- -4004
| Oct 23 | -BC- According to 17th century divine James Ussher, Archbishop of Armagh, and Dr. John Lightfoot of Cambridge, the world was created on this day, a Sunday, at 9 a.m. | Ref: 2 |
- -2348
| Apr 05 | -BC- Noah's ark grounded, Mt Ararat (calculated date). | Ref: 5 |
- -42
| Jan 01 | -BC- Julius Caesar is officially divinized. Ref | |
- -28
| Oct 09 | -BC- The Temple of Apollo is dedicated on the Palatine Hill in Rome. | Ref: 2 |
- 31
| Mar 25 | First Easter, according to calendar-maker Dionysius Exiguus. | Ref: 5 |
- 33
| Apr 03 | Christ crucified (according to astronomers Humphreys & Waddington). | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 23 | Christian tradition says the Jesus Christ, crucified three days earlier, was raised from the dead -- marking this date as the very first Easter. (The next time Easter falls on April 23rd will be in the year 2000.). | Ref: 5 |
| May 14 | The day commonly accepted as the day of Christ's ascension. | Ref: 62 |
- 34
| Apr 23 | Christ crucified, according to Isaac Newton. | Ref: 5 |
- 60
| Feb 10 | The date St Paul is thought to have been shipwrecked at Malta. | Ref: 5 |
- 303
| Feb 23 | Emperor Diocletian orders the general persecution of Christians in Rome. | Ref: 2 |
| Feb 24 | The first official Roman edict for the persecution of Christians was issued by Roman Emperor Galerius Valerius Maximianus. | Ref: 5 |
- 311
| Apr 30 | Emperor Galerius recognizes Christians legally in the Roman Empire. | Ref: 5 |
- 325
| May 20 | The Ecumenical council is inaugurated by Emperor Constantine in Nicea. | Ref: 2 |
| Jul 25 | The Council of Nicea closed. Regarded as the first 'ecumenical council,' its 300 ttending bishops drafted the Nicene Creed and fixed the formula for Easter Sunday. | Ref: 5 |
- 326
| Jul 25 | Emperor Constantine refuses to carry out traditional pagan sacrifices. | Ref: 2 |
- 356
| Feb 19 | Emperor Constantius II shuts all heathen temples. | Ref: 5 |
- 362
| Jun 17 | Emperor Julian issues an edict banning Christians from teaching in Syria. | Ref: 2 |
- 374
| Dec 07 | Early Church Father, Ambrose, 34, was consecrated Bishop of Milan, Italy. His influential works on theology and ethics made Ambrose (along with Jerome, Augustine, and Gregory the Great) one of the "four doctors" of the Western (Latin) Church. | Ref: 5 |
- 387
| Apr 24 | Augustine of Hippo, 32, was baptized on this Eve of Easter. He told the story of his Christian conversion from a profligate life in his "Confessions," written between 397-401. | Ref: 5 |
- 392
| Nov 08 | Theodosius of Rome passes legislation prohibiting all pagan worship in the empire. | Ref: 2 |
- 418
| Apr 30 | Roman Emperor Honorius (who ruled 395-423) issued a decree denouncing Pelagianism, which taught that humanity can take the initial and fundamental steps toward salvation by its own efforts, apart from divine grace. | Ref: 5 |
- 430
| Dec 07 | At the Synod of Rome, Cyril of Alexandria, 54, formally condemned the doctrine of the Antiochene monk Nestorius, who had claimed that there were two separate Persons in the Incarnate Christ (one Divine, the other Human). | Ref: 5 |
- 431
| Jun 22 | Council of Ephesus (3rd ecumenical council) opens. | Ref: 5 |
- 451
| Oct 08 | The Council of Chalcedon opened, near Constantinople. Dealing mainly with the Eutychian Christological heresy, the council created a confession of faith which has ever since been regarded as the highest word in Early Christian orthodoxy. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 22 | During the Fifth Session of the Council of Chalcedon, the final form of the Chalcedonian Creed was drafted. It became the Early Church's highest and most enduring "definition" of the person and work of Jesus Christ. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 31 | At the 15th Session of the Council of Chalcedon, Canon 28 was adopted, granting Constantinole a patriarchate extending over the civil dioceses of Pontus, Asia, and Thrace. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 01 | The Council of Chalcedon (located in modern Turkey) adjourned. Begun on Oct 8th, its 17 sessions were attended by over 500 bishops __ more than participated in any other ancient Church council. | Ref: 5 |
- 537
| Dec 27 | St Sofia-church in Constantinople, initiated. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 28 | St Sofia-church in Constantinople, initiated. | Ref: 5 |
- 548
| Jan 06 | This was the last year the Church in Jerusalem observed the birth of Jesus on this date. (Celebrating Christmas on December 25th began in the late 300s in the Western Church.) | Ref: 5 |
- 553
| Jun 02 | The Second Council of Constantinople closed. Led by Eutychius, Patriarch of Constantinople, the council condemned the Nestorian writings of Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret of Cyprus and Ibas of Edessa. | Ref: 5 |
- 558
| May 07 | The dome of the church of St. Sophia in Constantinople collapses. Its immediate rebuilding is ordered by Justinian. | Ref: 2 |
- 597
| May 25 | Traditional date of arrival of St. Augustine in Britain from Rome to convert the Anglos and Saxons. | Ref: 10 |
| Jun 02 | Augustine, missionary to England and first archbishop of Canterbury, baptized Saxon king Ethelbert. Afterward, the Christian faith spread rapidly among the Angles and Saxons. | Ref: 5 |
- 610
| Apr 06 | Lailat-ul Qadar, the night the koran descended to Earth | Ref: 5 |
- 622
| Jul 16 | The first day of the Muslim calendar (Muharram 1, 1 AH).(the first day of the lunar calendar in which the Hegira took place). Ref | |
| Sep 20 | Mohammad's Hegira. Mohammed flees Mecca (because of the hostility towards him) to what is now Medina. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 08 | Mohammed, the prophet of Islam makes public entrance to Medina marking the beginning of the Moslem era. | Ref: 62 |
- 673
| Sep 24 | Synod of Hertford opens; canons made for English Church. | Ref: 5 |
- 695
| Sep 08 | Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is instituted. | Ref: 62 |
- 753
| Nov 03 | Death of St. Pirminius, first abbot of the Benedictine monastery at Reichenau (located in modern Germany). His name endures today as author of a book entitled "Scarapsus," which is the earliest known writing to contain the Apostles' Creed as it is worded in its present form. | Ref: 5 |
- 804
| Mar 30 | Liudger becomes first bishop of Münster. | Ref: 5 |
- 835
| Nov 01 | The Roman Catholic Church declares the first All Saints Day. | Ref: 2 |
- 842
| Feb 19 | The Medieval Iconoclastic Controversy ended, when a Council in Constantinople formally reinstated the veneration of images (icons) in the churches. (This debate over icons is often considered the last event which led to the Great Schism between the Eastern and Western Churches.). | Ref: 5 |
- 843
| Mar 11 | Icon worship officially re-instated in Aya Sofia Constantinople. | Ref: 5 |
- 870
| Feb 28 | The Fourth Constantinople Council (also known as the 8th Ecumenical council) closed, under Pope Adrian II in the West and Emperor Basil I in the East. The council had condemned iconoclasm, and became the last ecumenical council held in the Eastern Mediterranean area. | Ref: 5 |
- 918
| Mar 01 | Balderik becomes bishop of Utrecht. | Ref: 5 |
- 972
| Apr 14 | Notger becomes bishop of Liege. | Ref: 5 |
- 993
| Jan 29 | St. Ulrich, who lived c.890-973, and was Bishop of Augsburg from 923, was canonized at a Lateran Synod. With this action by Pope John XV, St. Ulrich became the first individual in Roman Catholic history formally elevated to sainthood. | Ref: 5 |
- 1048
| May 01 | Bishop Bernold flees St Pieterskerk for Utrecht Netherlands. | Ref: 5 |
- 1054
| Jul 16 | The 'Great Schism' between the Western and Eastern churches began over rival claims of universal pre-eminence. (In 1965, 911 years later, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I met to declare an end to the schism.). | Ref: 5 |
- 1064
| Apr 01 | Body of bishop Eleutherius of Blandain moved to Doornik. | Ref: 5 |
- 1065
| Apr 12 | Pilgrims under bishop Günther of Bamberg reach Jerusalem. | Ref: 5 |
- 1085
| Oct 08 | St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice is consecrated. | Ref: 10 |
- 1092
| May 09 | Lincoln Cathedral consecrated. | Ref: 5 |
- 1098
| Mar 21 | The monastery in Citeaux, France was founded by St. Robert, a Benedictine monk and abbot of Molesme. It marked the beginning of the Roman Catholic Cistercian religious order. | Ref: 5 |
- 1115
| Jun 25 | St. Bernard founded a monastery in Clairvaux, France. It afterward became a strategic center for the Cistercians, a religious order that flourished up until the Reformation. | Ref: 5 |
- 1123
| Mar 18 | The First Lateran Council (9th ecumenical council) opens in Rome. It was the Ninth Ecumenical Council, and the first one to be held in the West. Lateran I settled the right of investiture (i.e., the right to choose replacement clergy) by a treaty between Pope Calixtus II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V. | Ref: 5 |
- 1198
| Jan 01 | First annual Festival of Fools in Paris ridiculing nuns and priests. | Ref: 62 |
| Dec 26 | French bishop Odo van Sully condemns Zottenfeest. | Ref: 5 |
- 1208
| Feb 24 | St Francis of Assisi, 26, received his vocation in the Italian village of Portiuncula. He founded the Franciscans the following year, and is regarded by some Catholics as the greatest of all Christian saints. | Ref: 5 |
- 1220
| Apr 26 | German king Frederick II grants bishops sovereign rights. | Ref: 5 |
- 1223
| Dec 25 | St. Francis of Assisi assembles one of the first Nativity scenes, in Greccio, Italy. | Ref: 70 |
- 1224
| Sep 10 | The Franciscans (founded in 1209 by St. Francis of Assisi) first arrive in England. They were originally called "Grey Friars" because of their gray habits. (The habit worn by modern Franciscans is brown.) | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 16 | During an extended period of prayer and fasting, St. Francis of Assisi, 42, received the stigmata (crucifixion scars of Christ) on Mount Alvernia, in Italy. Francis, the founder of the Franciscans in 1209, has been called by some the greatest of all the Christian saints. | Ref: 5 |
- 1239
| Oct 23 | In England, the main cathedral at Wells (begun c.1186) was consecrated. The most striking interior feature of the cathedral are the inverted arches (14th century) by which the piers of the tower are strengthened. | Ref: 5 |
- 1245
| Jun 28 | First Council of Lyons (13th ecumenical council) opens. | Ref: 5 |
- 1248
| May 15 | Archbishop Konrad von Hochstaden lays cornerstone for Köln cathedral. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 14 | Construction of Cologne Cathedral begun. | Ref: 5 |
- 1258
| Sep 20 | Salisbury Cathedral in England is consecrated. | Ref: 10 |
- 1270
| Sep 14 | A phial containing the blood of Jesus was presented to abbey of Hailes by the son of Richard, Earl of Cornwall. The phial had been guarenteed by the Patriarch of Jerusalem and had been bought from the Count of Flanders in 1267. A section of the abbey was rebuilt to hold the relic, and it was held in a purpose built shrine. A similar relic had been presented to the King, Henry III several years before in 1247. | |
- 1291
| May 17 | Scottish medieval Franciscan philosopher John Duns Scotus, 25, was ordained. He believed in "divine will" rather than "divine intellect," and founded a scholastic system called Scotism. In the Catholic Church he is known as "the Subtle Doctor." | Ref: 5 |
- 1314
| Apr 20 | As foretold by Jaques de Molay, as he was burnt at the stake on 12 March 1314, Pope Clement V was dead within 40 days. | |
- 1326
| Dec 08 | Daitokuji temple, Rinzai line, established in Kyoto by Daito Kokushi. | Ref: 5 |
- 1343
| Jan 27 | Pope Clement VI's bull "Unigenitus" officially ratifies the belief that Indulgences owed their potency to the Pope's dispensation of the accumulated merit of the Church. (In 1518 Cardinal Thomas Cajetan accused German reformer Martin Luther, 32, of challenging the validity of this Catholic doctrine.) | Ref: 5 |
- 1345
| Mar 16 | Holy spirit glides above fire; "the miracle of Amsterdam" (legend). | Ref: 5 |
- 1373
| May 08 | English mystic Julian of Norwich, 31, by her own account, received a series of sixteen revelations, while in a state of ecstasy lasting five hours. Her book, "The Sixteen Revelations of Divine Love," was written 20 years later as the fruit of her meditations on this experience. Little else is known of her life. | Ref: 2 |
- 1386
| Feb 15 | King Jagiello of Lithuania was baptized into the Christian faith. Lithuania being the last heathen nation in Europe, Jagiello's conversion finalized the Macedonian Vision in Acts 16:9, leading St. Paul to begin taking the Gospel to Europe. | Ref: 5 |
- 1394
| May 01 | Ekiho, exorcised the Zen temple & it's surroundings from an old badger. | Ref: 5 |
- 1409
| Aug 07 | The Council of Pisa closed. Convened to end the Great Schism (1378-1417) caused by two rival popes, the Council in fact elected a third pope, Alexander V (afterwards regarded as an antipope). | Ref: 5 |
- 1416
| May 07 | Monk Nicolaas Serrurier arrested because of heresy at Tournay. | Ref: 5 |
- 1422
| Mar 30 | Ketsugan, Zen teacher, performs exorcisms to free aizoji temple. | Ref: 5 |
- 1439
| Jul 05 | At the Council of Florence, the Decree of Union ('Laententur Coeli') was signed,creating an official theological union between the Eastern (Orthodox) and Western (Catholic)churches. Unfortunately, the Eastern Church at large never accepted the document. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 06 | Decree of Union unites Latin and Greek churches. | Ref: 10 |
- 1448
| Dec 05 | Bishop Jona of Moscow chosen as metropolitan of Kiev/Intoxication. | Ref: 5 |
- 1456
| Mar 30 | Prince Louis of Bourbon elected bishop of Liege. | Ref: 5 |
- 1465
| Dec 22 | Peace of St Truiden: Louis van Bourbon becomes bishop of Luik. | Ref: 5 |
- 1478
| Apr 26 | Easter is celebrated for the first time. | Ref: 5 |
- 1483
| Oct 13 | Rabbi Issac Abarbanel starts his exegesis on the Bible. | Ref: 5 |
- 1490
| Jan 23 | First printing of Ramban's Sha'ar ha-Gemul. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 23 | First dated edition of Maimonides "Mishna Torah" published. | Ref: 5 |
- 1492
| Jan 23 | "Pentateuch" (Jewish holy book) first printed. | Ref: 5 |
- 1494
| Jan 06 | The first mass in America is celebrated in the Roman Catholic church on Isabella Island in Haiti. This was the first church established in the New World, founded by Christopher Columbus. | Ref: 5 |
- 1495
| Jan 28 | Pope gives his son Cesare Borgia as hostage to Charles VIII of France. | Ref: 5 |
| May 31 | Emperor Maximilian, Pope Alexander VI, Milan, King Ferdinand, Isabella & Venice sign anti-French Saint League. | Ref: 5 |
- 1498
| Apr 07 | Crowd storms Savonarola's convent San Marco Florence Italy. | Ref: 5 |
- 1502
| Feb 12 | Granada Moslems forced to convert to Catholicism. | Ref: 5 |
- 1505
| Jul 17 | (Protestant Reformation) Twenty-one-year-old future church reformer, Martin Luther enters the Augustinian monastic order, at Erfurt, Germany. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 17 | (Protestant Reformation) Martin Luther overtaken by thunderstorm proclaims "Help, St. Anne, and I'll become a monk.” | Ref: 10 |
- 1506
| Apr 11 | The foundation stone of the new St. Peter's Basilica was laid under the patronage of Julius II. (The church was not completed, however, until 1626.). | Ref: 5 |
- 1507
| Apr 04 | (Protestant Reformation) Future German reformer Martin Luther, at age 21, was ordained a priest in the Roman Catholic church. | Ref: 5 |
| May 02 | (Protestant Reformation) Two years after entering the Augustinian monastery at Erfurt, future German reformer Martin Luther, 23, was consecrated a priest. (Luther remained in the order until 1521, when he was excommunicated from the Catholic Church.). | Ref: 5 |
- 1509
| Apr 27 | Pope Julius II excommunicates the Italian state of Venice. | Ref: 2 |
- 1514
| Jan 10 | The first section of the Complutensian Polyglot (the world's first multi-language Bible) was printed at Alcala, Spain. (The complete translation was published in 6 volumes in 1517.). | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 04 | Richard Hunne English "heretic", commits suicide(?). | Ref: 5 |
- 1517
| Oct 31 | (Protestant Reformation) German Augustinian monk Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Palace church, marking the start of the Protestant Reformation in Germany. | Ref: 70 |
- 1518
| Apr 26 | (Protestant Reformation) German reformer Martin Luther stated in his Disputation at Heidelberg: 'Grace is given to heal the spiritually sick, not to decorate spiritual heroes.' | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 03 | A soldier in Paris strikes an image of virgin Mary which then, allegedly bleeds. | Ref: 62 |
| Oct 12 | (Protestant Reformation) Summoned before Cardinal Thomas Cajetan, German reformer Martin Luther, 35, refuses to recant the 95 Theses he had posted the previous October on the chapel door at Wittenberg Castle. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 11 | Swiss Reformer Ulrich Zwingli, 34, was elected People's Preacher at the Old Minster Church in Zurich, where he continued as pastor for the remaining 13 years of his life. | Ref: 5 |
- 1519
| Jan 04 | First Altenburger sermon (Luther & Karl von Miltitz). | Ref: 5 |
- 1520
| Oct 06 | (Protestant Reformation) German reformer Martin Luther, 36, publishes "Prelude on the Babylonian Captivity of the Church," his famous writing which attacked the entire sacramental system of the Catholic Church. | Ref: 5 |
- 1521
| Apr 07 | Inquisitor-General Adrian Boeyens bans Lutheran books. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 16 | (Protestant Reformation) German reformer Martin Luther, 34, arrives at the Diet of Worms, where he afterward defended his "Ninety-Five Theses," first advanced in 1517. At the Diet, Luther refused to recant his ideas 'unless overcome by Scripture.'. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 18 | (Protestant Reformation) German reformer Martin Luther is questioned by Cardinal Alexander at the Diet of Worms. Luther proclaims that a biblical foundation supported the theological position of his "Ninety-Five Theses." Luther ended his defense with the famous words: 'Here I stand! I can do nothing else! God help me! Amen.' | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 18 | (Protestant Reformation) Martin Luther confronts the emperor Charles V, refusing to retract the views which led to his excommunication. | Ref: 2 |
| Apr 28 | (Protestant Reformation) German reformer Martin Luther wrote in a letter: 'The authority of Scripture is greater than the comprehension of the whole of man's reason.'. | Ref: 5 |
| May 08 | (Protestant Reformation) Parliament of Worms installs edict against Marten Luther. | Ref: 2 |
| May 25 | (Protestant Reformation) Holy Roman Emperor Charles V pronounced Martin Luther an outlaw and heretic for refusing to recant his teachings while at the Diet of Worms (held the previous month). | Ref: 5 |
| May 26 | Martin Luther was declared an outlaw and his writings were banned by the Edict of Worms because of his religious beliefs. | Ref: 70 |
- 1522
| Mar 09 | Marten Luther preaches his Invocavit. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 21 | (Protestant Reformation) Martin Luther, 36, first published his German translation of the New Testament. (Luther's translation of the entire Bible was completed in 1534 -- perhaps the greatest literary achievement of the great Reformer.). | Ref: 5 |
- 1523
| Jan 19 | In Switzerland, Ulrich Zwingli publishes his 67 Articles, the first manifesto of the Zurich Reformation which attacks the authority of the Pope.
