1812 - 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).
1907 - Pius X issued the encyclical "Pascendi dominici gregis," in which he condemned the "modernist" movement within the various branches of Christendom. The document also established councils to combat these "modern errors."
1938 - The movie "Boys Town" was first released by MGM studios. Starring Spencer Tracy, the award-winning film depicted the founding of the famous vocational institution in Nebraska in 1917 by parish priest Father Edward J. Flanagan, 31.
1940 - 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.
1974 - American Presbyterian missionary Francis Schaeffer wrote in a letter: 'Only the one who has been hurt can bring healing. The other person cannot. It is the one who has been hurt who has to be willing to be hurt again to show love, if there is to be hope that healing will come.'
© 1987-2008, William D. Blake. Used by permission of the author, from Almanac of the Christian Church
