0325 - The Council of Nicea closed. Regarded as the first 'ecumenical council,' its 300 attending bishops drafted the Nicene Creed and fixed the formula for Easter Sunday.
1741 - English revivalist George Whitefield wrote in a letter: 'Your extremity shall be God's opportunity.'
1845 - Canadian-born Catholic missionary Francois Blanchet was consecrated bishop of the Pacific Northwest. He devoted 45 years to planting churches, and is remembered today as the 'Apostle of Oregon.'
1899 - Birth of Stuart K. Hine. While an English missionary to the Ukraine, Hine pennedthe English words to an oft-sung Swedish hymn, known today as 'How Great Thou Art.'
1968 - Pope Paul VI published the encyclical 'Humanae Vitae.' It restated the Catholicposition on the family, and condemned all artificial methods of birth control.
© 1987-2011, William D. Blake. Used by permission of the author, from
Almanac of the Christian Church