In Switzerland, Ulrich Zwingli publishes his 67 Articles, the first manifesto of the Zurich Reformation which attacks the authority of the Pope. | Ref: 2 |
| Jan 29 | Sermon of Constanz Zwingli defends 67 Schlussreden. | Ref: 5 |
- 1524
| Apr 02 | At age 40, Swiss reformer Ulrich Zwingli (a former Catholic priest) publicly married the widow Anna (ne Reinhard) Meyer. Their marriage lasted until his death at the Battle of Kappel in 1531. | Ref: 5 |
- 1525
| Jan 21 | History's first Anabaptist baptismal service took place in Zurich, Switzerland, when Conrad Grebel (re-)baptized George Blaurock. | Ref: 5 |
| May 10 | Church reformer John Pistorius caught in the Hague. | Ref: 5 |
- 1526
| May 21 | Sermon of Bathe, Aargau: TC evangelical theology. | Ref: 5 |
| May 22 | Pope Clemens VII, France, Genoa, Venice, Florence & Milan form Anti-French League of Cognac. | Ref: 5 |
- 1527
| Jun 24 | (Protestant Reformation) King Gustavus of Sweden assembled the Diet of Wester's, for the purpose of carrying through the Protestant Reformation in Sweden. | Ref: 5 |
- 1528
| Jan 04 | Ferdinand of Austria, younger brother to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, issued the first secular mandate forbidding the Anabaptist religious movement. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 07 | Bern, the strongest canton (territorial division) in southern Switzerland in its day, officially embraced the Protestant faith of Swiss reformers Ulrich Zwingli and John Oecolampadius. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 10 | Martyrdom of Balthaser Hubmaier, 48, German reformer and chief writer for the Anabaptist movement. Arrested in Moravia, Hubmaier was later condemned at Vienna and burned at the stake. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 03 | In Cologne, German reformer Adolf Clarenbach, 28, was arrested for teaching Protestant (some say Anabaptist or Waldensian) doctrines. The following year, Clarenbach was burned at the stake for his faith. | Ref: 5 |
- 1529
| Jan 14 | Spanish reformer Juan de Valdes, 29, published his "Dialogue on Christian Doctrine," which paved the way in Spain for Protestant ideas. But his treatise was condemned by the Spanish Inquisition, and Valdes was forced to flee Spain, never to return. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 16 | Louis de Berquin French humanist/reformer/heretic, burned at stake. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 19 | In Germany at the Diet of Spires (Speyer), a document signed by Lutheran leaders in fourteen cities lodged a "protest" which demanded a freedom of conscience and the right of minorities. Henceforth, the German Lutheran Reformers were known as "Protestants." | Ref: 5 |
- 1530
| Apr 25 | The Augsburg Confession was read publicly at the Diet of Worms. Written principally by Philip Melanchthon, the document comprised the first official summary of the Lutheran faith. | Ref: 5 |
- 1531
| Jan 05 | Pope Clemens VII forbids English king Henry VIII to re-marry. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 09 | The Virgin Mary first appears to the farmer Juan Diego and tells him that a church should be built on the spot where he stands. | Ref: 62 |
- 1532
| Dec 12 | The Virgin Mary appears again to the farmer Juan Diego and instructs him to take the roses from a nearby bush to the Church as proof that she has visited him. | Ref: 62 |
- 1534
| Jan 25 | (Protestant Reformation) German Reformer Martin Luther gave his understanding of "conversion" in a sermon: 'To be converted to God means to believe in Christ, to believe that He is our Mediator and that we have eternal life through Him.'. | Ref: 5 |
| May 12 | Württemberg becomes Lutheran. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 15 | The Society of Jesus (Jesuits) was founded by Ignatius of Loyola, 43. Created to foster reform within Catholicism, and to undertake education and missionary work, this colorful religious order was formally approved by Pope Paul III in 1540. | Ref: 5 |
- 1535
| Feb 10 | 12 nude Anabaptists run through Amsterdam streets. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 24 | Anabaptists Protestants conquerered & disbanded. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 04 | London printer Miles Coverdale, 47, published his English version of the Bible. A good translator who later served on two other translation committees, Coverdale was also popular as a Lutheran preacher. | Ref: 5 |
- 1536
| Mar 27 | Swiss Protestants in Strassbourg and Constance signed the First Helvetic Confession. It became the first major document setting forth the common faith of the Swiss Protestant churches. | Ref: 5 |
| May 21 | The General Assembly of Geneva, Switzerland officially embraced Protestantism by accepting the evangelical faith of the Swiss reformers. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 08 | Ten Articles of Religion were published by the English clergy, in support of Henry VIII's Declaration of Supremacy. The Anglican Church had begun defining its doctrinal distinctions, after breaking with Roman Catholicism. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 30 | Thirteen years after Lutheran ministers came to bring spiritual renewal to its people, Denmark adopted Lutheranism as its official state religion. | Ref: 5 |
- 1537
| Apr 27 | Geneva's first Protestant catechism was published. Based on Calvin's "Institutes," it was compiled by John Calvin, 27, and/or by fellow French reformer, Guillaume Farel, 48. | Ref: 5 |
- 1538
| Jan 10 | (Protestant Reformation) Regarding the doctrine of purgatory, German Reformer Martin Luther reported in a "Table Talk": 'God has placed two ways before us in His Word: salvation by faith, damnation by unbelief (Mark 16:16). He does not mention purgatory at all. Nor is purgatory to be admitted, for it obscures the benefits and grace of Christ.' | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 16 | King Francois I orders renewed pursuit of Protestants. | Ref: 5 |
- 1539
| Nov 26 | In England, the monastery at the Fountains Abbey was surrendered to the crown. It was the richest of the Cistercian houses, prior to the time of the Dissolution of all monasteries in England, under the reign of Henry VIII. | Ref: 5 |
- 1540
| Mar 23 | In a show of growing support for Henry VIII, Waltham Abbey in Essex became the last monastery in England to transfer its allegiance from the Catholic Church to the newly_established Church of England. | Ref: 5 |
- 1541
| Apr 04 | Spanish ecclesiastic reformer and mystic Ignatius Loyola, 50, was elected the first General of the Jesuit Order, which he had helped establish the previous year. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 07 | Spanish founder of the Jesuits Francis Xavier, 35, and three friends set sail from Lisbon, Portugal for Goa. They became the first Roman Catholic missionaries to travel to India. | Ref: 5 |
| May 22 | In Germany, the Ratisbon (Regensburg) Conference ended, its mission to reunify the Catholic Church having failed. From this time on, the Protestant movement became permanent. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 20 | In Switzerland, French reformer John Calvin, 32, established a theocratic government at Geneva, thereby creating a home base for emergent Protestantism throughout Europe. | Ref: 5 |
- 1545
| Apr 12 | French king François I orders protestants of Vaudois to be killed. | Ref: 5 |
- 1546
| Apr 08 | At its fourth session, the Council of Trent adopted Jerome's "Latin Vulgate" as the official Bible of the Roman Catholic Church. (Included in the Vulgate O.T. were the 15 apocryphal books which Protestants reject in their biblical canon.). | Ref: 5 |
- 1547
| Mar 03 | The Seventh Session of the Council of Trent declared: 'If anyone says that one baptized cannot, even if he wishes, lose grace, however much he may sin, unless he is unwilling to believe, let him be anathema.'. | Ref: 5 |
- 1549
| Aug 15 | The first Christian missionaries to reach Japan landed at Kagoshima (on the coast of Kyushu, southernmost of the four main islands of Japan). They were a band of Spanish Jesuits, led by pioneer Catholic missionary Francis Xavier, 43. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 13 | Pope Paul III closes the first session of the Council of Bologna. | Ref: 2 |
- 1552
| Aug 02 | The treaty of Passau gives religious freedom to Protestants living in Germany. | Ref: 2 |
- 1553
| Aug 24 | A Catholic Mass is sung at St.Paul's Cathedral in London. | |
- 1557
| Dec 03 | First Covenant of Scottish protestants form. | Ref: 5 |
- 1558
| Nov 17 | The Church of England is re-established. | Ref: 2 |
- 1559
| Jun 22 | In England, Queen Elizabeth's Prayer Book was issued. During her 45-year reign, Elizabeth I rejected the Catholic faith, adopting instead the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Anglican Church. | Ref: 5 |
- 1560
| Aug 25 | Protestantism is formally adopted at the First General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Scottish Parliament had earlier voted to accept a Calvinist confession of faith, declaring that the pope no longer had jurisdiction over Scotland. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 20 | First General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. | Ref: 10 |
- 1561
| Jan 28 | By Edict of Orleans persecution of French Huguenots is suspended. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 21 | Archbishop Granvelle installed. | Ref: 5 |
- 1562
| Jan 15 | 3rd sitting of Council of Trente opens. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 17 | The Edict of St. Germain officially recognized French Protestantism. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 01 | Blood bath at Vassy; General de Guise allows 1200 huguenots to be murdered. | Ref: 5 |
- 1563
| Jan 19 | The Heidelberg Catechism was first published in Germany. Written by Peter Ursinus and Caspar Olevianus, it comprised a balanced statement of Calvinist tradition, and was soon after accepted by nearly all of the Reformed churches in Europe. | Ref: 5 |
- 1565
| Dec 24 | Compromise of the Nobles closes against inquisition. | Ref: 5 |
- 1569
| Feb 07 | King Philip II forms inquistion in South America. | Ref: 5 |
- 1570
| Apr 14 | Polish Calvinists/Lutherians/Hernhutters unify against Jesuits. | Ref: 5 |
| May 10 | Czar Ivan IV becomes Protestant | Ref: 2 |
- 1571
| Jan 11 | Emperor Maximilian II grants Austrian adel freedom of religion. | Ref: 5 |
- 1572
| Feb 05 | Beggars assault Oisterwijk Netherlands, drive nuns out. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 23 | In France, late this night, Catholic conspirators began massacring thousands of Huguenots (French Protestants), under orders of Catherine de Medici, advisor to her son, Charles IX, King of France. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 24 | Some 50,000 people are put to death in the ‘Massacre of St. Bartholomew,’ as Charles IX of France attempts to rid the country of Huguenots. | Ref: 2 |
| Nov 20 | The first Presbyterian meeting house in England was established at Wandsworth, Surrey. | Ref: 5 |
- 1580
| Jun 25 | The German 'Book of Concord' was published, containing all the official confessions of the Lutheran Church. (English translations of the entire work were not available before 1851.). | Ref: 5 |
- 1584
| May 16 | 7 Westfriese towns divide monasteries of Egmond/Blokker/St-Pietersdal. | Ref: 5 |
- 1585
| Sep 09 | Pope Sixtus V deprives Henry of Navarre of his rights to the French crown. | Ref: 2 |
- 1586
| Dec 15 | Laevinus Torrentius, becomes bishop of Antwerp. | Ref: 5 |
- 1587
| Jul 25 | Hideyoshi bans Christianity in Japan and orders all Christians to leave. | Ref: 2 |
- 1595
| Sep 23 | Spain launched an intensive missionary campaign in the American Southeast. During the next two years, about 1,500 American Indians were converted to the Catholic faith. | Ref: 5 |
- 1596
| Jan 31 | Catholic League disjoins. | Ref: 5 |
- 1598
| Apr 13 | The Edict of Nantes was promulgated by France's King Henry IV (of Navarre), granting his Huguenot (Protestant) subjects a large measure of religious freedom. (The Edict remained in effect for 87 years.). | Ref: 5 |
- 1599
| Jun 20 | The Synod of Diamper reunited a native church in India with Rome. Discovered in 1498 by Portuguese explorers, this isolated pocket of worshipers traced their Christian origins back to the missionary efforts of the Apostle Thomas. | Ref: 5 |
- 1601
| Sep 22 | The first (Catholic) priests of the newly established Christian Church in Japan -- Sebastian Chimura and Aloysius Niabara -- were ordained in their hometown of Nagasaki. | Ref: 5 |
- 1604
| Jan 14 | The Hampton Court Conference opened in London, during which Puritan representatives met with their monarch, King James I, to discuss reform within the Church of England. | Ref: 5 |
- 1606
| Apr 18 | In Rome, Julius II laid the foundation stone of the second building of St. Peter's Basilica. Completed 20 years later by Urban VIII, St. Peter's today is the largest church in Christendom, with an overall length of 619 feet. | Ref: 5 |
- 1607
| Apr 29 | The first Anglican (Episcopal) church in the American colonies was established at Cape Henry, VA. | Ref: 5 |
| May 14 | In Virginia, on the first Sunday after the arrival of the Jamestown Expedition, Anglican priest Robert Hunt, 39, held the first Anglican service in the New World. Named chaplain of the expedition to Jamestown, Hunt was also the first Anglican priest to come to America. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 21 | First Protestant Episcopal parish in America established, Jamestown. | Ref: 5 |
- 1608
| May 19 | The Protestant states form the Evangelical Union of Lutherans and Calvinists. | Ref: 2 |
- 1609
| Jul 09 | Emperor Rudolf II grants Bohemia freedom of worship. | Ref: 2 |
- 1617
| Aug 30 | Rosa de Lima of Peru becomes the first American saint to be canonized. | Ref: 2 |
- 1618
| Nov 13 | In the Dutch commune of Dordrecht, the Synod of Dort convened to discuss the Arminian controversy vexing the Reformed faith. In the end, about 200 Arminian (Remonstrant) ministers were deposed and fifteen were placed under arrest and later expelled from the country. | Ref: 5 |
- 1619
| May 09 | In Holland, the six month long Synod of Dort ended. Confirming the authority of the "Heidelberg Catechism," the decisions of the Synod led to some 200 Arminian clergy being afterward deprived of their offices. | Ref: 5 |
- 1624
| Jan 15 | Riots flare in Mexico when it is announced that all churches are to be closed. | Ref: 2 |
- 1626
| Feb 06 | Huguenot rebels and the French sign the Peace of La Rochelle. | Ref: 2 |
- 1628
| Apr 07 | Jonas Michaelius, 51, arrived in New Amsterdam (New York City), the first minister of the Dutch Reformed Church to come to America. | Ref: 5 |
- 1629
| Mar 06 | In Germany, the Edict of Restitution, by Emperor Ferdinand II, orders that all church property secularized since 1552 be restored to the Roman Catholic Church. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 30 | The settlers of Salem, Mass. appointed Samuel Skelton as their pastor, by ballot. Their church covenant, afterward composed by Skelton, established Salem as the first non-separating congregational Puritan Church in New England. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 30 | The Puritans of Salem, Mass. appointed Francis Higginson as their teacher and Samuel Skelton as their pastor. The church covenant, composed afterward by these two men, allowed into communion only those who could prove a sound doctrinal knowledge and experience of grace in their lives. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 15 | In England, proto_Baptist minister and founder of Rhode Island, 26-year-old Roger Williams married Mary Barnard, daughter of a Puritan clergyman. | Ref: 5 |
- 1631
| Nov 03 | English clergyman John Eliot, 27, first arrived in America, at Boston. He afterward became the first Protestant minister to devote himself to evangelization of the American Indian. | Ref: 5 |
- 1632
| Apr 20 | Nicolas Antione converted to Judiasm, burned at the stake. | Ref: 5 |
- 1635
| Sep 13 | The Massachusetts General Court banished Separatist preacher Roger Williams, 32, for criticizing the Massachusetts Bay Company charter and for perpetually advocating a separation of church and state. | Ref: 5 |
- 1637
| Aug 30 | Colonial religious teacher Anne Hutchinson, 46, was charged with "traducing (i.e., degrading) the ministry" and was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Moving the following year to Rhode Island, then to NY, Anne and her family were killed by Indians in 1643. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 07 | Controversial colonial religious leader Anne Hutchinson, 46, was convicted of spreading heresy and banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Mrs. Hutchinson afterward relocated in Rhode Island with her family and friends. | Ref: 5 |
- 1638
| Feb 28 | Scottish Presbyterians sign National Convenant, Greyfriars, Edinburgh. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 22 | Religious dissident Anne Hutchinson was expelled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. | Ref: 70 |
| Nov 21 | A General Assembly at Glasgow abolished the episcopal form of church government, adopted the presbyterian form in its place, and gave final constitution to the Church of Scotland. | Ref: 5 |
- 1640
| Apr 17 | Reorus Torkillus, 41, from Sweden, landed at Fort Christie in Delaware, making him the first Lutheran pastor to arrive in North America. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 25 | Pierre de Fermat writes to Marin Mersenne about Fermat's church thesis. | Ref: 5 |
- 1641
| Oct 23 | Rebellion in Ireland. Catholics, under Phelim O'Neil, rise against the Protestants and massacred men, women and children to the number of 40,000 (some say 100,000). | Ref: 2 |
- 1643
| Jul 01 | The Westminster Assembly first convened in England, from which would emerge the Westminster longer and shorter catechisms. | Ref: 5 |
- 1644
| Mar 31 | Pope Urbanus VIII & duke of Parma signs Peace of Ferrara | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 19 | First Protestant ministry society in New England. | Ref: 5 |
- 1645
| Aug 28 | In Poland, King Vladislav IV convened the Conference of Thorn. Through it he sought to bring reunion among the 26 Catholic, 28 Lutheran and 24 Calvinist theologians in attendance. Discussions continued through November, but no satisfying theological fusion was achieved. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 04 | The first Lutheran church building erected in America was dedicated at Easton (near Bethlehem), PA. | Ref: 5 |
- 1646
| Sep 01 | The Cambridge Synod of Congregational Churches convened in Mass. It formulated the 'Cambridge Platform,' outlining the proper polity (religious government) to be followed by the New England Congregational churches. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 28 | At Nonantum, Mass., colonial missionary John Eliot ("Apostle to the New England Indians"), 42, conducted the first Protestant worship service for the Indians of North America. He also delivered the first sermon preached to the Indians in their native tongue. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 04 | The Massachusetts Bay Colony passed a law making it a capital offense to deny that the Bible was the Word of God. Any person convicted of the offense was liable to the death penalty. | Ref: 5 |
- 1648
| Jul 20 | The Westminster Larger Catechism was adopted by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland at Edinburgh. This and the Shorter Catechism have both been in regular use among Presbyterians, Baptists and Congregationalists ever since. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 15 | The Larger and the Shorter Catechisms -- both prepared by the Westminster Assembly the previous year -- were approved by the British Parliament. These two documents have been in regular use among various Presbyterians, Congregationalists and Baptists ever since. | Ref: 5 |
- 1649
| Jul 19 | In London, Edward Winslow, governor of the Plymouth Colony, helped organize the Society for Propagating the Gospel in New England, for the purpose of converting the American Indians to Christian faith. | Ref: 5 |
- 1651
| Dec 25 | The General Court of Boston levies a five shilling fine on anyone caught "observing any such day as Christmas." | Ref: 2 |
- 1656
| Jan 23 | French scientist Blaise Pascal, 33, published the first of his 18 "Provincial Lettres," the majority of which attacked the Jesuit theories of grace and moral theology. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 05 | Eight Quakers from England arrived in Boston and were immediately imprisoned by the local Puritan authorities. (The church-and-state amalgam of Puritanism looked upon non-ritual Quakerism with suspicion, regarding it as theologically apostate and politically subversive). | Ref: 5 |
- 1660
| Apr 04 | English King Charles II ends Declaration of Breda (freedom of religion). | Ref: 5 |
- 1664
| May 28 | First Baptist Church is organized (Boston). | Ref: 5 |
- 1665
| May 31 | Jerusalem's rabbi Sjabtai Tswi proclaims himself Messiah. | Ref: 5 |
- 1666
| Dec 12 | The Moscow Council deposed Russian Orthodox Patriarch Nikon, 61. The church synod had sought to bring an end to the struggle between Czar Alexis and Patriarch Nikon, but the antagonism, begun as a call for liturgical reform, ultimately grew into a struggle over the relationship between church and state. | Ref: 5 |
- 1669
| Feb 01 | French King Louis XIV limits freedom of religion. | Ref: 5 |
- 1670
| Aug 22 | In Massachusetts, English-born colonial missionary John Eliot, 66, founded an Indian church at Martha's Vineyard, with educated Indians Hiacoomes and Tackanash appointed pastor and teacher, respectively. | Ref: 5 |
- 1672
| Jun 25 | First recorded monthly Quaker meeting in US held, Sandwich, Mass. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 11 | Colonial American clergyman Solomon Stoddard, 29, was ordained pastor of the Congregational church in Northampton, Mass. He remained at this pulpit for the next 57 years! (From 1727 until his death in 1729, Stoddard was assisted by his grandson, Jonathan Edwards.). | Ref: 5 |
- 1675
| May 03 | A Massachusetts law was enacted requiring church doors to be locked during the worship service. (Too many people were leaving before the long sermons were completed.) | Ref: 5 |
- 1682
| Mar 19 | Nationally Council accept independence of French church. | Ref: 5 |
- 1686
| May 15 | Rev. Robert Ratcliffe arrived in Boston from England, with orders from King Charles II to establish the Anglican Church in Massachusetts. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 15 | In Boston, the King's Chapel was organized. It was the first Anglican church established in colonial New England. | Ref: 5 |
- 1687
