November 11

Martin of Tours, Pastor

Born into a pagan family in what is now Hungary around the year A.D. 316, Martin grew up in Lombardy (Italy). Coming to the Christian faith as a young person, he began a career in the Roman army. But sensing a call to a church vocation, Martin left the military and became a monk, affirming that he was “Christ’s soldier.” Eventually, Martin was named bishop of Tours in western Gaul (France). He is remembered for his simple lifestyle and his determination to share the Gospel throughout rural Gaul. Incidentally, on Saint Martin’s Day in 1483 the one-day-old son of Hans and Margarette Luther was baptized and given the name “Martin.” [From “Commemorations Biographies,” Lutheran Service Book, LCMS Commission on Worship]

1215 The Fourth Lateran Council was convened by Pope Innocent III (ca. 1161–1216), meeting until 30 November.

1417 The Council of Constance, by making Martin V (ca. 1368–1431) pope, ended the long-lasting Western papal schism.

1491 Martin Bucer, German Protestant theologian and reformer, was born (d. 28 February 1551).

1561 Hans Tausen, Danish Lutheran leader, died (b. 1494).

1620 The Mayflower Compact was adopted by the Pilgrims.

1679 Firmin Abauzit, French Reformed scholar of Huguenot parentage, was born in Uzes, Languedoc (d. 1767).

1778 Anne Steele, hymnist, died (b. May 1716).

1793 Missionary William Carey (1761–1834) arrived at Calcutta.

1843 Samuel Alfred Ort was born in Lewistown, Pennsylvania (d. 6 January 1911).

1855 Søren Aabye Kierkegaard, Danish Lutheran theologian and philosopher, died at Copenhagen (b. 5 May 1813).

1868 Richard Wilhelm Heintze librarian at Concordia Seminary (Saint Louis, Missouri) from 1926 to 1936, was born in Berlin, Germany (d. 23 March 1937).

1893 Paul Martin Bretscher, professor at Concordia Seminary (Saint Louis, Missouri) from 1941 until 1969, was born in Wausau, Wisconsin (d. 10 August 1974).

1908 The Synod of Central Canada was organized at Toronto.

1917 The United Lutheran Church in America was approved by the United Synod in the South at Salisbury, North Carolina. The merger occurred in 1918.

1921 P. T. (Peter Taylor) Forsyth (b. 1842), English Congregational clergyman and theologian, died.

1947 Martin Dibelius (b. 14 September 1883), German Lutheran New Testament scholar, died.

1985 Philip Fry, president of the Manitoba and Saskatchewan District of the Missouri Synod from 1970 to 1978, died in Regina, Saskatchewan. He had also been vice-president in that district and in Nebraska. Fry graduated from Concordia Seminary (Saint Louis) in 1937 and was also pastor of congregations in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta; Yorkton and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; and Beatrice, Nebraska. He retired in 1978. In his earlier years, Fry was a district Walther League president.

1992 The Church of England votes to allow women to become priests.