December 27

Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist

1555 Johann Arndt, devotional writer, was born in Edderitz near Ballenstedt am Harz (d. 11 May 1621, Celle).

1719 Joshua von Kocherthal, early Lutheran pastor in New York, died (b. ca. 1669/70).

1742 Henry Melchior Muhlenberg (1711–1787)was recognized as the duly appointed pastor of the Lutheran churches in America at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Philadelphia.

1784 In Baltimore, Maryland, at the first general conference held in America, Francis Asbury (1745–1816) was ordained the first American bishop of the Methodist Church.

1797 Charles Hodge, the leading American Reformed theologian of the nineteenth century, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1878).

1800 Sir John Goss, composer, was born at Fareham, Hants, England (d. 10 May 1880, London, England).

1809 John Edgar Freedom, Presbyterian missionary to India, was born in New York City (d. 13 June 1857).

1835 August Rohrlack, Missouri Synod secretary, was born in Neu-Ruppin, Prussia, Germany (d. 26 November 1913).

1846 August Friedrich Craemer (1812–1891) baptized the first Chippewa Indians as part of the Lutheran mission effort in Michigan.

1855 Josiah Conder, hymnist, died at Hampstead, Middlesex, England (b. 17 September 1789, Falcon Street, London).

1869 The composing room at Concordia Publishing House (on the campus of Concordia Seminary in Saint Louis) was put into operation.

1870 Walter Erich Koehler, German church historian, was born at Elberfeld, Germany (d. 1946).

1875 Lars Wilhelm Boe, Norwegian Lutheran church leader, was born in Calumet, Michigan (d. on the same date, 1942).

1877 The first Lutheran Diet in America was held in Philadelphia (through 28 December).

1893 Samuel ("Sam") Shoemaker, American Episcopal clergyman and writer who helped Alcoholics Anonymous develop its Twelve Steps formula, was born in Baltimore, Maryland (d. 30 October 1963, Baltimore).

1894 Herman Ottoman Alfred Keinath, professor at Concordia Teachers College (Seward, Nebraska) and at Concordia Teachers College (River Forest, Illinois), was born in Richville, Michigan (d. 13 June 1952).

1898 The Third Lutheran Diet in America was held in Philadelphia (through 29 December).

1899 American temperance leader Carry Nation (1846–1911) raided and wrecked her first saloon in Medicine Lodge, Kansas.

1902 Richard F. Weymouth (b. 1822), English Baptist philologist and New Testament scholar, died.

1931 Peter C. Lutkin (b. 27 March 1858, Thompsonville, Wisconsin), American Episcopal choral director and organist, died at Evanston, Illinois.

1937 Cyrus S. Nusbaum (b. 27 July 1861, Middlebury, Indiana), American Methodist clergyman and hymnist, died in Wichita, Kansas.

1942 Lars Wilhelm Boe died (see above under 1875).

1947 John W. Boehne, congressman, member of the Missouri Synod Board of Directors and founder of the Lutheran Laymen's League, died (b. 28 October 1856).

1963 Frederick Roth Webber died in Mount Vernon, New York (b. 26 January 1887, Decatur, Illinois). He graduated from the Lutheran School of Theology (Maywood, Illinois) in 1914 and was ordained in Racine, Wisconsin, in June of that year, accepting a call from the First Lutheran Church (Beloit, Wisconsin). From 1915 to 1917 he was a missionary to stations and congregations in Wisconsin and Chicago. In 1918 he accepted a call from Faith Lutheran Church (Cleveland, Ohio) and remained there until 1937. He served on the Architectural Committee of the English District of the Missouri Synod, writing articles for various periodicals. In 1927 he published his magnum opus, Church Symbolism. He also wrote the three-volume History of Preaching in Britain and America. He spent much of his time with archeological research in England.

1964 Saint John Lutheran School, Rennie’s Mill, Hong Kong, was dedicated.

1986 Hulda A. Maier, widow of Walter A. Maier Sr., founder and first speaker for The Lutheran Hour radio broadcast, died on her 96th birthday. Her husband died in 1950, shortly after the couple had marked twenty-five years of marriage. Throughout their marriage, Hulda Maier took an active role in her husband's career as editor, professor, author, internationally known radio speaker and counselor.