March 22 in Christian History

Mar 22, 2009 03:27 PM EDT

1621 - In colonial Massachusetts, the Plymouth Colony made a treaty with the neighboring Indians which both sides kept for fifty years.


1819 - Birth of Joseph P. Webster, American sacred music writer. During his lifetime, Webster composed over 1,000 pieces of music, including the still-popular hymn tune SWEET BY AND BY ("There's a Land That is Fairer Than Day").


1836 - Birth of Edgar P. Stites, American Methodist frontier preacher and missionary. Stites is remembered today as author of the hymns "Beulah Land" and "Trusting Jesus."


1874 - The first meeting of the newly established Young Men's Hebrew Association was held in New York City. Other early "Y's" were founded in Philadelphia (1875), St. Louis (1880) and San Francisco (1885). (The YMHA became the forerunner of the modern Jewish Community Center.)


1930 - Birthday of Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson, religious broadcaster, politician and founder in 1963 of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN).


© 1987-2009, William D. Blake. Used by permission of the author, from

Almanac of the Christian Church