| Mar 13 | Father Eusebio Kino, 42, an Italian-born Jesuit in the service of Spain, began missionary labors in the American Southwest. In all, Kino established 25 Indian missions in the area now divided between northern Mexico and Arizona. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 31 | The first shipload of emigrating Huguenots (French Protestants) left France for South Africa. | Ref: 5 |
- 1689
| May 24 | English Parliament passes the Act of Toleration, protecting Protestants. Roman Catholics are specifically excluded from exemption. | Ref: 2 |
- 1698
| Mar 08 | The first meeting convened of the British group which later formed the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK). | Ref: 5 |
| May 29 | Construction began on Old Swedes (Holy Trinity) Church in Wilmington, Delaware. The structure has been used continuously as a place of Christian worship ever since. | Ref: 5 |
- 1700
| Jun 17 | Massachusetts passes law giving Roman Catholic priests three months to leave the State. | Ref: 10 |
- 1703
| Nov 24 | In Philadelphia, German_born pastor and hymnwriter Justus Falckner, 31, became the first Lutheran clergyman to be ordained in America. | Ref: 5 |
- 1704
| Sep 28 | A statute was enacted by the colony of Maryland, giving ministers the right to impose divorce on "unholy couples." | Ref: 5 |
- 1715
| Jun 14 | Robert Norden became licensed pastor of the Baptist congregation in Prince George County -- the first Baptist church organized within the American colony of Virginia. | Ref: 5 |
- 1717
| Sep 17 | The first synod of the Presbyterian Church in America met in Philadelphia. | Ref: 5 |
- 1723
| Dec 25 | The Dunkards (Baptists from Germany) held their first immersion service in America at Germantown (near Philadelphia), Pennsylvania. | Ref: 5 |
- 1724
-
| Sep 07 | The first American congregation of Dunkards (German Baptists) gather in Philadelphia, PA. | Ref: 5 |
- 1727
| Aug 06 | French Ursuline nuns first arrived at New Orleans, where they set up the first Catholic charitable institution in America. It comprised an orphanage, a girl's school and a hospital. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 13 | In the German village of Herrnhut, religious reformer Count Nicolaus von Zinzendorf, 27, organized a group of Bohemian Protestant refugees into the first Moravian community of "Unitas Fratrum" (united brotherhood). | Ref: 5 |
- 1729
| Mar 15 | A Ceremony of Profession was held for Sister St. Stanislaus Hachard at the Ursuline convent in New Orleans, thereby making her the first Catholic woman to become a nun in America. | Ref: 5 |
- 1732
| Feb 02 | King Frederik Willem I moves Lutherans towards East-Prussia. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 26 | In Philadelphia, Mass was celebrated for the first time at St Joseph's Church the only Roman Catholic church built and maintained in the American colonies before the Revolutionary War. | Ref: 5 |
- 1735
| Mar 13 | First US Moravian bishop, David Nitschmann, consecrated in Germany. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 14 | Methodist pioneer John Wesley first set sail to America, to minister to the Indians under Georgia Gov. Oglethorpe. On this same date, Wesley began keeping his famous, 55-year-long journal, whose last entry was dated Oct 24, 1790. | Ref: 5 |
- 1738
| May 24 | English founder of Methodism John Wesley underwent his famous religious conversion at Aldersgate Chapel in London. Later, in his journal, Wesley reflected under this date: 'I felt my heart strangely warmed....'. | Ref: 5 |
- 1741
| Nov 14 | In Wales, English revivalist George Whitefield, 27, married widow Elizabeth Burnell, 36. | Ref: 5 |
- 1742
| Nov 25 | In New York, David Brainerd, 24, was approved as a missionary to the New England Indians by the Scottish Society for the Propagating of Christian Knowledge (SPCK). Brainerd worked heroically from Apr 1743 to Nov 1746, before advancing tuberculosis forced him to relinquish his work. (He died in October 1747.) | Ref: 5 |
- 1743
| Mar 05 | In Boston, editor Thomas Prince published the first issue of his weekly, "The Christian History." It was the first religious journal published in America. | Ref: 5 |
- 1744
| Jun 12 | David Brainerd, 26, was ordained a missionary to the Indians in Colonial New England by the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge (SPCK). | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 25 | The first Methodist conference convened, in London. This new society within Anglicanism imposed strict disciplines upon its members, formally separating from the Established Church in 1795. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 05 | Following his ordination, David Brainerd, 26, began three years of intense missionary labors among the Indians along the Susquehannah River in New Jersey. Increasing illness from the elements led to Brainerd's premature death, after only three years. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 19 | English revivalist George Whitefield, 29, arrived in Maine at the start of his second visit to America. Whitefield struggled to adapt the beliefs of Calvinism to the Arminian teachings of proto-Methodists John and Charles Wesley. | Ref: 5 |
- 1748
| Aug 15 | United Lutheran Church of US organized. | Ref: 5 |
- 1751
| Oct 21 | The first Baptist association in the American South was organized at Charleston, SC. It was formed under the initiative of Oliver Hart, who had left the Philadelphia area to become pastor of the Charleston Baptist Church in 1749. | Ref: 5 |
- 1752
| Jan 31 | The profession ceremony for Sister St. Martha Turpin was held at Ursuline Convent in New Orleans, LA. She was the first American-born woman to become a nun in the Catholic Church. | Ref: 5 |
- 1753
| Mar 17 | First official St Patrick's Day. | Ref: 5 |
- 1756
| Mar 17 | St Patrick's Day first celebrated in NYC at Crown & Thistle Tavern. | Ref: 5 |
- 1760
| Aug 10 | Philip Embury (1728-1773) arrived in NY the first Methodist clergyman to come over from England.in America. | Ref: 5 |
- 1764
| Nov 26 | Suppression of the Jesuits in France. | Ref: 10 |
| Dec 01 | The French government abolished the Jesuit order in that country. (The Society of Jesus was completely suppressed by Clement XIV in 1767, but was restored again by Pius VII in 1814.). | Ref: 5 |
- 1766
| May 18 | The Church of the United Brethren in Christ was organized in Lancaster, PA, under the leadership of Martin Boehm, 41, and Philip William Otterbein, 39. (It became a branch of the Evangelical United Brethren in 1946.). | Ref: 5 |
- 1768
| Oct 30 | The Wesley Chapel on John Street in NY City was dedicated. It was the first Methodist church building to be erected in the American colonies, and was restored in 1817, and again in 1840. | Ref: 5 |
- 1771
| Oct 27 | Landing at Philadelphia, pioneer bishop Francis Asbury, 26, first arrived in America. He had been sent from England by John Wesley to oversee Methodism in the American colonies, and stayed all of his remaining 45 years, till his death in 1816. | Ref: 5 |
- 1772
| Jun 09 | First Protestant church west of Penn (in Ohio) holds communion. | Ref: 5 |
- 1773
| Jul 14 | The first annual conference of the Methodist Church in America convened at St.George's Church in Philadelphia, PA. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 16 | First gathering of Methodists in America in Philadelphia. | Ref: 10 |
- 1774
| Aug 06 | English religious leader Ann Lee (1736-1784) and a small band of followers first arrived in America. Her sect called itself the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Coming, but to the rest of the world her followers came to be known as the "Shakers." | Ref: 5 |
- 1780
| Jun 30 | Benjamin Randall organized a fellowship of churches known as Free Will Baptists in New Hampshire. It became one of the early branches of the National Association of Free Will Baptists, which was formed in 1935. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 29 | In Connecticut, Lemuel Haynes, 27, was licensed to preach in the Congregational Church, becoming the first black minister to be certified by a predominantly white denomination. Five years later, in 1785, Haynes was ordained pastor of a church in Torrington, CT, also making him the first black minister to pastor a white church. | Ref: 5 |
- 1781
| Jun 18 | The first Baptist church established in Kentucky was organized at Elizabethtown. (Kentucky was first visited by Baptist missionaries in 1772 when Squire Boone, brother of explorer Daniel Boone, began exploring the eastern Kentucky regions.). | Ref: 5 |
- 1782
| Oct 02 | The Baptist Missionary Society was founded in London, England. This first modern mission society was started by William Carey, then 21, who later became England's first great Protestant missionary to India. | Ref: 5 |
- 1784
| Feb 28 | English churchman John Wesley, 80, formally chartered the movement within Anglicanism which afterward came to be known as Wesleyan Methodism. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 09 | In the first step toward formal organization of the Roman Catholic Church in the U.S., Father John Carroll was appointed superior of the American missions by Pius VI. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 02 | English clergyman Thomas Coke, 37, was consecrated, the first "bishop" of the Methodist Episcopal Church, by founder John Wesley. Coke afterward journeyed to America, where he and Francis Asbury oversaw Methodism in the Colonies. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 03 | English clergyman Thomas Coke, 37, first arrived in America, at New York City. He was the first Methodist bishop to come to the New World. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 14 | Samuel Seabury, 55, was consecrated Bishop of Connecticut and Rhode Island, the first bishop of the American Protestant Episcopal Church, and the first Anglican bishop in America. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 24 | Methodism was officially organized in the newly independent United States of America, in Baltimore. Francis Asbury was consecrated the first Methodist bishop, a few days later. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 27 | In Baltimore, at its first General Conference held this side of the Atlantic, Francis Asbury, 39, was ordained the first bishop of the Methodist Church in America. | Ref: 5 |
- 1785
| Jan 03 | The famed Methodist "Christmas Conference" concluded in Baltimore, MD. Having opened on Christmas Eve, 1784, this body brought into being the Methodist Episcopal Church (in America), and elected Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke the first two American "general superintendents." | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 07 | The Sunday School Society was formed in London, under the leadership of Robert Raikes. It provided weekly Christian tutoring for the poor. Eventually 3,730 schools were formed, and their success ultimately inspired the founding in 1824 of the American Sunday School Union. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 27 | The Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S. was founded on this date, following the American Revolutionary War, when U.S. Anglicans met in Philadelphia to create a denomination independent from and autonomous of the Church of England. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 29 | Chaidic sect is excommunicated in Cracow Poland. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 17 | First Church of England, King's Chapel in Boston ordains first minister James Freeman. | Ref: 10 |
- 1787
| Feb 04 | First Anglican bishops of New York & Pennsylvania consecrated in London. | Ref: 5 |
| May 07 | The New Jerusalem Church was formally established in London. More popularly known as Swedenborgianism, its theological tenets were based on the writings of Swedish scientist and mystic Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772). The first congregation in the US was formed in Baltimore in 1792. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 18 | First Unitarian minister in US ordained, Boston. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 20 | A revival broke out among the Shakers of New Lebanon, Indiana, soon igniting a religious fervor among other denominations, especially in Kentucky and other colonial frontier regions. | Ref: 5 |
- 1788
| Jan 20 | Pioneer African Baptist church organizes in Savannah GA. | Ref: 5 |
- 1789
| Apr 06 | First Catholic Diocese established in America at Baltimore, MD. | Ref: 10 |
| Apr 23 | What is believed to have been the first Catholic newspaper in America, "The Courier de Boston" published its first issue. (The periodical lasted only until October 15th of this same year.). | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 16 | In Philadelphia, as the second general convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church closed, a church constitution had been adopted. Canons of the new denomination were ratified and a revised version of the "Book of Common Prayer" was authorized. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 17 | In Philadelphia, as the second general convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church closed, a church constitution had been adopted. Canons of the new denomination were ratified and a revised version of the "Book of Common Prayer" was authorized. | Ref: 5 |
- 1790
| Aug 15 | Father John Carroll, 55, was consecrated by Pius VI as the first Roman Catholic bishop (later, in 1811, the first archbishop) of the United States. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 15 | Ann Teresa Mathews (aka Mother Bernardina) and Frances Dickinson founded a convent of Discalced Carmelites (a contemplative working order) in Port Tobacco, Maryland. It was the first Catholic convent founded in the United States. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 24 | English founder of Methodism John Wesley, 87, made the last entry in his 55-year-long journal, written after preaching a sermon: 'I hope many even then resolved to choose the better part.' (Wesley died the following March.). | Ref: 5 |
- 1791
| Jan 11 | In Philadelphia, Episcopal Bishop William White, 43, founded the First Day Society. It became the forerunner of the American Missionary Fellowship, chartered in 1817 and headquartered today in Villanova, PA. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 07 | Benjamin Rush, Richard Allen and Absalom Jones found the Non-denominational African Church. | Ref: 2 |
- 1792
| Oct 02 | Baptist Missionary Society forms in London. | Ref: 5 |
- 1793
| May 25 | Stephen T. Badin, 25, was ordained in Baltimore, MD, the first Catholic priest to be ordained in the newly independent United States of America. Badin afterward served as a frontier missionary, and played a key role in establishing Catholicism in Kentucky, Indiana and Tennessee during the early nineteenth century. | Ref: 5 |
-
| Nov 11 | Five months after setting sail for India, English pioneer missionary William Carey, 32, reached Calcutta. (Later, Carey founded the Baptist Missionary Society, the first of the British Protestant missions agencies.). | Ref: 5 |
- 1794
| Mar 03 | Richard Allen founded AME Church. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 17 | Richard Allen organizes Philadelphia's St Thomas' Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church. | Ref: 5 |
- 1798
| Mar 04 | Catholic women forced to do penance for kindling sabbath fire for Jews. | Ref: 5 |
- 1799
| Apr 12 | The Church Missionary Society was organized in London under the original name of the Society for Missions in Africa and the East. This Anglican missions agency currently works in fields located in Africa, Ceylon, India, Pakistan, Iran, Palestine and the Far East. | Ref: 5 |
- 1800
| May 15 | Pope Pius VII calls on French bishops to return to Gospel principles. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 01 | The earliest recorded Methodist camp meeting in America was held in Logan County. Kentucky, near the Gaspar River Church. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 07 | Zion AME Church dedicated (NYC). | Ref: 5 |
- 1801
| Feb 16 | In Baltimore, the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Zion Church officially separated from its parent, the Methodist Episcopal Church. The denomination later became part of the AME Church, reconstituted in 1816 under Richard Allen. It held its first national conference in 1821. | Ref: 5 |
- 1802
| Mar 07 | In Washington, D.C., the first Baptist church was organized with six charter members. Their first pastor Obadiah Brown was hired five years later, and Brown remained in that pulpit while involving himself in every important local Baptist program for the next 43 years!. | Ref: 5 |
- 1803
| Sep 01 | In Boston, the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) was instituted. It was the first tract society established in North America. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 29 | The first Roman Catholic Church in Boston was formally dedicated. (Catholics had not been permitted any religious freedom within this predominantly Puritan colony prior to the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780.) | Ref: 5 |
- 1804
| Mar 04 | The British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS) was founded at a large interdenominational meeting in London. Its purpose was "to promote the circulation of the Holy Scriptures, without note or comment, both at home and in foreign lands." | Ref: 5 |
- 1806
| Jul 07 | Cornerstone laid on first American Cathedral-Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary, Baltimore. | Ref: 10 |
- 1807
| Sep 07 | Protestant Christianity first comes to China when English missionary Robert Morrison, 25, arrives. (Catholic missions had first penetrated China in the 16th century with the arrival of Jesuit Matteo Ricci in 1582.). | Ref: 5 |
- 1808
| Sep 28 | Andover Theological Seminary first opened in Massachusetts, under sponsorship of the Congregational Church. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 12 | The Bible Society of Philadelphia was organized, the first of its kind in America. Rev. William White was elected first president of the new organization, whose purpose it was to promote and distribute the Scriptures. | Ref: 5 |
- 1809
| Aug 17 | In Pennsylvania, Thomas Campbell, 46, and his son Alexander, 20, form the American Movement for Christian Unity, which later became the Disciples of Christ Church. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 04 | The International Bible Society was founded in NY City as an interdenominational agency for translating, producing and distributing the Scriptures. The I.B.S. has since distributed the Bible to over 150 countries in the world. | Ref: 5 |
- 1810
| Feb 04 | The Cumberland Presbyterian Church was organized in Tennessee as an outgrowth of the Great Revival of 1800. Standing between Calvinism and Arminianism, the denomination holds a "medium theology" which affirms unlimited atonement, universal grace, conditional election, eternal security of the believer and salvation of all children dying in infancy. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 29 | In Bradford, Massachusetts, the first U.S. missionary society was organized: the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 05 | The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was formally organized by the Congregational churches of New England at Farmington, Connecticut. | Ref: 5 |
- 1812
| Feb 19 | Congregational missionaries Adoniram Judson, 23, and his wife Ann, 22, first sailed from New England to Calcutta, India. (Judson eventually concentrated his labors in Burma.). | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 06 | Colonial American missionary Adoniram Judson, 24, en route to the mission field, converted from Congregationalism to become a Baptist. He later translated the Bible into Burmese and authored a Burmese dictionary (1849). | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 12 | The Half Moon Bluff Baptist Church was organized near Clifton. It was the first Baptist congregation to be constituted in the American territory now comprising the state of Louisiana. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 17 | In Washington Co., PA, the first of seven eventual conferences convened, leading ultimately to the founding in 1836 of the Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Ohio and Other States. | Ref: 5 |
- 1813
| Sep 04 | "The Religious Remembrancer" (later renamed "The Christian Observer") was first published in Philadelphia. It was the first weekly religious newspaper in the US, and in the world. | Ref: 5 |
- 1814
| May 18 | In Philadelphia, the General Missionary Convention of the Baptist Denomination in the United States of America for Foreign Missions was established -- the first national organization of Baptists in the US It was later called the Triennial Convention because it met every three years. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 26 | With over 1,000 delegates from 17 churches, the Flint River Association was established -- the first official Baptist organization of its kind in the history of AL. | Ref: 5 |
- 1816
| Apr 10 | In Philadelphia, church reformer Richard Allen, 56, was elected the first bishop of the newly-created African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. (Previously, in 1799, Allen had been the first black ordained to preach in the Methodist Episcopal Church.). | Ref: 5 |
| May 05 | American Bible Society organized (New York). | Ref: 5 |
| May 08 | The American Bible Society was organized in the Dutch Reformed Church on Garden Street in NY City. The non-profit society was instituted to promote wider circulation of the Scriptures by publishing Bibles without notes or comments. | Ref: 2 |
- 1817
| Mar 02 | First Evangelical church building dedicated, New Berlin PA. | Ref: 5 |
- 1818
| Nov 03 | Pliny Fisk, 26, set sail for Palestine. Ordained by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, Fisk became the first American missionary to journey to the Near East. | Ref: 5 |
- 1820
| Nov 25 | English poet and Oxford Movement leader John Keble, 28, penned the words to the hymn, "Sun of My Soul" ("Sun of my soul, Thou Savior dear, It is not night if Thou be near...."). | Ref: 5 |
- 1821
| Mar 14 | African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church founded (New York). | Ref: 5 |
| May 31 | The first Catholic cathedral in the US The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Mary was dedicated in Baltimore. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 21 | The African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Zion Church was formally constituted in New York City. Nineteen clergymen were present, representing six African-American churches from New York City; Philadelphia; New Haven, CT and Newark, NJ. | Ref: 5 |
- 1822
| May 03 | Society for the Propagation of the Faith starts (Lyon, France). | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 17 | In New York City, the first elders of the newly founded African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Zion Church were ordained. | Ref: 5 |
- 1823
