January 3
1521 Martin Luther was excommunicated
by the papal bull
Decet Romanum Pontificem issued by Pope Leo X.
1537 Luther and other theologians
delivered a position statement to Elector John Frederick of Saxony that
resulted in the
Smalcald Articles.
1540
Kaspar Bienemann, hymnist, was born (d. 12 September 1591,
Altenburg).
1559
Matthäius Ratzeberger, Luther's physician and friend died (b.
1501 at Wangen, near Stuttgart, Württemberg).
1785 The
Methodist Christmas Conference concluded in Baltimore,
Maryland, having created the Methodist Episcopal Church in America and
elected Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke its first two general
superintendents.
1816
Frederick William Conrad was born in Pine Grove, Pennsylvania
(d. 10 April 1898).
1830
Alexander C. Ewing, composer, was born in Aberdeen, Scotland
(d. 11 January 1895, Taunton).
1831
Christoph Ludwig Eberhardt, Michigan Synod missionary and
president, was born in Lauffen, Wuerttemberg (d. 27 April 1893).
1837
Friedrich August Schmid(t), the Norwegian Synod professor at
Concordia Seminary (Saint Louis) who later taught at Luther Seminary
(Northfield, Minnesota) and at Augsburg Seminary of the United
Norwegian Lutheran Church, was born in Leutenberg, Thuringia (d. 15
March 1928).
1840 Father
Damien (Joseph de Veuster), Roman Catholic missionary to
Hawaii, was born at Tremelo, Belgium (d. 15 April 1889).
1844
Johann Ludwig Krapf (1810–1881)
arrived in Mombasa to establish an East African mission.
1884 E.
Stanley Jones, Methodist missionary, was born in Clarksville,
Maryland (d. 25 January 1973, India).
1892 Literature professor J. R.
R. Tolkien, author of the Lord of the Rings
trilogy and a devout Catholic, was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa
(d. 2 September 1973, Oxford).
1903 Henry
J. Pye, hymnist, died in England (b. ca. 1825).
1908
Gustav Adolf Theodor Felix Hönecke, professor at the
Wisconsin Synod seminary in Watertown, Wisconsin, died at Wauwatosa,
Wisconsin (b. 25 February 1835, Brandenburg, Saxony, Prussia).
1915
Georg Schick, professor of ancient languages at Concordia
College (Fort Wayne, Indiana), died (b. 25 February 1831 at Homburg vor
der Höhe, Hessen-Homburg, Germany).
1918
Annie Sherwood Hawks (b. 28 May 1836, Hoosick, New York),
American Baptist hymn writer, died.
1929
Simon Peter Long, professor and president of Chicago Lutheran
Bible School, died (b. 7 October 1860 at McZena, near Loudonville,
Ashland Co., Ohio).
1934 The
Barmen Theses were adopted by opponents of Adolf Hitler,
stressing the need to submit to God rather than to depend on humanity.
1958
Blanche Kerr Brock (b. 3 February 1888, Greenfork, Indiana),
American sacred music artist, died.
1980 Thomas Coates, president of
Concordia College (Portland, Oregon) and professor at Concordia Senior
College (Fort Wayne, Indiana), Japan Lutheran Seminary (Tokyo), Yonsei
University and Lutheran Theological Academy (Seoul, Korea) and
Concordia Theological Seminary (Hong Kong), died (b. 1 October 1910,
Oakland, California).
1984
Jacob Gartenhaus (b. 15 January 1896, Austria), founder and
first president of the International Board of Jewish Missions, Inc.,
died.
2000 Fred J. Pankow, missionary and
long-time Hispanic-ministry worker, died in Edwardsville, Illinois (b.
8 April 1923, Hankenson, North Dakota). Pankow retired from full-time
service in 1988 after nine years as coordinator of Hispanic ministries
for the International Lutheran Laymen’s
League, where he supervised and coordinated Hispanic radio, television
and print ministries in the United States. Prior to joining the ILLL
staff, Pankow served three years as features editor of The
Lutheran Witness. From 1968 to 1975 he served as secretary
for Latin America with the Missouri Synod mission board and also as
acting secretary for Africa during 1974–1976.
Pankow also served as coordinator of Spanish work in New York City for
the Atlantic District, 1961–1968;
as pastor of a Mexican-American congregation in Houston, 1956–1961; and as
a missionary to Cuba, 1949–1956.
