June 14 in Christian History

Jun 14, 2007 08:51 AM EDT

June 14

1715: Robert Norden became licensed pastor of the Baptist congregation in Prince George County -- the first Baptist church organized within the American colony of Virginia.

1940: Auschwitz, largest of the Nazi concentration camps, was first opened near Krakow, Poland. Before its liberation by the Allies in 1945, over 3 million Jews would be exterminated there.

1956: President Eisenhower signed a congressional resolution which added the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance. The last phrase now reads: "...one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

1966: The Vatican announced that its Index of Prohibited Books (created by Pope Paul IV in 1557) had been abolished.

1984: The Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution opposing the ordination of women for ministry in the Baptist Church.

Source: William D. Blake. Almanac of the Christian Church, Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.