| Sep 21 | Moroni first appears to Joseph Smith, according to Smith. | Ref: 5 |
- 1824
| Feb 25 | The Baptist General Tract Society was organized in Washington, D.C. In 1826 the society was moved to Philadelphia, and by 1840, the organization had issued over 3.5 million copies of 162 different tracts. | Ref: 5 |
| May 24 | Pope Leo XII proclaims a universal jubilee. | Ref: 5 |
| May 25 | The American Sunday School Union was established in Philadelphia. It pledged itself: (1) to circulate appropriate literature in every part of the land; (2) to secure a unity of evangelistic effort; and (3) to plant a Sunday School wherever there was a population. | Ref: 5 |
- 1825
| May 25 | American Unitarian Association founded. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 19 | The American Unitarian Association was founded by members of the liberal wing of the Congregational churches in New England. | Ref: 5 |
- 1827
| Sep 22 | The angel Moroni reportedly revealed the golden tablets (containing the "Book of Mormon") to Joseph Smith. They were hidden near the family farm, in Palmyra, NY. Smith's English translation of their strange hieroglyphics became the literary foundation for the new Mormon religion. | Ref: 5 |
- 1828
| Apr 09 | Pioneer U.S. Baptist missionary George Dana Boardman, 27, first arrived in Tavoy, Burma, where he afterward established an extensive educational work among the Karen people. | Ref: 5 |
- 1829
| Apr 13 | English Emancipation Act grants freedom of religion to Catholics. | Ref: 5 |
| May 15 | Joseph Smith ordained by John the Baptist according to Joseph Smith. | Ref: 5 |
- 1830
| Mar 26 | Joseph Smith, 24, first published "The Book of Mormon." Having derived it from golden plates he had discovered with the aid of the angel Moroni, Smith maintained that the plates were written in "Reformed Egyptian" which he had translated with the aid of "Urim and Thummim" two stones hrough which he had viewed the writings. | Ref: 2 |
| Apr 06 | Joseph Smith and five others organize the Church of Latter-Day Saints in Seneca, New York. | Ref: 2 |
| Nov 02 | A general convention of Methodist reformers opposed to the episcopal (i.e., bishop_led) form of church government met in Baltimore, MD, to establish the Protestant Methodist Church. | Ref: 5 |
- 1832
| Jan 01 | In Lexington, KY, 12,000 followers of Alexander Campbell, (called "Campbellites") merged with 10,000 followers of Barton W. Stone (known as "Christians") to form the Disciples of Christ (Christian) Church. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 24 | Mormon Joseph Smith beaten, tarred & feathered in Ohio. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 29 | The Kentucky Baptist Convention was organized in Frankfort with delegates representing nine congregations within the state. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 27 | The American Baptist Home Mission Society was formed in New York City. During its first 15 years, $1.66 million in contributions were raised, 14,426 churches were organized and 1,116 missionaries were sent out. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 31 | American Episcopal scholar George Washington Doane, 33, was consecrated as second Bishop of the Diocese of NJ. Doane is better remembered today as author of the hymn, "Softly Now the Light of Day." | Ref: 5 |
- 1833
| Sep 09 | The first tracts of the Oxford Movement (which sought to purify the English Church) were released. The series was forced to close in 1841, however, when Tract 90 was published, because it interpreted Anglicanism's "Thirty-Nine Articles" in too strong of a Roman Catholic direction. | Ref: 5 |
- 1834
| Jul 15 | Inquisition ends in Spain after 600 years of state-sanctioned death for heresy. | Ref: 10 |
- 1835
| Sep 26 | The Suwanee Association was formed, in Florida. Comprised of eight member churches, it was the first official Baptist organization in Florida history. | Ref: 5 |
- 1836
| Mar 27 | In Kirtland, Ohio, Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon religion, dedicates the first Mormon temple. | Ref: 3 |
- 1837
| Jun 13 | First Mormon missionaries to the British Isles leave Kirtland, Ohio. | Ref: 5 |
- 1838
| Oct 31 | A mob of about 200 attacks a Mormon camp in Missouri, killing 20 men, women and children. | Ref: 2 |
| Nov 24 | Canadian Sulpician missionary Franois Blanchet, 43, first arrived in the Oregon Territory. A native of Quebec, he spent 45 years planting churches in the American Northwest, and is remembered today as the "Apostle of Oregon." | Ref: 5 |
- 1840
| May 10 | Mormon leader Joseph Smith moves his band of followers to IL to escape the hostilities they experienced in Missouri. Trailing the Mormons | Ref: 2 |
| Oct 15 | In Melville, Missouri, the Evangelical Synod of North America was founded. It later became one of the branches of today's United Church of Christ. | Ref: 5 |
- 1841
| Apr 06 | Cornerstone laid for 2nd Mormon temple, Nauvoo IL. | Ref: 5 |
- 1842
| Jan 12 | Franciscan nuns begin missionary work on Netherlands Antilles. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 09 | Episcopal missionary James L. Breck was ordained a priest at Duck Creek, WI. In 1850, this "apostle of the wilderness" moved to Minnesota and in 1858 founded the Seabury Divinity School. It is said that "no priest did more for the Episcopal Church in the West than Breck." | Ref: 5 |
- 1843
| Mar 21 | Preacher William Miller of Massachusetts predicts the world will end today. | Ref: 5 |
| May 18 | United Free Church of Scotland forms. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 12 | Mormon church founder Joseph Smith announced that a divine revelation had been given him sanctioning polygamy among his newly-organized religious followers. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 21 | Irish Catholic religious Frances Ward, 33, first arrived in the U.S. in Pittsburgh, where she afterward helped establish successive convents of the Sisters of Mercy, both in Chicago and in Loretto, | Ref: 5 |
- 1844
| Aug 08 | Brigham Young chosen Mormon Church head following Joseph Smith death. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 22 | The "Great Disappointment" began when this latest date, set for the return of Christ by religious leader William Miller, passed without event. Over 100,000 disillusioned followers returned to their former churches, or abandoned the Christian faith altogether. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 03 | Roman Catholic Society Apostole of Prayer forms. | Ref: 5 |
- 1845
| May 01 | At a convention in Louisville, KY, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South was organized as a new denomination, separate from its parent, the Methodist Episcopal Church. | Ref: 5 |
| May 08 | At a three-day convention in Augusta, GA, the Southern Baptist Convention was formed by 300 representatives from Baptist churches in Georgia, Virginia and South Carolina. | Ref: 2 |
| Sep 07 | St. Louis, Missouri, becomes the site of the first Hebrew synagogue to be built in the Mississippi Valley. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 08 | Oxford Movement leader, John Henry Newman, 44, resigned from the Church of England -- convinced that it had severed itself from its ancient episcopal moorings and true apostolic succession -- and became a Roman Catholic. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 13 | William Walford's hymn, "Sweet Hour of Prayer," first appeared in print in the "NY Observer." Walford (1772-1850), a blind lay preacher, had written the poem three years earlier in the village of Coleshill, England. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 09 | Cofounder of the Oxford Movement in England, churchman John Henry Newman made his celebrated conversion from Anglicanism to Catholicism. From 1845-1862, nearly 250 other English clergy followed Newman into the Roman Catholic faith | Ref: 5 |
- 1846
| Feb 04 | Mormons leave Nauvoo MO for settlement in the west. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 10 | Led by religious leader Brigham Young, the first Mormons begin a long westward exodus from Nauvoo, Il., to Utah. | Ref: 2 |
- 1847
| Jul 22 | The first large company of Mormon immigrants entered the Salt Lake Valley, in what was still Mexican territory. Soon after, Mormon leader Brigham Young founded Salt Lake City,Utah. | Ref: 5 |
- 1848
| Sep 21 | The Arkansas Baptist State Convention was organized in Tulip, Arkansas, by 72 delegates from several area-wide Baptist churches and organizations. It was the first statewide Baptist organization in the history of Arkansas. | Ref: 5 |
- 1850
| Jun 10 | The American Bible Union was founded, organized by church leaders who had broken from the American and Foreign Bible Society. | Ref: 5 |
- 1851
| Mar 21 | Emperor Tu Duc orders that Christian priests are to put to death. | Ref: 2 |
- 1852
| Aug 08 | The roots of the Baptist General Conference were planted when Swedish immigrant pastor Gustaf Palmquist baptized his first three converts in the Mississippi River at Rock Island, Illinois. Today, the denomination numbers about 140,000. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 29 | The Latter Day Saints first published their doctrine of "celestial marriage," popularly known as polygamy. The Mormon Church maintained this teaching until the Manifest of 1890 (and later Congressional legislation) outlawed the practice. | Ref: 5 |
- 1853
| Apr 15 | Protestant church questions king Willem III Roman Catholic bishops. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 19 | Baptist pioneer missionary J. Hudson Taylor, 21, set sail from England to China. In 1865, Taylor founded the China Inland Mission, now known as Overseas Missionary Fellowship. Its U.S. branch is HQ'd today in Robesonia, PA. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 06 | The first Chinese Presbyterian Church in the U.S. was organized in San Francisco, CA. | Ref: 5 |
- 1854
| Aug 24 | The Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Iowa was organized by German Lutherans. In 1930 this synod merged with the synods of Ohio and Buffalo to form the American Lutheran Church. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 10 | The second construction of the structure known as St Paul's Outside the Walls was consecrated. The church is one of four major basilicas in Rome. The original edifice was erected by Roman emperor Constantine in 324, and rebuilt as a larger basilica in the late fourth century by the Emperor Honorius (395). | Ref: 5 |
- 1857
| Sep 10 | Mormons, led by John D Lee, embittered by religious persecution, attack and kill 120 members of a Gentile wagon train, sparing only 17 children under 7, in what was to become known as the Mountain Meadows Massacre. (TWA, 1958) | Ref: 95 |
| Sep 11 | Mormon fanatic John D. Lee, angered over President Buchanan's order to remove Brigham Young from governorship of the Utah Territory, incites a band of Mormons and Indians to massacre a CA-bound wagon train of 135 (mostly Methodists) in Mountain Meadows, Utah. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 23 | Delegates from eight states met in Nashville and organized the Southern Baptist Sunday School Union. The organization proved short-lived, when it was nullified by the onset of the American Civil War. | Ref: 5 |
- 1858
| Feb 11 | In Lourdes, France, 14-year-old French peasant Bernadette Soubirous experienced her first vision of the Virgin Mary. By July 16th of this year, she had experienced 18 such visions. | Ref: 5 |
| May 26 | In Pittsburgh, the Associate Presbyterian and the Associate Reformed Presbyterian churches merged to form the United Presbyterian Church in North America. | Ref: 5 |
-
- 1860
| Jun 05 | The Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Augsburg Synod in North America was founded in Wisconsin. In 1962, the Augsburg Synod became one of four branches in American Lutheranism that merged to form the Lutheran Church in America (LCA). | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 09 | Massacre of Christians at Damascas begins. | Ref: 10 |
| Jul 11 | Massacre of Christians at Damascas ends. | Ref: 10 |
- 1861
| Mar 18 | The Metropolitan Tabernacle first opened in London. It was the church at which famed English Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon pastored. | Ref: 5 |
- 1863
| May 21 | First general conference of Seventh Day Adventists in Washington Center, NH. | Ref: 10 |
- 1864
| Feb 03 | In Columbus, Ohio, a fellowship of independent Methodist, Presbyterian, Congregational and United Brethren churches organized itself into a separate Protestant denomination known as the Christian Union. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 21 | First US Catholic parish church for blacks dedicated, Baltimore MD. | Ref: 5 |
- 1865
| Jun 05 | Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould listened quietly and with pride as his composition, Onward Christian Soldiers, was presented for the first time in Horbury, England. | Ref: 4 |
| Jun 25 | English pioneer missionary J. Hudson Taylor founded the China Inland Mission. Its headquarters moved to the US in 1901, and in 1965 its name became Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF) International. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 27 | Rhenish missionary Ludwig I. Nommensen, 31, baptized four families of the Batak tribe in North Sumatra (Indonesia) the first to be converted to the Christian faith. Nommensen later established a theological training school and in 1878 completed a translation of the New Testament into the Batak language. | Ref: 5 |
- 1867
| Jan 30 | The American branch of the Evangelical Alliance was organized at the Bible House in New York City, with William E. Dodge elected president. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 29 | The Social Brethren were officially organized in Illinois. Today, there are about 1,000 total members of this small, evangelistic denomination, with most churches located in Illinois, Michigan and Indiana. Church doctrine is a blend of Methodist and Baptist polity. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 04 | In Southwest Africa, the Rhenish Missionary Church constituted itself as the Evangelical Lutheran Church. | Ref: 5 |
- 1868
| Apr 06 | Mormon church leader Brigham Young, 67, married his 27th and last wife. (In all, Brigham Young's wives bore him 47 children.). | Ref: 5 |
- 1869
| Jul 26 | In England, the Disestablishment Bill was passed, officially dissolving the Church of Ireland. (Organized opposition to this legislation coined one of longest words in the English language: antidisestablishmentarianism.). | Ref: 5 |
- 1870
| Jun 22 | Scholars began translation work on the English Revised Version of the Bible. Released in 1881, the ERV became the textual basis for the American Standard Version (ASV), first published in the United States in 1901. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 16 | The Colored Methodist Church of America was established at Jackson, TN. Its name was changed in 1954 to the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. The denomination today is comprised of approximately 3,000 congregations. | Ref: 5 |
- 1871
| Jan 01 | The Church of Ireland was formally disestablished. Aligned with Anglicanism from 1537, the Irish Church represented the faith of only 12% of the populace by the mid-19th century. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 02 | Morman leader Brigham Young, 70, is arrested for polygamy. He was later convicted, but the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the conviction. Disappointed Army officer Patrick Connor wanted to be back East fighting Rebels. Instead, he found himself in the bitter cold along icebound Bear Creek, near today's Utah-Idaho border. | Ref: 2 |
| Dec 24 | The Northside Tabernacle in Chicago was dedicated by evangelist Dwight L. Moody. It became the original structure of what is today the Moody Memorial Church. | Ref: 5 |
- 1872
| Jan 02 | Brigham Young, the 71-year-old leader of the Mormon Church, was arrested on a charge of bigamy. He had 25 wives. Imagine taking them all to the grocery store each week? | Ref: 4 |
- 1873
| Dec 02 | The Reformed Episcopal Church was organized in NY City when 8 clergymen and 20 laymen broke from the Protestant Episcopal Church over a debate regarding proper church ritual. | Ref: 5 |
- 1874
| Mar 22 | The Young Men's Hebrew Association founded in NYC. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 04 | Methodist clergyman John H. Vincent (1832-1920) and Ohio manufacturer Lewis Miller established the Chautauqua Assembly in northwest New York state a summer retreat center combining recreational activities with the training of Sunday School teachers and other church workers. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 21 | Popular 19th century preacher Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) was accused by Theodore Tilton of committing adultery with his wife. The resulting trial ended in a 9-3 hung jury decision, in Beecher's favor. | Ref: 5 |
- 1875
| Mar 15 | The Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York, John McCloskey, is named the first American cardinal, by Pope Pius IX. | Ref: 70 |
| Jun 02 | James A. Healy was consecrated bishop over the Diocese of Maine, making him the first African- American bishop in the history of American Catholicism. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 29 | The first 'holiness' conference opened at Keswick, England. Keswick conferences stress a non- charismatic, 'crisis' form of sanctification, in contrast to the older traditional view of Christian sanctification as being a lifelong 'process.' | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 17 | Amer Theosophical Society founded by Mme Blavatsky & Col Olcott. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 30 | Andrassy Note calls for Christian-Muslim religious freedoms. | Ref: 5 |
- 1876
| Apr 11 | Sir Charles Gordon ends religious tolerance in Sudan. | Ref: 5 |
| May 25 | The Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland (org. 1743) united with the Free Church of Scotland (org. 1843) to form the new Free Church of Scotland. (In 1929 the Free Church merged with the Mother Church, afterward retaining the name Church of Scotland.) | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 13 | The Presbyterian Church in England merged with the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland, in creating a more uniform representation of the Reformed faith in the British Isles. | Ref: 5 |
- 1877
| Apr 26 | The residents of Minnesota observe a statewide day of prayer, asking for deliverance from a plague of grasshoppers that had been ravishing their farm crops this year. (The plague ended soon after, in the summer.). | Ref: 5 |
- 1878
| May 17 | "History of Israel," first advanced the JEDP Hypothesis, claiming that the Pentateuch (i.e., the first five O.T. books) was a compilation of four earlier, literary sources. | Ref: 5 |
- 1880
| Oct 15 | K”ln cathedral completed, 633 years after it begun. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 24 | In Montgomery, AL, more than 150 delegates from Baptist churches in 11 states met to form the Baptist Foreign Missions Convention of the United States. Liberian missionary William W. Colley was chief organizer, and the Rev. William H. McAlpine was elected the first president. | Ref: 5 |
- 1881
| Jan 26 | Union of Baptists Communities forms in Foxholl. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 02 | The first formal church youth organization was established in the Williston Congregational Church in Portland, Maine, by the Rev. Francis E. Clark, 29. Originally called "Christian Endeavor," it became the prototype of the modern denominational "youth fellowship." | Ref: 5 |
| May 17 | The Revised Version (EV or ERV) of the New Testament was first published in England. The Old Testament was completed in 1885. In 1905 the American Standard Version (ASV) was based on the textual foundation of the ERV was published in the US. | Ref: 5 |
- 1882
| Jan 22 | The Fifth Street Presbyterian Church of Troy, New York, became the first church in America to be illuminated by electric lighting. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 12 | The Evangelical Reformed Church in Northwest Germany was created by royal decree when the king of Prussia ordered the 124 "reformed" congregations scattered throughout the area to become incorporated as an independent territorial church. | Ref: 5 |
- 1885
| May 19 | The complete Old and New Testament English Revised Version (EV or ERV) of the Bible was first published in England. After a promised 20-year wait, U.S. scholars on the ERV committee published an "Americanized" edition in 1905, known afterward as the American Standard Version (ASV) of the Bible. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 20 | A band of Moravian missionaries landed on the shores of Alaska and founded the Bethel Mission. | Ref: 5 |
- 1886
| Jul 21 | The cardinal's hat was conferred upon Elzear Alexandre Taschereau, 66, archbishop of Quebec. He was the first Canadian to be made a cardinal in the Catholic Church. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 19 | The Christian Union was founded by Baptist clergyman Richard G. Spurling (1858-1935) in Monroe County, Tennessee. In 1923, this pentecostal denomination changed its name to the Church of God. Headquartered today in Cleveland, Tennessee, its current membership is nearly 500,000. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 16 | Rift at Dutch Reformed Church over "Doleantie". | Ref: 5 |
- 1887
| Feb 05 | The Chicago Evangelization Society was organized by evangelist D. L. Moody, 50. Two years later, the Society established the Bible Institute for Home and Foreign Missions. Moody died in 1899, and in 1900 the school was renamed Moody Bible Institute. | Ref: 5 |
- 1889
| Feb 17 | Billy Sunday, 27, baseball player-turned-preacher, made his first appearance as an evangelist in Chicago. A strong fundamentalist, Sunday preached temperance and opposed scientific evolution. Over 100 million are estimated to have heard Sunday preach before his death in 1935. | Ref: 5 |
| May 15 | At the close of a two-day denominational conference in Cleveland, Ohio, the Epworth League of the Methodist Episcopal Church was organized. It became the foundation of the current United Methodist Youth (UMY) fellowship programs. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 28 | The first Divine Liturgy (worship service) of the Armenian Church in America was celebrated in Worcester, MA. It was led by Rev. Hovsep Sarajian, himself the first Armenianclergyman to come to America. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 24 | In Holland, the Declaration of Utrecht was signed and became the doctrinal basis of the Old Catholic Church. ("Old Catholics" reject clerical celibacy, papal authority and the Council of Trent decisions.) Today in Europe, Old Catholics are active in Holland, Germany and Switzerland. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 27 | The first Lithuanian Church in America was organized in Plymouth (near Wilkes-Barre), PA. Rev. Alexander Burba was its first pastor. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 29 | New York City missions pioneer Albert B. Simpson, 46, incorporated the International Missionary Alliance. Combined in 1897 with a group formerly also organized by Simpson, it became the Christian and Missionary Alliance, one of the most missions-minded denominations in modern American Protestantism. | Ref: 5 |
