by Peter James | Jul 4, 2024 | Byron Sunderland
It was a typical hot, muggy day in Washington, DC., when President Lincoln called the 37th Congress into emergency session on Tuesday, July 4, 1861. Confederate troops were advancing toward the capital, and many feared an assault was imminent. Confederate forces had...
by Peter James | Jul 3, 2024 | Old Gallican Sacramentary
The Catacomb of Callixtus in Rome was used as an underground burial chamber for Christians during the third century AD. It was also a place where they congregated for worship to avoid detection since Roman soldiers considered it haunted and stayed away. The catacomb...
by Peter James | Jul 2, 2024 | Soren Kierkegaard
The geese went to church each Sunday. They listened attentively to the sermon preached from a huge pulpit, where the old Gander exhorted his flock that the Creator intended a greater purpose for them. They were given wings to enable them to fly. They were most pleased...
by Peter James | Jul 1, 2024 | Mary Herbert
Most of the singing in churches during the late Middle Ages was done by clergy and trained choirs, while the congregation sang only on rare occasions. One contribution of the Reformation was the recovery of congregational singing. The reformers regarded that singing...
by Peter James | Jun 30, 2024 | Absalom Jones
Among the artifacts at the Smithsonian African American Museum is Absalom Jones’ (1747-1818) sermon from January 1, 1808. Congress had just passed the Act to Prohibit the Importation of Slaves, making it illegal to transport people of color to the states to sell...
