June 10
1692: The notorious ‘Salem Witch Trials’ in the Puritan community in Massachusetts begins with the hanging of Bridget Bishop for witchcraft. Altogether 20 people were murdered before theological jurisprudence was restored.
1695: Episcopal ordination of François Fénelon, the French cleric and author, known for his contributions to religion, literature, and education, as the archbishop of Cambrai.
1850: Foundation of the American Bible Union by a few church leaders, who had broken from the American and Foreign Bible Society.
1854: Ordination of James Augustine Healy a priest in Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, who later became the first African- American Roman Catholic bishop.
1877: Death of Friedrich A. G. Tholuck, a German Lutheran Bible scholar and theologian, who did a lot to check rationalistic scholarship in Germany within the Lutheran church.
1900: Chinese soldiers and revolutionaries – Boxers – torture the Orthodox priest Fr. Mitrophan and the Christians assembled at his house, primarily women and children, after having burned their church a few days back.
1921: Demise of American hymn-writer Edwin O. Excell, who was active in the publication of gospel songbooks and Sunday school conventions. He is known for the tunes the hymns “Since I Have Been Redeemed,” “I’ll Be a Sunbeam,” and “Count Your Blessings” are sung.
1925: Formation of the United Church of Canada through the merging of both the Methodist and Presbyterian denominations of Canada, which includes 3,000 independent Canadian Congregational churches.
1953: The East German Communist government officially ends its attack on churches , after their unsuccessful attempts to force youth to renounce their church groups.
1983: Formation of the Presbyterian Church (USA), through a reunification of the United Presbyterian Church (UPCUSA) and the Southern Presbyterian Church (PCUS).
2008: Repose of Kwame Bediako, the first rector of Ghana’s Akrofi-Christaller Institute for Theology, Mission and Culture. He was held in high esteem at the international level for his writings about Christianity in Ghana and Africa.
Edited by: T. Chempilayil MCBS
Courtesy: www.studylight.org