- 1890
| May 06 | Mormon Church renounces polygamy [1006-Truth Restored (Morman pub)]. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 24 | Wilford Woodruff, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issues a declaration affirming that the Church no longer teaches nor performs plural marriage | Ref: 62 |
| Sep 25 | Polygamy was officially banned by the Mormon Church by Wilford Woodruff. (This announcement followed on the heels of an 1890 Supreme Court ruling denying all privileges of U.S. citizenship to Mormons who practiced this outlawed form of marriage.). | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 06 | Mormons abolish polygamy by general conference declaration that the president of the church's declaration of Sep 24 was "authoritative and binding". | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 16 | Negro Methodist Episcopal Church founded in Jackson TN. | Ref: 5 |
- 1891
| Jan 18 | The first Armenian Church in the U.S. was consecrated in Worcester, MA. New churches were later consecrated in Fresno, CA (1900); West Hoboken, NJ (1907); and Fowler, CA (1910). | Ref: 5 |
| May 12 | The Presbytery of NY voted to put the Rev. Dr. Charles A. Briggs, the new professor of biblical theology at Union Theological Seminary, on trial for heresy. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 07 | English Baptist clergyman Charles H. Spurgeon preached the last sermon of his 38-year-long ministry at London's Metropolitan Tabernacle. He died the following January. | Ref: 5 |
- 1892
| Jul 14 | The Baptist Young People's Union held its first national convention in Detroit.The founding of the BYP Union was inspired by the earlier work of Francis E. Clark, aCongregational pastor who founded the first 'modern' youth fellowship in 1881. | Ref: 5 |
- 1893
| Jan 12 | Representatives of 21 mission boards met in NY City to discuss common concerns. Soon becoming an annual event, by 1911 the convention was known as the Foreign Missions Conference. In 1950 it became a constituting member of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, serving as its Division of Foreign Missions. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 06 | Mormon temple in Salt Lake City dedicated. | Ref: 5 |
- 1894
| Nov 30 | In Naperville, Illinois, seven groups of the Evangelical Association withdrew from the organization to form the United Evangelical Church. (In 1922 the two denominations reunited.) | Ref: 5 |
- 1895
| Sep 28 | At a convention in Atlanta, three Baptist groups merged to form the National Baptist Convention. It is today the largest African-American denomination in America and the world. | Ref: 5 |
- 1898
| May 28 | In Italy, the Shroud of Turin was first photographed by Secundo Pia in Turin's Cathedral, where it had rested for 320 years. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 04 | The first church to bear the Pentecostal Holiness name was organized at Goldsboro, NC, under the leadership of Methodist evangelist Ambrose Blackman Crumpler, 35. | Ref: 5 |
- 1899
| Feb 10 | The Church of England first authorized use of the 1885 English Revised (RV or ERV) Version of the Bible in Anglican liturgy and worship. | Ref: 5 |
| May 07 | Amer Presbyterian missionary James Burton Rodgers, 34, preached his first sermon in the Philippines. Rodgers spent the next 35 years in evangelistic and educational ministries, and is regarded as the first Protestant missionary to the Philippines. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 01 | In Wisconsin, the Gideons were founded by three traveling businessmen. They placed their first Bibles in 1908 at the Superior Hotel in Iron Mountain, Montana. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 06 | B.H. Irwin began issuing "Live Coals of Fire," official publication of the Fire Baptized Holiness Association of America. Organized in 1898, the denomination was comprised of former Methodists, Quakers and River Brethren. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 22 | American Presbyterian missionary James B. Rodgers, 34, baptized his first Filipino converts to the Christian faith, thus inaugurating the beginning of Philippine Protestant churches. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 12 | American evangelist Dwight Lyman Moody, 62, began his last evangelistic campaign in KS City, Missouri. Becoming ill during the last service, Moody was unable to complete his message, and died a few days later, on Dec 22. | Ref: 5 |
- 1900
| Mar 21 | In Chicago, following the death of its founder Dwight L. Moody, the Bible Institute for Home and Foreign Missions changed its name to Moody Bible Institute. The school has since become the model after which other learning institutions have patterned their curriculum. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 15 | Pentecostal evangelist Charles Fox Parham opened Bethel Bible Institute in Topeka, KS. | Ref: 5 |
- 1901
| Feb 01 | Pioneer American missionaries Charles (37) and Lettie (31) Cowman set sail for Japan. Later in the year they founded the Oriental Missionary Society. They labored in the foreign field until Charles' worsening health forced them to retire in 1917. | Ref: 5 |
| May 05 | The first Catholic mass for night workers was held at the Church of St. Andrew in NY City. | Ref: 4 |
| Aug 26 | The New Testament of the ASV (American Standard Version) Bible was first published. This U.S. edition of the 1881 English Revised Version (ERV) comprised the first major American Bible translation since the King James Version of 1611. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 08 | The American branch of Overseas Missionary Fellowship was chartered. Founded as the China Inland Mission in 1865 by missionary pioneer J. Hudson Taylor, OMF adopted its present name at its centenniel celebration in 1965. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 15 | That the first Christian in modern times was reported to have spoken in tongues: student Agnes Ozman. | Ref: 5 |
- 1904
| Mar 08 | The Bundestag in Germany lifts the ban on the Jesuit order of priests. | Ref: 2 |
| Mar 12 | Raphael Hawaweeny was ordained Eastern Orthodox bishop of Brooklyn, NY, at St. Nicholas Church. As a vicar under the Holy Synod of the Church of Russia, Hawaweeny thus became the first Russian Orthodox bishop ordained in America. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 15 | The first Buddhist temple in the United States was established in Los Angeles, CA. | Ref: 4 |
| Jul 19 | Construction began on the Liverpool Cathedral in England. The cathedral was completed 20 years later and consecrated on this same date in 1924. | Ref: 5 |
- 1906
| Jan 26 | The first General Assembly of the Church of God convened. Headquartered today in Cleveland, TN, the Church of God is the oldest Pentecostal Church denomination in the U.S., with roots going back to 1886. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 22 | Black evangelist William J. Seymour first arrived in Los Angeles and began holding revival meetings. The "Azusa Street Revival" later broke out under Seymour's leadership, in the Apostolic Faith Mission located at 312 Azusa Street in Los Angeles. It was one of the pioneering events in the history of 20th century American Pentecostalism. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 14 | The Azusa Street Revival -- proto-mission out of which the modern Pentecostal movement spread world-wide -- officially began when the services led by black evangelist William J. Seymour, 36, moved into the building at 312 Azusa Street in Los Angeles. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 18 | Calvinist Reformed Union in Netherlands Church forms in Utrecht. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 10 | The first Church of Christ, Scientist is dedicated in Boston. | Ref: 17 |
| Aug 24 | Five Baptist congregations met at Jellico Creek, Whitley County, Kentucky, and formed the Church of God of the Mountain Assembly. The CGMA both pentecostal and holiness in doctrine reports a world membership today of 7,000. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 18 | Anarchists bomb St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. | Ref: 2 |
| Nov 23 | Joseph F. Smith, president of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (The Mormons) is convicted of polygamy | Ref: 62 |
- 1907
| Jan 11 | The Church of God, headquartered today in Cleveland, Tennessee, and with roots going back to 1886, officially adopted its current name. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 29 | Construction begins on Washington National Cathedral. | Ref: 5 |
- 1908
| Sep 12 | The Bible-distributing mission agency known as the Pocket Testament League was incorporated in Birmingham, England. (The U.S. branch of this outreach is headquartered in Lititz, PA.). | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 10 | Gideons place first bible in room at Superior Hotel, Iron Mountain, Montana. | Ref: 10 |
| Dec 02 | The Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America was founded in Philadelphia. (In 1950 this ecumenical organization was replaced by the National Council of Churches.) | Ref: 5 |
- 1909
| Jan 02 | Future Foursquare Gospel church founder Aimee Elizabeth [n‚e Kennedy] Semple [later McPherson], 19, along with her husband Robert Semple, was ordained to the ministry in Chicago by evangelist William H. Durham. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 09 | In Pentecostal history, the first group outbreak of the charismatic gift of tongues occurred in Los Angeles under the leadership of black evangelist William J. Seymour, 38. It marked the beginning of the three-year-long "Azusa Street Revival." | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 19 | Joan of Arc, declared a saint. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 01 | Groundbreaking ceremonies were held for Bob Jones College (University), in Panama City, FL. This Protestant Fundamentalist college later relocated its campus to Greenville, SC. | Ref: 5 |
- 1910
| Feb 25 | Dali Lama flees Tibet from Chinese troop to British-Indies. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 01 | The first issue of "The Evening Light and Church of God Evangel" was published in Cleveland, Tennessee. A. J. Tomlinson, the publishing editor, was an instrumental figure in the history of the Church of God (also headquartered today in Cleveland, Tennessee). | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 24 | German Catholic youth movement Quickborn forms. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 20 | The Christian Endeavor Society of Missouri began a campaign to ban all motion pictures that depicted kissing between non-relatives. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 19 | Swedish Pentecostal missionaries Daniel Berg, 26, and Adolf Vingren, 31, arrived in Brazil. In 1918 they established the first Pentecostal church, from which grew Brazil's largest Protestant body, the Assemblies of God. | Ref: 5 |
- 1911
| Jan 05 | Portuguese expel Jesuits. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 31 | In Falcon, NC, the Fire-Baptized Holiness Church (FBHC) and the Pentecostal Holiness Church (PHC) officially merged. In 1915, the Tabernacle Pentecostal Church (TPC) joined the merger. In 1975, the name of this body officially became the International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPHC). | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 24 | Missionary widow Aimee Elizabeth Kennedy Semple, 21, married Harold Stewart McPherson, also 21. Afterward, Aimee Semple McPherson went on to establish the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel in 1918. (She and Harold would divorce in 1921). | Ref: 5 |
- 1912
| Apr 08 | The American Theological Society was organized at Union Theological Seminary, in New York, for the purpose of discussing religious, theological and philosophical problems. | Ref: 5 |
| May 10 | The first Southern Sociological Congress closed, in Nashville. The four-day convocation met to address "social, civic and economic problems" of sixteen Southern states, and was an example of government, social agencies and the Church working together for social betterment. | Ref: 5 |
- 1913
| Feb 25 | Pioneer missionary Eduard L. Arndt first arrived in Shanghai, China, 10 months after having founded the Evangelical Lutheran Missions for China. He afterward established missions and schools in the Hankow territory, and translated hymns and sermons into Chinese. (In 1917 the Missouri Synod took over the ELMS mission.) | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 07 | Ohio-born Methodist evangelist George Bennard introduced his new hymn, 'The Old Rugged Cross,' during a revival he was conducting at Pokagon, Michigan. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 27 | In Oxford, PA, the first Victorious Life Conference closed. Founder Robert C.McQuilkin, inspired by England's Keswick Movement, emphasized in these meetings anattainment of spiritual freedom from the power of every known sin. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 02 | Archdiocese of Managua created. | Ref: 5 |
- 1914
| Apr 12 | An 11-day constitutional convention in Hot Springs, Arkansas, ended. During its sessions, the Assemblies of God denomination was founded. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 12 | The first edition of A.T. Robertson's monumental 'Grammar of the Greek New Testament' was released. Its 1400+ pages make it the largest systematic analysis of the original New Testament language ever published. | Ref: 5 |
- 1915
| May 17 | National Baptist Convention chartered. | Ref: 5 |
- 1916
| Dec 28 | At a sevenday convention in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, the General Assembly of Apostolic Assemblies (GAAA) was formed. Its institutional life was short, however. Due to the pressures of World War I, the GAAA was formed too late to recognize ministers of military age. | Ref: 5 |
- 1917
| May 13 | Near Fatima, Portugal, three shepherd children reported that Mary, the mother of Jesus, had appeared to them. Since 1930, this appearance has come to be known as Our Lady of Fatima. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 13 | Vision of Virgin Mary appeared to children of Fatima, Portugal. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 13 | The Virgin Mary last appeared to three shepherd children near Fatima, Portugal. Six visions had occurred between May and October, each on the 13th of the month. (This last vision was attended by over 50,000 pilgrims.) | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 05 | In Moscow, following abdication of Russian Czar Nicholas II, the historic Orthodox Church Council of 1917_1918 restored the office of patriarch, suppressed by Peter the Great in 1700. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 17 | Confiscation of the property of the Russian Orthodox Church and abolition of religious instruction in schools was announced by the Bolshevik government. | Ref: 5 |
- 1918
| Jun 11 | Brazil's first Pentecostal Church was established by missionaries Daniel Berg and Adolf Gunnar Vingren. The new congregation was registered as an 'Assembly of God' church. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 14 | The Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Wisconsin, Ohio and Other States was formed from the merger of several smaller synods. In 1930 this denomination merged with two other synods to form the American Lutheran Church (ALC). | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 02 | Birth of Don Hustad, organist for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. He accompanied Graham as organist for his worldwide crusades during 1961-67. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 16 | In NY City, the United Lutheran Church was organized by a merger of three general Lutheran bodies in the U.S. and Canada. (In 1962, the ULC became one of the branches of Lutheranism which formed the Lutheran Church in America.) | Ref: 5 |
- 1919
| Mar 18 | Order of DeMolay is established in Kansas City. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 29 | The Apostolic Christian Association was incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia. It later merged with what is now the International Pentecostal Church of Christ, headquartered in London, Ohio. | Ref: 5 |
- 1920
| Apr 01 | Church disestablished in Wales. | Ref: 5 |
| May 16 | Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc) is canonized a saint in Rome. | Ref: 5 |
| May 16 | Popular Baptist pastor and denominational leader George Washington Truett, 53, preached his famous sermon, "Baptists and Religious Liberty," to 15,000 people from the Capitol steps in Washington, D.C. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 17 | The first orphanage founded by the Church of God opened in Cleveland, Tennessee. Its establishment was the result of the vision and efforts of Church of God pioneer, A.J. Tomlinson. | Ref: 5 |
- 1921
| Jan 02 | The first religious broadcast on radio was heard, as Dr. E.J. Van Etten of Calvary Episcopal Church preached on KDKA radio in Pittsburgh, PA. | Ref: 4 |
| Jan 29 | The Congregational Holiness Church was formally organized, following a split the previous year with the Pentecostal Holiness Church. Headquartered today in Griffin, GA, most CHC churches are located in the Southeast US. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 08 | The United Evangelical Lutheran Church in Australia was organized at Ebenezer, in South Australia. In 1966 the UELCA united with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Australia (ELCA) to form the Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA). | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 27 | The first Southern Baptist church to be constituted in the state of Arizona was organized in Phoenix formed principally of churchmen who protested the doctrinal views held by leaders of the Northern Baptist Convention. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 01 | The Latin American Mission was incorporated in Philadelphia by founders Harry and Susan Strachan. Today, over 125 staff work with LAM in eight Central and South American countries. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 25 | Franklin Small, 48, and a group of dissatisfied members of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, obtained a Dominion charter to establish the Apostolic Church of Pentecost of Canada. In 1953, this group merged with the Evangelical Churches of Pentecost, whose major congregations are located today in the Canadian prairie provinces. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 28 | Ascension of 'Abdu'l-Bah(Bah '¡ festival-Qawl 6, 78). | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 22 | The first U.S. commercial radio license assigned to a religious broadcaster was awarded to the National Presbyterian Church of Washington, D.C. Within five years, there were over 60 other licensed religious broadcasters, including KJS_Biola (L.A.), KFUO_Concordia Seminary (St. Louis), and WMBI_Moody Bible Institute (Chicago). | Ref: 5 |
- 1922
| Jan 05 | Following her sensational divorce, popular American evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson, 32, resigned her denominational ordination and returned her fellowship papers to the General Council of the Assemblies of God. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 16 | Belvin Maynard, better known as the ‘Flying Parson’, gave his first sermon from an airplane this day. | Ref: 4 |
| Sep 12 | The House of Bishops of the U.S. Protestant Episcopal Church voted 36-27 to delete the word "obey" from the vows of their denomination's official marriage service. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 14 | "Toc H" (the British alphabetic letter abbreviation for "Talbot House") was chartered. A Christian fellowship which originated in 1915 in Belgium under Anglican chaplain P.T.B. Clayton, M.C., its various branches minister through a variety of Christian social services. | Ref: 5 |
- 1924
| Jan 06 | In England, the first worship service heard over over radio was aired by the BBC. The service was conducted by H. R. L. Sheppard at St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church, in London. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 06 | Station KFSG (Kall Four Square Gospel) went on the air. One of the earliest radio stations licensed, it broadcast the services of Angelus Temple, the flagship congregation of the International Foursquare Gospel Church, founded by Aimee Semple Mc Pherson in 1923. | Ref: 5 |
| May 27 | The General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, meeting at Springfield, Maryland, repealed its ban on dancing and theater attendance. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 18 | A complete Bible translation of the Old and New Testaments was published by American Bible scholar and historian James Moffatt, 54. Moffatt's intention was to make available to the lay reader, in simple language, a current scholarly understanding of the biblical text. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 08 | In NY City, the National Lutheran Conference banned the playing of jazz music in the local churches. | Ref: 5 |
- 1925
| Feb 02 | Belgian episcopacy rejects liberalism, communism & socialism. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 23 | Pastor LH Perquin forms Union of Catholic Dutch Radio (KRO). | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 10 | The United Church of Canada was formed, uniting both the Methodist and Presbyterian denominations of Canada. The merger also took in 3,000 independent Canadian Congregational churches. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 03 | The Pentecostal Ministerial Alliance was organized at St. Louis, MO. It became the forerunner of a new denomination, established in 1932 as the Pentecostal Church, Inc. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 16 | American Association for the Advancement of Atheism formed in NY. | Ref: 5 |
- 1926
| Mar 17 | Dutch Calvinists oust Reverend J G Geelkerken over Genesis 3. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 02 | Riots between Moslems & Hindus in Calcutta. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 12 | Dutch Catholic Radio Broadcast (KRO) forms. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 26 | The sanctuary of Our Lady of Victory, in Lackawanna, NY, became the first Roman Catholic church in the U.S. to be consecrated a basilica. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 29 | Vatican puts French fascist Charles Maurras' work on the index. | Ref: 5 |
