Eve of the Nativity of Our Lord Today in History (December 24): 1784 Christmas Conference at Baltimore for the purpose of forming the Methodist Episcopal Church; Methodism was officially organized; Francis Asbury was consecrated the first Methodist bishop in America a few days later; the Methodist church did not officially separate from the Church of England, however, until 1791 1784 American statesman James Madison published his famous _Remonstrances Against Religious Assessments_ in Virginia; this document advocated the separation of church and state, which became a growing ideal in the new American nation 1869 Henry Bernard Hemmeter, president and professor at Conover; president of Concordia Seminary - Springfield; born in Baltimore, Maryland; graduated from St. Louis Seminary in 1892; [More details available] 1870 Death of Albert Barnes (b. 1798), American Presbyterian clergyman and Bible expositor; he pastored at Morristown, New Jersey, from 1825-30 and at the First Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia from 1830-67; he was examined by the Second Presbytery in Philadelphia in 1835 for espousing an unlimited atonement; although he was acquitted, his ideas became the catalyst for the 1837 split in the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.; [More details available] 1871 The Northside Tabernacle in Chicago was dedicated by Dwight L. Moody; this tabernacle became the original structure of what is today the Moody Memorial Church 1881 Adolph Theodore Esaias Haentzschel, professor, author, born in Addison, Illinois 1895 Edmund Bohm, assistant pastor of St. Matthew's, New York City; first director of Concordia Institute, Hawthorne (now Bronxville), New York; died If you wish to use these items, please get permission. Permission to post TIH items on LUTHERAN-ROOTS was received from Marvin A. Huggins, C.A., Associate Director Concordia Historical Institute (314)505-7921 801 De Mun Avenue FAX: (314)505-7901 St. Louis, MO 63105-3168 mhuggins@chi.lcms.org Web Page: http://chi.lcms.org/ for today, John Birkholz brotherjohn@imt.net 963 McIver Road Great Falls, MT 59404