December 20, 1326
Death of Peter, Metropolitan of Moscow and all Russia. He had moved his see from Vladimir to Moscow the year before. Later he will be proclaimed a patron saint of Moscow.
December 20, 1560
The First General Assembly of the Church of Scotland meets in Edinburgh. Its purpose is, “To consult upon those things which are to forward God’s glory and the well-being of His Kirk.”
December 20, 1803
Death at Newport, Rhode Island, of theologian Samuel Hopkins who had modified Calvinism. He had also been one of the first clergymen in America to free his slaves and denounce the system of slavery.
December 20, 1846
William Walsham Howe is ordained a deacon in the Church of England. He will go on to become a notable bishop and hymn writer.
December 20, 1877
As Ahmed Fahmi, a recent convert from Islam to Christianity, leaves the Presbyterian mission compound in Cairo, Egypt, where he has been teaching Arabic to missionaries, he is kidnapped by his family. He will be held for five weeks. Afterward he studies in Scotland and becomes a missionary to China.
December 20, 1908
Death of Father John of Kronstadt (John Sergiev), a Russian Orthodox priest greatly beloved for his charity and wisdom. “The enemy of our salvation especially strives to draw our heart and mind away from God when we are about to serve Him, and endeavours to adulterously attach our heart to something irrelevant.”
December 20, 1909
William Temple, who will become Archbishop of Canterbury, is made deacon of Canterbury Cathedral. He is an advocate of the common man and active in social issues but still unsure of the doctrine of the resurrection.
December 20, 1934
Death in New York City of Sarah “Adelaide” Addison Pollard, an evangelistic worker and missionary to Africa, noted for her hymn “Have Thine Own Way Lord,” written when her missionary plans were stymied. She dies of a ruptured appendix.
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