- 1927
| Apr 01 | Eurovision was founded in Chicago. Headquartered today in Pasadena, CA, this Protestant overseas missions agency specializes in supporting national churches through evangelistic radio, literature and relief work. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 30 | The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel was incorporated in Los Angeles, CA. Founded in 1923 by evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson, the denomination recognizes the significant role that women in ministry. Today, over 40% of its ministers are women. | Ref: 5 |
- 1928
| Apr 09 | Turkey passes separation of church & state. | Ref: 5 |
- 1929
| Mar 26 | The Congregation of the Sacraments within the Catholic Church published a document instructing that a plate of silver or metal gilt be held under the chin of the communicant at the reception of the Holy Communion. | Ref: 2 |
| Apr 25 | The Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America was organized in Detroit, partly in response to the insurgence of Communism in Eastern Europe. Previously, its parishes were under jurisdiction of the Patriarchate in Bucharest, Hungary. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 07 | The sovereign state of Vatican City came into existence as copies of the Lateran Treaty were exchanged in Rome. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 03 | The Church of Scotland merged with the United Free Church of Scotland, retaining the name Church of Scotland. Though it maintains an official state connection, its ecclesiastical government is presbyterian (elder-led) in nature. | Ref: 5 |
- 1930
| Mar 02 | American missionary Gustav Schmidt, 39, opened the Danzig Instytut Biblijny in the Free City of Danzig (Gdansk), Poland. It was the first Pentecostal Bible institute established in Eastern Europe. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 24 | First religious services telecast in US (W2XBS, New York NY). | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 02 | Sarah Dickson becomes first woman Presbyterian elder in US, Cincinnati. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 11 | In Toledo, Ohio, three Lutheran synods merged to form the American Lutheran Church. (In 1960 the ALC merged with two other branches of Evangelical Lutheranism, and in 1988 joined with a third Lutheran group to form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ELCA.). | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 04 | Vatican approves rhythm method for birth control. | Ref: 5 |
- 1931
| Mar 09 | The World Radio Missionary Fellowship (WRMF) was incorporated in Lima, Ohio, by co_founders Clarence W. Jones and Reuben Larson. Today, this interdenominational mission agency broadcasts the Gospel in 15 languages to South America and throughout Europe. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 29 | The Unevangelized Fields Mission was founded, in England. UFM missionaries today work primarily in Latin America, Europe and Africa, as well as in Haiti and Indonesia. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 13 | Having recently suffered a nervous breakdown, Foursquare Gospel founder Aimee Semple McPherson, 40, entered an ill-fated marriage to David Hutton. (They divorced four years later.). | Ref: 5 |
- 1932
| Jan 22 | British Anglicans & Old-Catholic church merge. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 01 | German scholar Gerhard Kittel published the first partial volume of "Theological Dictionary of the New Testament." With WWII and Kittel's death in 1948 intervening, this monumental 10-volume work was not completed until the late 1960s. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 20 | Four branches of Methodism in England united to form the Methodist Church of Great Britain and Ireland. These were the Wesleyan Methodists (founded 1784), the Primitive Methodists (1811), the United Methodist Free Churches (1857) and the United Methodists (1907). | Ref: 5 |
- 1933
| Apr 29 | The Navigators trace their origin to this date, when founder Dawson Trotman began the work in San Pedro, CA. In 1943, this evangelical mission was formally incorporated, and is headquartered today in Colorado Springs, CO. | Ref: 5 |
| May 01 | The first issue of "The Catholic Worker" was published. Founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, the monthly newspaper promoted social reconstruction through shared farming and housing for the urban poor. | Ref: 5 |
- 1934
| Jan 07 | Converted major league baseball player Billy Sunday, at age 72, began a two-week revival at Calvary Baptist Church in NY City. (Sunday was an evangelist from 1893 until his death in 1935.). | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 06 | 418 Lutheran ministers arrested in Germany. | Ref: 5 |
| May 30 | The two-day Barmen Synod ended in Germany. The resulting Barmen Declaration affirmed that the German Confessing Church recognized Jesus Christ to be the only authoritative voice of God, in clear contrast to all other (i.e., Nazi) powers representing divine revelation. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 07 | Wycliffe Bible Translators held its first study course in linguistics at Sulphur Springs, Arkansas. The training session lasted 3 months. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 28 | The first issue of "The Sword of the Lord" was published. Founded by Baptist evangelist John R. Rice, 39, it became the largest independent Christian weekly for years, and was recognized by liberals as the "voice of fundamentalism." | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 10 | Saint-Adelbert cooperation formed by Catholic elite. | Ref: 5 |
- 1935
| Mar 13 | A three-thousand-year-old archive is found in Jerusalem confirming biblical history. | Ref: 2 |
| Jul 26 | The Open Bible Standard Churches was formed when two smaller revival movements with similar objectives merged. OBSCI is headquartered today in Des Moines. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 05 | The Cooperative General Association of Free Will Baptists (northern U.S.) and the General Conference of Free Will Baptists (southern U.S.) merged in Nashville, TN, to form the National Association of Free Will Baptists. | Ref: 5 |
- 1936
| Jan 18 | In Washington, DC, Catholic biblical scholars met to discuss two proposals: the preparation of a new Bible translation and the formation of a society of Catholic biblical scholars. In result, the Catholic Biblical Association (CBA) was formed in 1937, and the New American Bible (NAB) was published in 1970. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 23 | Catholic People's Party (KVP) of Curaçao forms. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 11 | The Presbyterian Church of America (PCA) was organized in Philadelphia. In 1938 the denomination changed its name to the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 25 | Belgian bishops condemn fascism & communism. | Ref: 5 |
- 1937
| May 20 | Following a lifelong call to establish a worldwide evangelistic ministry to children, missions pioneer Jesse Overholtzer, 59, founded Child Evangelism Fellowship, in Chicago. | Ref: 5 |
-
- 1938
| May 03 | Vatican recognizes Franco-Spain | Ref: 5 |
| May 12 | In Holland, the four-day convention at Utrecht ended, at which the Provisional Constitution for the World Council of Churches was adopted. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 19 | The Carpatho-Russian Diocese of the Eastern Rite of the U.S.A. was canonized as a diocese of the Greek Orthodox Church. Father Orestes Chornock, Orthodox bishop of Agathonikia, was made Metropolitan of the new diocese. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 10 | Ruth Fuller Sasaki, Zen teacher, Rinzai line, enters Zen priesthood. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 29 | In Tambaram, South India, the second world meeting of the International Missionary Council closed at Madras Christian College (having opened Dec. 12th). It was afterward called the IMC's Tambaram Conference. | Ref: 5 |
- 1939
| Apr 13 | Delegates from independent Baptist churches in Shafter, Oildale, Lamont and Taft organized the first association of Southern Baptists in California. | Ref: 5 |
| May 01 | "Back to the Bible Broadcast" was launched by founder Theodore Epp, in Lincoln, Nebraska. Today, over 600 radio stations nationwide carry the program. | Ref: 5 |
| May 09 | Catholic church beatified the first Native American, Kateri Tekakwitha. | Ref: 5 |
| May 10 | The Declaration of Union reunited the Methodist Episcopal Church in the US after 109 years of division. (The Methodist Protestant Church had separated from the parent denomination in 1830, as had the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, later, in 1844.) | Ref: 2 |
- 1940
| Mar 23 | All-India-Muslim League calls for a Muslim homeland. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 24 | Dr. Samuel Cavert of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America officiated at a Protestant Easter service in New York City. It was the first religious program to be broadcast over television, and was carried by local NBC affiliate TV station W2XBS, in NYC. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 06 | The National Christian Council of Japan organized its churches into a single body, with complete autonomy from Western church control. The single Protestant structure thus formed was named the United Church of Christ in Japan. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 13 | The Southern Baptist General Convention of CA was organized at Shafter by representatives of 14 congregations attending an associational meeting of the denomination. | Ref: 5 |
- 1941
| Jan 07 | In England, the four-day Anglican gathering known as the Malvern Conference opened. It was presided over by Archbishop William Temple. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 24 | The two-day Constitutional Assembly of the Nippon Kirisuto Kyodan opened, during which was formed the United Church of Christ in Japan. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 25 | The first Youth For Christ rally was held at Bryant's Alliance Tabernacle in NY City. An international evangelical youth organization, YFC has no single founder, but rather emerged out of weekly rallies held for the youth of NY City during the 1930s. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 14 | Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship was incorporated in Chicago. An interdenominational organization with chapters at both colleges and schools of nursing, IVCF provides Christian fellowship, nurture and discipleship among Christian college age students. | Ref: 5 |
- 1942
| Jun 08 | Unevangelized Fields Mission (UFM) was incorporated in Philadelphia. Today this interdenominational mission agency works in a dozen countries in Latin America, Europe and Africa. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 17 | New Tribes Mission was organized by founder Paul W. Fleming. This interdenominational missions agency supports over 1,000 staff members in countries aroundthe world. | Ref: 5 |
- 1943
| Jan 23 | The New Tribes Mission was incorporated in Los Angeles by founder Paul W. Fleming. NTM works today primarily in missionary aviation, Bible translation, church planting and the production and distribution of Christian literature. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 19 | The first Baptist church was organized in Anchorage. (Prior to this date, there had been no Baptist church in Anchorage, and only one Baptist church in all the rest of the state of Alaska.). | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 07 | While WWII was raging, the American Council of Volunteer Agencies for Foreign Service was formed. It was as an interfaith venture to bring Protestant, Catholic and Jewish agencies involved in international relief together under one roof. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 28 | The film "The Song of Bernadette" was released by 20th Century Fox. It told the true story of 14_year_old French Catholic peasant girl Bernadette Soubirous, who experienced 18 visions of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes, France in 1858. | Ref: 5 |
- 1944
| Jan 25 | In the Anglican Diocese of Hong Kong and South China, Florence Tim-Oi Lee of Macao was ordained a priest in Kwangtung Province, China. Although considered an emergency wartime measure (owing to the lack of male priests in Macao), it nevertheless made Florence Tim-Oi Lee the first-ever ordained female Anglican clergyperson. | Ref: 5 |
| May 22 | The Gospel Mission of South America was founded by William M. Strong in Concepcion, Chile. An interdenominational Protestant missions agency, its headquarters moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in 1975. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 11 | First Serbian Orthodox cathedral in US, the Cathedral of St Sava, NYC, opens. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 12 | Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary was chartered in Mill Valley, CA, undersponsorship of the Southern Baptist Church. | Ref: 5 |
- 1945
| Jan 08 | "Youth for Christ" organizes. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 15 | John J "Cardinal" O'Connor, ordained as a priest. | Ref: 5 |
- 1946
| Mar 27 | Members of Baptist congregations in Anchorage, Juneau and Fairbanks met at Anchorage to form the Alaska Southern Baptist Convention. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 07 | Italian-American educator, Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini (1850-1917) became the first American citizen to be made a saint in the Catholic Church. She arrived in the U.S.in 1889, and was naturalized in 1909. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 03 | Founder Sidney N. Correll established United World Mission. This interdenominational agency focuses on evangelism, church planting and Christian education in 13 world countries. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 01 | World Literature Crusade was founded in Saskatchewan, Canada, by Rev. Jack McAlister (president 1946-79). This mission is engaged primarily in Bible distribution, church planting and Bible correspondence courses. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 16 | The Evangelical United Brethren Church was constituted at Johnstown, PA by a merger of the United Brethren in Christ and the Evangelical Church. The new denomination originated in the work of two German Reformed pastors, Philip W. Otterbein and Martin Boehm, who had ministered among PA Germans two centuries earlier. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 02 | Rev. E.V. Steele founded the European Christian Orphanage and Mission Society in Alberta, Canada. Its name was changed in 1953 to World Missions Fellowship and has been headquartered since 1961 in Grants Pass. OR. | Ref: 5 |
- 1947
| Feb 17 | Dutch Roman Catholic bishops publish manifest against "godless communism". | Ref: 5 |
| May 17 | The Conservative Baptist Association of America (CBAA) was formally established at Atlantic City, NJ, as a breakaway movement from within the American Baptist Convention. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 27 | The Church of South India was officially formed by the merger of three denominations: the Anglicans, the Methodists and the South India United Church (a Presbyterian and Congregational union). Historically, it was the first union ever between episcopal and non-episcopal bodies. | Ref: 5 |
- 1948
| Feb 12 | 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 began experiencing a mass spiritual awakening. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 13 | At the Antioch Baptist Church of Portland, representatives of 15 local congregations organized the Baptist General Convention of Oregon-Washington, the first organization of its kind in the Pacific Northwest. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 16 | Christians in Action was incorporated in Compton, CA. Founded by Rev. Lee Shelley, this interdenominational overseas mission helps establish national churches in nearly two dozen overseas countries. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 04 | In Manilla, the first missionary radio station built in the Philippines by the Far East Broadcasting Company (FEBC) first went on the air. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 08 | The Moscow Conference convened to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the independence of the Russian Orthodox Church from control of the Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 22 | The Amsterdam Assembly of the World Council of Churches convened (through Sept 4) to ratify the Constitution for this newly-formed experiment in organizational and global Christian unity. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 23 | During its Amsterdam Assembly (Aug 22 Sept 4), the newly-formed World Council of Churches officially ratified its Constitution. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 26 | The Pentecostal Fellowship of North America was organized at Des Moines, Iowa. The association is comprised of 24 Pentecostal groups and meets annually to promote unity among Pentecostal Christians. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 05 | The first church service in sign language for the hearing impaired was broadcast from St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church for the Deaf in Jamaica, Long Island. WPIX-TV, Channel 11 in NY aired the telecast. | Ref: 4 |
| Dec 24 | For the first time ever, a midnight Mass was broadcast on television. St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City was the locale. | Ref: 4 |
- 1949
| Oct 15 | Billy Graham begins his ministry. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 27 | In Cincinnati, Ohio, the Evangelical Theological Society was organized. A conservative fellowship of North American theologians and Bible scholars, ETS promotes theological discussion and exploration within the context of a firm belief in the truthfulness of the Bible. | Ref: 5 |
- 1950
| Apr 18 | Polish Catholic church & government sign accord over relations. | Ref: 5 |
| May 24 | In Boston, during its annual gathering, the Northern Baptist Convention formally changed its name to the American Baptist Convention. Twenty-two years later, in 1972, the denomination changed its name once more, and became the American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 22 | Basil and Esther Miller incorporated World-Wide Missions in California. Headquartered today in Pasadena, this evangelical missions agency specializes in providing relief and medical aid to over 30 countries worldwide. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 14 | Rev Sun Young Moon liberated from Hung Nam prison. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 05 | Billy Graham's "Hour of Decision" program was first broadcast over television. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 28 | A constitutional convention (comprised of 14 Protestant, Anglican, and Eastern Orthodox denominations) met in Cleveland, Ohio, and brought into being the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Today, the NCCC serves to administer disaster relief, strengthen family life, provide leadership training, and promote world peace. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 29 | National Council of the Church of Christ in US established. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 19 | Tibet's Dalai Lama flees Chinese invasion. | Ref: 5 |
- 1951
| May 01 | Dutch Reformed Church introduces new church choir. | Ref: 5 |
| May 27 | Chinese Communists force Dalai Lama to surrender his army to Beijing. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 15 | The First Southern Baptist Church to be constituted in the state of Wyoming was formed in Casper by a group of families principally related to the oil industry. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 30 | Billy Graham's "Hour of Decision" first aired over ABC television. Broadcast on Sunday nights 10:00-10:30, the program aired through February 1954, before entering syndication. | Ref: 5 |
- 1952
| Jan 16 | New Dutch bible translation finished. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 31 | Dutch Lutheran Church reunites after 1½ centuries. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 07 | Six churches met to form the Southern Baptist Association of Colorado, the firstorganization of this denomination in the state. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 09 | The religious program 'This is the Life' premiered on Dumont (later ABC) television. This long-running series was produced under the auspices of the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 30 | The complete Old and New Testament of the Revised Standard Version (RSV) of the Bible was first published by Thomas Nelson and Sons. (The RSV New Testament had first appeared in 1946.) | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 16 | "Our Goodly Heritage" debuted over CBS television. This Sunday morning Bible study program, hosted by William Rush Baer of NY University, aired a little over five years. | Ref: 5 |
- 1953
| Jan 04 | "The Catholic Hour" first aired over NBC-television. This long-running series was produced in cooperation with the National Council of Catholic Men and aired through August 1970. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 15 | The first Southern Baptist church in North Dakota was formed in Williston, with 12 charter members. (The North Dakota Southern Baptist Association was formed the following year with five member churches.) | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 25 | A group of 22 Southern Baptist military personnel, stationed at Rapid City, met to form the Calvary Baptist Church , the first Southern Baptist congregation established in South Dakota. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 01 | The Christian Aid Mission (CIM) was chartered in Washington, DC by founder Bob Finley. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 28 | Campus Crusade for Christ was incorporated in Los Angeles by founder Bill Bright. Today, CCC is an evangelical organization training Christian leaders in over 90 countries around the world. | Ref: 5 |
- 1954
| Jan 08 | The State Convention of Baptists in Ohio was formed, representing 39 Southern Baptist churches in that state. | Ref: 5 |
| May 01 | HSA-UWC Established (Unification Church) (The Moonies). | Ref: 5 |
| May 01 | Bishops publish Mandement (member socialist organization forbidden). | Ref: 5 |
| May 30 | Dutch bishops forbid membership to non-catholic sporting clubs. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 03 | Pope Pius X canonized a saint. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 18 | "The Week in Religion" aired for the last time over Dumont television. First broadcast in March 1952, this ecumenical Sunday evening panel show divided the hour into 20-minute segments each for Protestant, Catholic and Jewish news. | Ref: 5 |
