-869 - The Fourth Constantinople (8th Ecumenical) Council opened under Pope Adrian II in the West and Emperor Basil I in the East. During its six sessions, the council condemned iconoclasm. It was the last ecumenical council held in the East.
1744 - 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.
1833 - Birth of William G. Tomer, American Civil War veteran and Methodist hymnwriter. It is to his tune, FAREWELL, that today we sing the hymn, "God Be With You Till We Meet Again."
1969 - Death of Harry Emerson Fosdick, 91. He pastored Riverside Church in New York City 1926-46, and authored the enduring hymn, "God of Grace and God of Glory."
1989 - Ten months after being indicted by a federal grand jury, 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.
© 1987-2009, William D. Blake. Used by permission of the author, from
Almanac of the Christian Church
