AUGUST 10
WITH ZEAL AND COURAGE, LEIGH PLANTED CHURCHES “DOWN UNDER” (1815)
“To prevent the confession of faith from usurping a tyrannical power over the conscience of any, we do not mean, that every person is bound to the stri...”
Semple, Robert Baylor. History of the Rise and Progress of the Baptists in Virginia. 1810.
God prunes us so we can bear more fruit (1856)
Every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful —John 15:2 (NIV). The Lord empti...
Events
1815
Samuel Leigh arrives in Sydney, Australia, on the Hebe. He is Australia’s first Methodist missionary.
Authority for the date: Strachan, Alexander. Remarkable Incidents in the Life of the Rev. S. Leigh, Missionary ... London: Hamilton, Adams1863
Pope Pius IX issues an encyclical in which he says, “We and you know, that those who lie under invincible ignorance as regards our most Holy Religion, and who, diligently observing the natural law and its precepts, which are engraven by God on the hearts of all, and prepared to obey God, lead a good and upright life, are able, by the operation of the power of divine light and grace, to obtain eternal life.”
Authority for the date: The encyclical Quanto conficiamur moerore (On Promotion Of False Doctrines).1886
Death by drowning of Joseph M. Scriven, Plymouth Brethren hymnwriter, author of the hymn “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” Because he is plagued by failing health, a meager income, and prolonged depression, his friends suspect his death may have been suicide. He had spent his life performing menial work for the underprivileged and destitute. A man of frequent misfortune, his plans for marriage had twice been destroyed by tragedy: in Ireland, a bride-to-be drowned the evening before their wedding; in Canada, a second fiancée fell ill and died suddenly before their scheduled wedding.
Authority for the date: Standard encyclopedias.1897
Death of William Walsham How. An Anglican clergyman, he had written the hymns “We Give Thee but Thine Own” and “For All the Saints.” Bishop How had done much work among the poor in East London, where he was known as the “poor man’s bishop.”
Authority for the date: Standard encyclopedias.1919
Orthodox priest Nicholas Vasilyevich Biryukov is arrested by the Cheka and will be executed because of his opposition to the Communists whom he had described as enemies of the church.
Authority for the date: Moss, Vladimir. Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of the Urals, Siberia and Central Asia.1966
Induction of Joseph Abiodun Adetiloye as vicar and provost of the cathedral church of St. James, Ibadan, Nigeria. He will go on to become the sixth primate of the Nigerian Anglican Communion.
Authority for the date: Dictionary of African Christian Biography.1973
A federal judge hands down a ruling for Jerry Falwell’s ministry that says “As far as this court can determine there is no evidence of intentional wrongdoing by the Thomas Road Baptist Church.” The Securities and Exchange Commission had accused the church of fraud and claimed it could never repay its bonds.
Authority for the date: Falwell, Jerry. Strength for the Journey.