- 1955
| Apr 26 | The Roman Catholic religious program "Life is Worth Living" aired for the last time over Dumont television. Premiering in 1952, it was hosted by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, who won an Emmy during its first year of broadcast for being "the most outstanding personality" on television. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 26 | The first Southern Baptist congregation was formally organized in Las Vegas, with 33 charter members. It was the second Southern Baptist church established in NV. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 11 | The first Southern Baptist church to be established in Nebraska was organized at Lincoln, with 34 charter members. Founded by Southern Baptist U.S. Air Force personnel who had been stationed in Lincoln, the congregation first met for worship on Easter Sunday of this year. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 04 | Rev Sun Young Moon leaves prison in Seoul. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 07 | The religious drama 'Crossroads' first aired over ABC television. An anthology which dramatized true experiences of clergymen of all denominations, the program ran for two years. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 04 | Manager Alfrink installed as archbishop of Utrecht. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 14 | Catholic religious leader, Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, 60, was quoted in "Look" magazine on this date as stating that 'an atheist is a man who has no invisible means of support.'. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 14 | Dutch Reformed Church condemns woman/wife as vicar. | Ref: 5 |
- 1956
| Jan 03 | The Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, established in 1870, officially changed its name to the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. The denomination is headquartered today in Memphis, TN, and comprises a membership of nearly 500,000. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 16 | The Egyptian government makes Islam the state religion. | Ref: 2 |
| Mar 23 | Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic, although it is still within the British Commonwealth. | Ref: 2 |
| May 23 | Presbyterian Church begins accepting women ministers. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 24 | In Minneapolis-St. Paul, a congregation of worshipers was organized into the first Southern Baptist church to be established in Minnesota. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 24 | In Syracuse, NY, Margaret Ellen Towner became the first woman ordained in the Presbyterian Church. | Ref: 5 |
- 1957
| Jan 12 | Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC) founded. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 10 | Southern Christian Leadership Conference forms. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 13 | Southern Christian Leadership Conference organizes in New Orleans. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 26 | Dr. Basil W. Miller founded the Basil Miller Foundation in Altadena, CA. In 1959 its name was changed to World_Wide Missions. | Ref: 5 |
| May 15 | 18,000 people at Madison Square Garden-Billy Graham launched a crusade. | Ref: 5 |
| May 26 | The religious program "The Fourth R" aired for the last time over NBC television. Produced by several different religious organizations, this short-lived series aired on Sunday mornings. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 25 | During a convention in Cleveland, Ohio, the United Church of Christ (UCC) was formed by a merger of the Congregational Christian Church and the Evangelical and Reformed Church. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 12 | Prince Karim left Harvard University in Cambridge, MA to become the leader of 20 million Ismaili Moslems. He became the Aga Khan for the religious sect. Prince Karim was 20 years old at the time of his calling. | Ref: 4 |
| Oct 01 | Representatives from 49 churches met in Roseville, MI, to begin organizing the Baptist State Convention of Michigan. The organization officially came into being the following month. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 26 | Vatican Radio begins broadcasting. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 15 | Patriarch Ignatius Yacoub III officially established the Archdiocese of the Syrian Orthodox Church in the U.S. and Canada. At the same time, Archbishop Mar Athanasius Yeshue Samuel, former Syrian Orthodox metropolitan of Jerusalem, was appointed primate of the new archdiocese, and soon after took up residence in Hackensack, New Jersey. | Ref: 5 |
- 1958
| May 28 | The Presbyterian Church in the U.S. merged with the Presbyterian Church of North America to form the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (UPCUSA). | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 20 | A pentecostal sect, formed by Grady R. Kent out of the Church of God of Prophecy, formally adopted as its name "The Church of God of All Nations." The denomination is headquartered today in Cleveland, Tennessee. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 07 | The first cathedral of the Syrian Orthodox Church in the US and Canada was dedicated in Hackensack, NJ. The American archdiocese for this branch of Orthodoxy was created the previous year by Syrian Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Yacoub III. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 12 | In Canada, a two-day church convention closed in Winnipeg, Ontario. At this assembly the Lutheran Church of Canada (LCC) was organized. | Ref: 5 |
- 1959
| Mar 03 | By a vote taken in both bodies, the Unitarian Church and the Universalist Church, along with their fellowships the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America merged into a single denomination. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 17 | The Dalai Lama flees Tibet and goes to India. | Ref: 2 |
| Mar 31 | Dalai Lama flees China & is granted political asylum in India. | Ref: 72 |
| Apr 13 | Vatican edict forbids Roman Catholics for voting for communists. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 08 | Meeting in Oberlin, OH, the Congregational Christian and the Evangelical and Reformed churches adopted a united statement of faith. (The two groups merged to form theUnited Church of Christ in 1961). | Ref: 5 |
- 1960
| Apr 22 | At a constitutional convention in Minneapolis, three major Lutheran bodies in the U.S. merged to form the American Lutheran Church, with a combined membership of about two million. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 28 | The 100th General Assembly of the Southern Presbyterian Church (PCUS) passed a resolution declaring that sexual relations within marriage -- without the intention of procreation -- were not sinful. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 05 | John XXIII published his motu proprio, 'Superno Dei Nutu,' which created the necessary committees and organizational structure for the upcoming Vatican II Ecumenical Council (1962-65). | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 30 | Elijah Muhammad, leader of Nation of Islam, calls for a black state. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 09 | The Church of the Lutheran Confession adopted its constitution at a convention held at Watertown, South Dakota. The denomination was formally organized the following January (1961) at Sleepy Eye, Minnesota. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 24 | Dutch bishops question papacy values. | Ref: 5 |
- 1961
| Jan 01 | American Lutheran Church formed by merger of three Lutheran churches. | Ref: 10 |
| Mar 14 | The New Testament of the New English Bible was simultaneously published by both the Oxford and Cambridge University Presses. (The complete Old & New Testament of the NEB was published in 1970.) | Ref: 5 |
| May 15 | 36 Unification church couples wed in Korea. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 19 | The Third Assembly of the World Council of Churches convened at New Delhi, India, during which the International Missionary Council and its work was integrated into the larger ecumenical group. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 20 | The Russian Orthodox Church joined the World Council of Churches. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 08 | Antwerp Belgium diocese forms. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 15 | L J Suenens appointed archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels. | Ref: 5 |
- 1962
| Mar 19 | Archbishop Suenens of Mechelen-Brussels appointed cardinal. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 05 | Manager J Daems appointed bishop of Antwerp. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 28 | The Lutheran Church in America (LCA) was formed with the merger of four Lutheran synods: the United Lutheran Church in America, the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church, the American Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 18 | The Full Gospel Fellowship of Churches and Ministers International was founded in Dallas by Gordon Lindsay, 56. In 1967, the name was changed to Christ for the Nations. It ministers today as a service agency supporting foreign missions through fund raising and literature distribution. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 13 | The name of St. Joseph was added to the canon of the Roman Catholic mass. It constituted the first alteration made to this canon since the seventh century. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 08 | The Rev. John Melville Burgess was consecrated as suffragan Bishop of Massachusetts -- the first African American bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church to serve a predominantly white diocese. | Ref: 5 |
- 1963
| Jan 17 | The Baptist World Mission was incorporated in Chicago. This independent organization of Baptist tradition is engaged primarily in evangelism, church planting and education in 17 overseas countries. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 26 | The Lutheran World Federation's missionary radio station at Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia, was dedicated. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 17 | Elizabeth Ann Seton of New York beatified (canonized in 1975). | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 20 | All Africa Conferences of Churches opens in Kampala Uganda. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 05 | In an instruction given by the Holy Office, disposal of the dead by cremation wasofficially granted sanction by the Catholic Church. (Belief in the resurrection of the deadhad previously made cremation repugnant to many Christians.). | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 24 | 124 Unification church couples wed in Korea. | Ref: 5 |
- 1964
| Jan 10 | Battles between moslems & hindus in Calcutta. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 12 | Malcolm X resigns from Nation of Islam. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 01 | Russian Orthodox Church canonizes first U.S. Saint-Father John of Cronstadt (d. 1909). | Ref: 10 |
| Nov 29 | The US Roman Catholic Church in replaces Latin with English. | Ref: 5 |
- 1965
| Dec 07 | Pope Paul VI & Orthodox Patriarch Athenagoras I simultaneously lift mutual excommunications that led to split of the 2 churches in 1054. | Ref: 5 |
- 1966
| Jan 08 | Stephen Cardinal Wyszynski, the primate of Poland, was barred by the Polish government from attending the Vatican celebration of the 1,000th anniversary of Christianity in Poland. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 09 | Polish government denies exit visa to Cardinal Wyszynski revisionism. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 16 | Harold R Perry becomes 2nd black Roman Catholic bishop in US. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 16 | The World Council of Churches being held in Geneva, urges immediate peace in Vietnam. | Ref: 2 |
| Sep 15 | The American Bible Society published the New Testament of its "Today's English Version" (TEV), otherwise known as "Good News for Modern Man." It marked the end of a two-year effort led by chief translator, Robert G. Bratcher. (The complete Good News Bible was published in 1976.) | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 11 | The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren voted to merge into one denomination in the U.S., afterward to be called the United Methodist Church. (The "declaration of union" took place officially on April 23,1968.) | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 18 | This was the last required meatless Friday for American Roman Catholics, in accordance with a decree made by Pope Paul VI earlier this year. | Ref: 5 |
- 1967
| Apr 11 | The Full Gospel Fellowship of Churches and Ministers International, formed in Dallas in 1962, changed its name to Christ for the Nations. This charismatic missions agency specializes in fund-raising and support for church construction and Christian literature distribution worldwide. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 21 | EO, Evangelical Broadcasting, begins in Netherlands. | Ref: 5 |
| May 22 | The General Assembly of the Southern Presbyterian Church (PCUS) adopted the Confession of 1967. It was the first major declaration of faith adopted by this branch of Protestantism since the Westminster Confession of 1647. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 11 | The Vatican reported that Albania had closed its last Roman Catholic church.(Albania is a tiny Balkan country with an area only the size of Maryland. | Ref: 5 |
- 1968
| Feb 25 | 430 Unification Church couples wed in Korea. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 01 | Vatican City's Apostolic Constitution of 1967 goes into effect. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 15 | Diocese of Rome announces that it "deplored the concept", but wouldn't prohibit rock & roll masses at Church of San Lessio Falconieri. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 09 | Ralph Aberbathy elected to head So Christian Leadership Conference. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 23 | In Dallas, the 10.3 million-member Methodist and the 750 thousand-member Evangelical United Brethren churches joined together to form the United Methodist Church. The merger made this the second largest Protestant denomination in the United States (after the Southern Baptists). | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 29 | Pope Paul VI reaffirms the Roman Catholic Church's stance against artificial methods of birth control. | Ref: 70 |
- 1969
| May 01 | 43 Unification church couples wed in NYC. | Ref: 5 |
| May 08 | Pope Paul VI publishes constitution Sacra Ritum Congregation | Ref: 2 |
- 1970
| Jan 09 | After 140 years of unofficial racial discrimination, the Mormons issued an official statement declaring that blacks were not yet to receive the priesthood "for reasons which we believe are known to God, but which He has not made fully known to man." | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 17 | John M Burgess installed as bishop of Protestant Episcopals (Massachusetts). | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 19 | Dutch bishop says he is in favor of married priest. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 09 | After 140 years of unofficial racial discrimination, the Mormons issued an official statement declaring that blacks were not yet to receive the priesthood "for reasons which we believe are known to God, but which He has not made fully known to man." | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 23 | The Holy Eucharist was distributed by women for the first time in a Roman Catholic service. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 16 | The complete text of the New English Bible was published, simultaneously, by the Oxford and Cambridge Presses. (The New Testament of the NEB had been first published in 1961.) | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 10 | The Russian Orthodox Church in America was granted autocephalic independence by its Mother organization, the Russian Orthodox Church. Headquartered today in Syosset, New York, membership in this religious body currently numbers approximately one million. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 30 | The complete New American Standard Version of the Bible (NASB) was first published. (The completed NASB New Testament had been released earlier, in 1963.). | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 31 | The complete New American Standard Version of the Bible (NASB) was first published. (The completed NASB New Testament had been released earlier, in 1963.) | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 29 | The New American Bible was published by the St. Anthony Guild Press. It represented the first English version Roman Catholic Bible to be translated from the original Biblical Greek and Hebrew languages. (The Rheims-Douai Version of 1610 had been based on Jerome's Latin Vulgate.). | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 02 | A two-day convention opened at which the Baptist Convention of PA-South Jersey was formed. It was comprised of 9,000 charter members from 52 Southern Baptist churches. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 21 | 777 Unification church couples wed in Korea. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 29 | In Nagpur, India, six church bodies __ the Anglicans, the United Church of Northern India, the Baptists, the Methodists, the Church of the Brethren and the Disciples of Christ __ merged to form the Church of India. | Ref: 5 |
- 1971
| Dec 30 | The Anglican_Roman Catholic International Commission announced that an agreement had been made between the two Christian traditions on the essential teachings about the Eucharist. | Ref: 5 |
- 1972
| Jan 27 | In Columbia, the white and black United Methodist conferences of South Carolina -- separated since the Civil War -- voted in their respective meetings to adopt a plan of union. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 16 | African-American Methodist clergyman from Dominica, West Indies, Philip A. Potter, 51, was named general secretary of the World Council of Churches. Serving until 1984, Potter gave strong spiritual guidance to the work of the WCC. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 27 | In Columbia, the white and black United Methodist conferences of South Carolina -- separated since the Civil War -- voted in their respective meetings to adopt a plan of union. | Ref: 5 |
- 1973
| Feb 13 | The National Council of U.S. Catholic Bishops announced that anyone undergoing or performing an abortion would be excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 08 | The American Society of Missiology was founded in St. Louis. The ecumenical organization seeks to stimulate an academic interest in Christian missions, and publishes the journal 'Missiology: An International Review.'. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 04 | The Assemblies of God opened its first theological graduate school in Springfield, MO, making it the second Pentecostal denomination to establish its own school of theology. (The first such school was opened by Oral Roberts in Tulsa.). | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 07 | In Atlanta, the Presbyterian Church in America formally instituted its missionary organization, PCA Mission to the World. It was an outgrowth of the newly established denomination. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 09 | "Marshall Efron's Illustrated, Simplified and Painless Sunday School" first aired over CBS television. This religious series was broadcast on Sunday mornings until August 1977. | Ref: 5 |
- 1974
| Jan 13 | A Gallup poll on religious worship showed that fewer Protestants and Roman Catholics were attending weekly services than ten years earlier, but that attendance at Jewish worship services had increased over the same period. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 29 | The first eleven women priests in the Episcopal Church were ordained in Philadelphia's Church of the Advocate. | Ref: 5 |
- 1975
| Feb 08 | 1800 Unification church couples' wed in Korea. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 12 | Archbishop Oliver Plunkett became 1st Irish-born saint in 7 centuries. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 11 | The Central American Mission changed its name to CAM Intentional, after expanding its missionary efforts into Latin America. (This evangelical mission group was founded in 1890 by C.I. Scofield, editor of the Scofield Bible.) | Ref: 5 |
- 1976
| Jan 26 | Belgium catholic elite start amnesty campaign for war criminals. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 21 | Cardinal Willebrands installed as archbishop of Utrecht. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 23 | The First National Southern Baptist Charismatic Conference closed. Baptist pastor and charismatic leader Howard Conatser (1926-78) was a speaker at this convention. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 16 | In Minneapolis, the 65th Triennial General Convention of the Episcopal Church officially approved ordination of women to the priesthood. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 30 | Dr. Joseph H. Evans was elected president of the United Church of Christ. It made him the first African-American leader of this predominantly white denomination. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 03 | In Chicago, the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (AELC) was formally organized. The bulk of membership derived from former affiliates of the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 22 | 35 Unification church couples wed in New York NY. | Ref: 5 |
- 1977
| Jan 01 | Jacqueline Means, wife of an Indiana truck driver and mother of four, became the first woman in the U.S. to be ordained a priest in the Protestant Episcopal Church. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 19 | World's largest crowd-12.7 million-for Indian religious festival. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 27 | The Vatican reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church's ban on female priests. | Ref: 70 |
| Jan 28 | The Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith publishes an 18-page document ruling out the admission of women to the Roman Catholic priesthood because women lacked a "natural resemblance which must exist between Christ and his ministers." | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 21 | 74 Unification Church couples wed in New York NY. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 06 | Joseph Lason Howze is installed as Bishop of Biloxi, MS, becoming the first African- American Roman Catholic bishop consecrated since the 19th century. | Ref: 5 |
