Jan. 31 in Christian History

By GH Newsroom

1538 - French reformer John Calvin wrote in a letter: 'I pray the Lord to keep you in His holy protection, and so to direct you that you may not go astray in that slippery path whereon you are, until He shall have manifested to you His complete deliverance.'

1752 - The profession ceremony for Sister St. Martha Turpin was held at Ursuline Convent in New Orleans, LA. She was the first American-born woman to become a nun in the Catholic Church.

1839 - Two months before his premature death at age 39, Church of Scotland clergyman Robert Murray McCheyne wrote in a letter: 'Is not a Christian's darkest hour calmer than the world's brightest?'

1911 - In Falcon, NC, the Fire-Baptized Holiness Church (FBHC) and the Pentecostal Holiness Church (PHC) officially merged. In 1915, the Tabernacle Pentecostal Church (TPC) joined the merger. In 1975, the name of this body officially became the International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPHC).

1949 - American missionary and Auca Indian martyr Jim Elliot wrote in his journal: 'One does not surrender a life in an instant - that which is lifelong can only be surrendered in a lifetime.'

© 1987-2011, William D. Blake. Used by permission of the author, from

Almanac of the Christian Church

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