 she had been promoted to head the American branch of the denomination. Among her contributions was authorship of many popular Salvation Army hymns.
Authority for the date: Standard encyclopedias.