- 1978
| Feb 11 | 16 Unification church couples wed in New York NY. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 02 | Episcopal Canon Mary Simpson of New York speaks from the pulpit of Westminster Abbey in London. She was the first ordained woman to preach there in the 913 years since 1065, when the Abbey was first consecrated. | Ref: 5 |
| May 21 | 118 Unification church couples wed in England. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 01 | The Evangelical Free Baptist Church was incorporated in DuPage County, Illinois, having withdrawn from the Southern Baptist Convention following a doctrinal dispute. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 08 | Through the voice of its president Spencer W. Kimball, the Mormon Church reversed a 148-year- long policy of spiritual discrimination against African-American leadership within the denomination. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 09 | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) strikes down 148 year policy of excluding black men from priesthood. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 11 | Leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints struck down a 148-year-old policy of excluding black men from the Mormon priesthood. Joseph Freeman Junior became the first black priest ordained in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. | Ref: 70 |
- 1979
| Mar 02 | Over 1,100 Christian organizations combined to form the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA). This oversight agency was created to demonstrate to the public that religious groups wanted to make themselves accountable for the funds they raise and spend. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 15 | Greater Europe Mission moved its headquarters from Chicago to Wheaton, IL. Founded in 1949, GEM is an evangelical missionary agency involved in church planting and evangelism in over a dozen European countries. | Ref: 5 |
- 1980
| May 25 | Oral Roberts sees 900 foot tall Jesus Christ, Tulsa OK | Ref: 62 |
| Nov 15 | Pope John Paul II began 5 day visit to West Germany,. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 06 | Jim Bakker rapes Jessica Hahn. | Ref: 5 |
- 1981
| Jun 13 | 39 Unification church couples wed in Germany. | Ref: 5 |
- 1982
| Mar 24 | Five congregations in the eastern San Francisco Bay area became the first to declare themselves publicly as sanctuary churches, in an effort to help refugees from Central America establish themselves in the U.S. during political and military unrest in their native countries. | Ref: 5 |
| May 18 | Unification Church founder Reverend Sun Myung Moon convicted of tax evasion. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 01 | Over 2000 Unification Church couples marry at NY MSG. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 10 | Pope John Paul II names Archbishop Joseph L. Bernardin of Cincinnati to succeed the late Cardinal John Cody as head of the Archdiocese of Chicago. (XDG, p 4A, 7/10/2002) | Ref: 83 |
| Jul 15 | 4,150 followers of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon are married in mass ceremony at Madison Square Gdn. | Ref: 10 |
| Oct 14 | 6,000 Unification church couples wed in Korea by Rev Sun Young Moon. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 31 | Pope John Paul II becomes first pontiff to visit Spain. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 05 | Seattle University Baptist Church declares sanctuary for Central American refugees. | Ref: 5 |
- 1983
| Jan 19 | The New Catholic code expands women's rights in the Church. | Ref: 2 |
| Feb 02 | Chicago Archbishop Joseph L Bernardin is among 18 new cardinals invested. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 10 | Anglican synod vote 338-100 against unilateral UK nuclear disarmament. | Ref: 5 |
| May 09 | John Paul II announced the reversal of the Catholic Church's 1633 condemnation of Galileo Galilei, the scientist who first espoused the Copernican (i.e., heliocentric) view of our solar system. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 10 | The Presbyterian Church (USA) was formed in Atlanta, through a reunification of the United Presbyterian Church (UPCUSA) and the Southern Presbyterian Church (PCUS). | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 14 | The National Council of Churches issued "The Inclusive Language Lectionary -- " Scripture readings translated to omit or blur gender references. God was thus called "Father and Mother" or "the One"; and "man" was replaced by "humanity" or "humankind." The translation proved shortlived. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 02 | Archbishop Hickey conducts papal investigation of Archbishop Hunthausen, Seattle. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 28 | Pope John Paul II pardons man who shot him (Mehmet Ali Agca). | Ref: 5 |
- 1984
| Feb 18 | Roman Catholicism ceases to be the state religion of Italy | Ref: 62 |
| Mar 19 | John J O'Connor named 8th archbishop of New York. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 02 | Grace Ministries International was incorporated in Grand Rapids, MI. Originating as Bethesda Mission in 1951, GMI engages in church planting in nearly a dozen overseas countries. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 28 | Pope John Paul II completed the last of 133 homilies in St. Peter's Square on the theme, "Theology of the Body." It was the first time in public catechesis that a pope made use of higher criticism of the Old Testament and freely cited a number of Protestant theologians. | Ref: 5 |
- 1985
| Jan 04 | Shenuda III resumes duties as patriarch of Egypt's Coptic Church. | Ref: 17 |
| Mar 21 | The Association of International Mission Services was founded in Dallas. A trans-denominational organization, AIMS promotes the work of foreign missions among independent Pentecostal and charismatic churches. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 01 | The HQ of Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry moved to its present location in Bellmawr, NJ. Founded in 1938 by Victor Buksbazen, F.I.G.M. works through evangelism and Bible distribution. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 28 | Warring Lebanese Moslem & Christian leaders sign peace agreement. | Ref: 5 |
- 1986
| Jan 21 | Charismatic Bible Ministries was founded in Oklahoma. A fraternal fellowship of charismatic organizations, CBM held its first major conference in June 1986 in Tulsa. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 15 | Living Bibles International moved to its present headquarters in Naperville, IL. Founded in 1968 by Ken Taylor, editor of the Living Bible, LBI is an interdenominational Bible distributing agency, working in 45 countries. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 14 | Desmond Tutu elected Anglican archbishop of Capetown. | Ref: 5 |
| May 06 | The Rev. Donald E. Pelotte, 41, was ordained in Gallup, New Mexico -- the first American Indian to be made a Roman Catholic bishop in the US | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 08 | The first North American Congress on the Holy Spirit and World Evangelization opened in New Orleans. It drew 7,000 leaders from 40 denominations, and stressed the part which the charismatic experience plays in evangelization. | Ref: 5 |
- 1987
| Mar 10 | The Vatican declared its formal opposition to test-tube fertilization, embryo transfer and most other forms of scientific interference in human procreation. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 19 | Jim Bakker, 48, stepped down as head of the PTL ministry amid disclosures of a 1980 sexual liaison with church secretary Jessica Hahn. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 20 | In Columbus, OH, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) was organized, making it the largest Lutheran denomination in the U.S. It represented the merger of three smaller Lutheran bodies, and was officially born on Jan 1, 1988. | Ref: 5 |
| May 06 | PTL's Jim Bakker & Rich Dortch dismissed from Assemblies of God. | Ref: 5 |
| May 27 | Jim & Tammy Bakker appear on "Nightline" after PTL scandal. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 31 | 400 trampled to death at Mecca as Iranians clash with Saudi riot police near Great Mosque. | Ref: 10 |
- 1988
| Feb 21 | During a live TV broadcast, televangelist Jimmy Swaggert, 52, admitted to visiting a prostitute, then announced he would be leaving his ministry for an unspecified length of time. (Defrocked in April by the Assemblies of God, he was ordered to stay off TV for a year, but returned after only three months.) | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 15 | Eugene Marino of Atlanta, appointed first African American archbishop. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 08 | Televangelist Jimmy Swaggert, 52, was defrocked by the Assemblies of God following the disclosure of his involvement with a prostitute. (Swaggert was ordered to stay off TV for a year, but had returned after only three months.) | Ref: 5 |
| May 05 | Eugene Antonio Marino, 53, became the first black Roman Catholic Bishop in the United States. He was installed as the archbishop of Atlanta GA. | Ref: 4 |
| Aug 12 | In Hollywood, the controversial religious movie "The Last Temptation of Christ" was released, sparking protests from evangelical church groups across the nation. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 24 | The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts elected Barbara C. Harris, 58, as a suffragen (assistant) bishop, making her the first woman to be so ordained in the Anglican communion. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 27 | Lab tests reportedly show Shroud of Turin not Christ`s burial cloth. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 13 | The Bishop of Turin, Italy announces that the Shroud of Turin, long believed to be Christ's burial sheet, did not withstand scientific testing. It dated back only to 1280, and not to the time of Jesus' crucifixion (ca. AD 30-33). | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 28 | Jurors award $147,000 to Tacoma parishioner seduced by her minister. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 30 | 6,516 followers of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon are married in mass ceremony at Seoul, S. Korea. | Ref: 10 |
| Dec 05 | Jim Bakker, TV evangelist for the PTL organization, is indicted on 24 counts of fraud and conspiracy including diverting $4 million dollars of their followers money to support their own "lavish and extravagant" lifestyles | Ref: 5 |
- 1989
| Jan 03 | Jim & Tammy Bakker return to TV (Oy Vey!). | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 14 | 1,000 muslims burn Rushdies' "Satanic Verses" in Bradford England. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 24 | The Rev. Barbara C. Harris, 55, of Boston, was confirmed as the first female bishop in the 450-year history of the Anglican Church. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 29 | Episcopal church appoints first female bishop. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 11 | Reverend Barbara C. Harris becomes the first woman consecrated as a bishop in the Episcopal Church, in a ceremony held in Boston. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 12 | 5 Pakistani Moslem rioters killed protesting "Satanic Verses" novel. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 28 | Former televangelist Jim Bakker's fraud and conspiracy trial opened in Charlotte, N.C.; Bakker was convicted of all counts the next October. | |
| Oct 05 | Ten months after being indicted by a federal grand jury in Charlotte, North Carolina, televangelist Jim Bakker, 50, was found guilty on 24 counts of mail and wire fraud. Three weeks later, on October 24th, Bakker was fined $500,000 and sentenced to 45 years in prison. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 15 | Billy Graham is given the 1,900th star on Hollywood Blvd. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 24 | Televangelist Jim Bakker, 50, is fined $500,000 and sentenced to 45 years in prison. He was found guilty on 24 counts of mail and wire fraud. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 01 | Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev visits the Vatican in Rome and meets with Pope John Paul II. Gorbachev is the first Soviet leader to ever meet with a pope, and the conference signals the symbolic end of seventy-two years of the Soviet government's official commitment to atheism. | Ref: 3 |
- 1990
| Jul 02 | More than 1400 Muslim pilgrims are killed in a stampede inside a pedestrian tunnel leading to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. (XDG, p 4A, 7/2/2000) | Ref: 83 |
| Sep 29 | In Washington, DC, the National Cathedral (officially, the Cathedral Church of St. Peter and St. Paul) was completed after 83 years of construction. Begun in 1907, the Gothic edifice had been used in its incomplete form since 1912. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 10 | Hindu-Muslim rebellion in Hyderabad-Aligargh India, 140 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 15 | More than 400 American Roman Catholic theologians charged that the Vatican had been throttling church reforms and imposing "an excessive Roman centralization." They contended that the Vatican had undercut a greater role for women, slowed the ecumenical drive for Christian unity and undermined the collegial functioning of national conferences of bishops. | Ref: 5 |
- 1991
| Jun 03 | Pope John Paul the Second, visiting the Polish city of Kielce, indirectly criticized abortion, appealing to his listeners to "prevent further destruction of the Polish family." | Ref: 6 |
| Jul 12 | A Japanese professor who had translated Salman Rushdie's "The Satanic Verses" was found stabbed to death, nine days after the novel's Italian translator was attacked in Milan. | Ref: 6 |
| Dec 28 | Irene the Icon of the Greek Orthodox church returns after being stolen. | Ref: 5 |
- 1992
| Feb 20 | Orthodox patriarch Shenouda III visits Netherlands. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 11 | General Synod votes for Ordination of women in the UK. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 11 | For the first time, women were permitted to become priests of the Church of England. One of 28 Anglican state churches throughout the world, the Church of England voted in favor of women on this day. | Ref: 4 |
| Dec 06 | Thousands of Hindu extremists destroyed a mosque in India, setting off two months of Hindu-Muslim rioting that claimed at least 2,000 lives. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 06 | 300,000 Hindus destroy Ayodha Mosque of Babri India, 4 die; riots follow. | Ref: 5 |
- 1993
| Aug 12 | President Clinton meets with Pope John Paul II during the Pope's visit to Denver, Colorado for World Youth Day festivities. | |
| Sep 04 | Pope John Paul II launches the first papal visit to the former Soviet Union as he begins a tour of the Baltic Republics. (XDG, p 4A, 9/04/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| Dec 08 | 30 killed at religious rebellion in Algeria. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 14 | Moslem fundamentalists murder 12 Kroates/Bosnians in Algeria. | Ref: 5 |
- 1994
| May 23 | 270 pilgrims die in bustle round Mina Saudi-Arabia | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 15 | Israel and the Vatican established full diplomatic relations. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 05 | 53 members of Order of the Solar Temple sect led by Luc Jouret found dead in two Swiss villages. (TWA, 1995) | Ref: 95 |
| Nov 27 | Mary McKillop, Australia's first saint, is beautified by Pope John Paul II at St Francis' Church. Ref | |
- 1995
| Feb 25 | Moslem fundamentalists shoot 20 Shiite mosque goers dead. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 13 | P C J van Lierde Dutch vicar-general of Vatican (1951-91), dies at 87. | Ref: 5 |
| May 14 | Dalai Lama proclaims 6-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima 11th reincarnation of Panchen Lama, Tibet's 2nd most senior spiritual leader. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 24 | Voters in Ireland narrowly approve a constitutional amendment legalizing divorce. (XDG, p 4A, 11/24/2000) | Ref: 83 |
| Dec 21 | The city of Bethlehem passed from Israeli to Palestinian control. | Ref: 70 |
- 1996
| Jan 27 | Catherine Roskam becomes the first New York female Episcopal bishop. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 16 | The world ended today according to the prediction of Irish Archbishop James Ussher. | Ref: 10 |
| Nov 27 | Catherine Roskam becomes the first New York female Episcopal bishop. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 23 | 4 women ordained priests in Jamaica, first in 330-year Anglican history. | Ref: 5 |
- 1997
| Jan 17 | A court in Ireland granted the first divorce in the Roman Catholic country's history. | Ref: 70 |
| Mar 26 | The bodies of 39 members of the Heaven's Gate techno-religious cult who'd committed suicide were found inside a mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 28 | A medical examiner revealed that some of the Heaven's Gate cult who'd committed suicide in a California mansion had also been castrated in an apparent pursuit of the group's ideal of androgynous immortality. (XDG, p. 4A, 3/28./2002) | Ref: 83 |
| Apr 08 | The Vatican chose Archbishop Francis George of Portland, Ore., to head the Archdiocese of Chicago, succeeding the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 04 | Hundreds of thousands of men attended a Promise Keepers rally on the Mall in Washington, D.C., in one of the largest religious gatherings in U.S. history. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 24 | First time a Channukah candle is officially lit in Vatican City | Ref: 5 |
- 1998
| Mar 21 | Pope John Paul II began a visit to Nigeria with the Vatican pressing the African nation's military regime to release dozens of prisoners, including prominent opposition figures and journalists. (XDG, p 4A, 3/21/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| Jul 14 | In Ballymoney, Northern Ireland, three young brothers who had been asleep in their beds burned to death in a sectarian attack. | Ref: 70 |
- 1999
| Jan 03 | Israeli authorities detain, then expel, 14 members of Concerned Christians, a Denver-based cult that Israeli officials feared was plotting violence in Jerusalem to bring about the Second Coming of Christ. (XDG, p 4A, 1/03/2004) | Ref: 83 |
- 2000
| Jan 07 | The 17th Karmapa, a 14-year-old Tibetan Buddhist leader, fled Chinese-ruled Tibet for India, becoming the most significant defector since his predecessor, the current Dalai Lama, in 1959. | Ref: 70 |
| Mar 19 | Uganda doomsday cult commits mass suicide in a church in Kanungu. Over 1,000 dead. | Ref: 95 |
| Mar 23 | Pope John Paul II paid his respects at Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust memorial. | Ref: 6 |
| May 11 | Pope John Paul the Second named Bishop Edward M. Egan of Bridgeport, Connecticut, the new head of the NY archdiocese, succeeding the late Cardinal John O'Connor. | Ref: 6 |
- 2001
| Jan 08 | Pope John Paul II was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. | Ref: 64 |
| Aug 05 | Afghanistan's ruling Taliban jails eight foreign aid workers, including two Americans, for allegedly preaching Christianity. The workers were rescued the following November as the Taliban regime collapsed during U.S. military operations. | Ref: 70 |
| Nov 13 | Bishop Wilton Gregory was elected the first black president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. | Ref: 70 |
- 2002
| Mar 01 | Under pressure from prosecutors, the Archdiocese of Boston agreed to turn over the names of people allegedly molested by priests. | Ref: 70 |
| Apr 23 | American cardinals opened an extraordinary meeting with top Vatican officials to discuss a sex abuse scandal rocking the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. | Ref: 70 |
| Apr 24 | After a meeting at the Vatican, American Roman Catholic leaders agreed to make it easier to remove priests who are guilty of sexually abusing minors. | Ref: 70 |
| May 19 | Boston Cardinal Bernard Law said in a letter distributed to parishes that he did not become aware of sexual abuse allegations against the Rev Paul Shanley until 1993. (XDG, p 4A, 5/19/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| Jun 13 | US Roman Catholic bishops held and extraordinary closed-door meeting in Dallas on the sex scandal that had shaken the church as they crafted a zero-tolerance policy for pedophile priests. (XDG, p 4A, 6/13/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| Jun 14 | American Roman Catholic bishops meeting in Dallas adopted a policy to bar sexually abusive clergy from face-to-face contact with parishioners but keep them in the priesthood. | Ref: 70 |
| Sep 24 | Gunmen storm a Hindu temple in the western Indian state of Gujarat, killing some 30 worshippers. (XDG, p 4A, 9/24/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| Nov 13 | U.S. Roman Catholic bishops overwhelmingly approved a compromise sex abuse policy after the Vatican demanded they make changes to balance fairness to priests with compassion for victims. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 03 | Thousands of personnel files released under a court order showed that the Archdiocese of Boston went to great lengths to hide priests accused of abuse, including clergy who allegedly snorted cocaine and had sex with girls aspiring to be nuns. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 13 | Cardinal Bernard Law resigned as Boston archbishop because of the priest sex abuse scandal. | Ref: 70 |
- 2003
| Oct 07 | Bernard Koth, president of Loyola University in New Orleans, resigned due to a church rule that states "if a sexual allegation involving a minor is credible, the accused should be removed immediately". Knoth denies allegations of misconduct at an alleged 1986 incident at Jesuit prep school in Indianapolis. There are no allegations pending from Loyola where Knoth has been president since 1995. (USA Today, p 3A, 10/08/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Nov 20 | In the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court of Judge Richard Niehaus, Archbishop Daniel E Pilarczyk pleads no contest to charges the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati failed to report child sexual abuse by priests, resulting in what is believed to be the nation's first criminal conviction of a Catholic diocese. (Dayton Daily News, p 1, 11/21/2003) | |
- 2004
| Feb 01 | At least 244 people die in a stampede at the annual hajj pilgrimage to Islam's holy sites in Saudi Arabia. (USA Today, p 6A, 2/02/2004) | Ref: 13 |
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Religion & Religious Persecution Chronology