[Liberty students: While this timeline will give you a greater understanding of this time period, you are not responsible for the additional information on the quiz.
The quiz will only come from information in the textbook.]
1492
Columbus "discovered" the "new world."
Among his other reasons to explore, Columbus also had a Christian desire. To learn more, go here.
1493
In his second trip to the "new world," Columbus brought a Franciscan friar, Juan Perez. Perez celebrated the first Mass in the Americas in this year on the island of Hispaniola (current day Dominican Republic and Haiti).
The "discovery" of future USA by Europeans laid the groundwork for the vast number of Christian denominations in existence today. At this point in history in Europe, there was one church, the Catholic Church. (Several tiny groups of Christians existed who had separated from the Catholic Church, but were in hiding.) The 1500's experienced the Protestant Reformation: by the end of the 1600's five different Christian groups existed in Europe (Catholic, Lutheran, Anabaptist-related, Church of England, and Calvinist/Reformed). If Christianity had stayed in Europe it would have remained around that number. That changed when Christianity came to America, and mainly because of one difference: the vast amount of land in America. This is why: Europe was settled and, therefore, when these new groups formed during the Protestant Reformation, they had to carve out an area of previously held Catholic-land. But in American colonies, you could simply move to a new area and begin a new faith. That is exactly what Roger Williams did in the mid-1600s: the Puritans did not like his teachings in Massachusetts, so he simple moved beyond their control and started a Baptist church. Multiply that times many people with many different ideas about Christianity and a huge uncharted territory (USA) to expand in, and it equals a large number of Christian denominations in this new America. For a more detailed explanation, go here.
c. 1517
Bartolome de Las Casas became the first person to hold the title "Protector of the Indians." The violence against the Native Americans had become so great by this point that an advocate position was created in order for someone to speak on behalf of social concerns of the Native Americans, and that was Bartolome. He was a Dominican friar.
The forced conversion of Native Americans came from the Spanish Catholic branch of Christianity. This occurred for two reasons, which are interrelated. First, when the Spanish Catholic explorers came to the "New World," they claimed land as part of Spain. In essence, these lands were now an extension of Spain. Second, Spain (which were going through the Protestant Reformation) strongly encouraged (even in some places of using the Inquisition) people to remain Catholic. So it was important to be Catholic if you lived in Spain. Tie these two together, and the result is that whenever new land was added to Spain, the inhabitants needed to become Catholic. Therefore, the Native Americans now lived on Spanish land (according to the mindset of the explorers) and so needed to become Catholic.
1521
The first Mass on the mainland of present day USA was held in Florida by priests accompanying Ponce de Leon. He led an expedition to Florida in order to develop a settlement. The colony lasted less than a year.
1521
New Spain was created, with its capital in Mexico City. Eventually Spain claimed most of the present-day USA west of the Mississippi River and land along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi River to and including Florida. This land was now officially Catholic.
1535
New Spain: Cabeza de Vaca, a Spanish explorer in the New World, and three other men were the only survivors out of 300 men who had left Spain in 1527 and had landed in present-day Florida. He led them through part of the southeast of present-day USA and into present-day Mexico, where they were rescued. One of the three other men was Benitez, a Black man. He is the first Black person known to have come to present-day USA. In an odd twist of fate, the Indians several times made Cabeza de Vaca a slave.
1537
Pope Paul III issued the bull (official document) Sublimus Dei, which stated that the Native Americans are rational beings with souls. He also denounced slavery for Native Americans.
1540s
New France: Jacques Cartier explored the St. Lawrence River, located approximately at the border of present-day USA and Canada. This is the beginning of the development of New France. Eventually New France will include territory through the middle of present-day USA to the Gulf of Mexico.
1543
New Spain: Juan de Padilla, a Franciscan friar, became the first Christian martyr in America. Read his story here.
1607
Jamestown, Virginia was founded. It is the first permanent English settlement. Jamestown was not founded for religious reasons, but economic ones: nevertheless, a Church of England priest, Robert Hunt, accompanied the expedition.
1612
New Spain: San Agustin de la Isleta Mission was founded by Spanish Catholic Franciscans in present-day Bernalillo County, New Mexico. By 1629 it had become the seat of the Franciscan mission of San Antonio.
1619
The first permanent African slaves were brought to Virginia (app. 20 men). (Spanish explorers brought African slaves in the 1500s, but their colonies were short-lived and none existed by 1619.)
1620
Puritans established the Plymouth Colony. The Puritans, who wanted to purify the Church of England because they thought it resembled the Catholic Church too much, wanted to escape persecution and harassment.
To find out why Puritans are called Pilgrims, go here.
c. early 1600s
The Spanish build the Patale Mission in the panhandle of present-day Florida. This mission would evangelize (to Catholicism) Native Americans until it was defeated by the English in 1704.
1630
New Spain: By this year, the New Mexico area had 60,000 Native American Christians served by 50 priests/friars in 25 mission centers or churches.
1632
The colony of Maryland was established on paper in England, although the first colonists would not arrive in Maryland until 1634. The Calverts (who received the land from the king) wanted to establish a colony where Catholics felt welcome. While many Catholics did settle in Maryland and served many of the higher political offices, Protestants also settled in large numbers there.
1634
New Spain: Alonso de Benavides, a Franciscan friar, reported to the Pope that ten Franciscans had been killed in his area.
1636
Harvard University was founded by the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Originally the University was Puritan.
1638
Roger Williams founded the first Baptist Church in the USA in Rhode Island.
1640
The first printed book in the American colonies was book of Psalms, intended as a hymnbook, by the Puritans of Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1640s
New France: The Jesuits moved into the Great Lakes area (New France) and attempted to evangelize the Native Americans. Many Jesuits were killed.
c. 1650
New Spain: The Apache began raids on the Christian areas of present-day New Mexico.
c. 1650s
By this time, 35 Franciscans lived in Florida.
1656
The Halfway Covenant was developed to settle the first major church/theology problem in America: what do you do with those non-church members who want their infants baptized? Learn more here.
1680
New Spain: Pope (pronounced Poe-pay), a Native American, helped lead a revolt against the Spanish in present-day New Mexico. The Native Americans sought to return to their previous way of life and religion (rejecting Christianity). 1000 Spanish sought refuge in the Governor's Palace in Santa Fe and then escaped and fled to El Paso. 400 Spanish, including 21 priests, died in the conflict. (See 1692 below)
1681
William Penn acquired land from the English King Charles II and created Pennsylvania. Penn was a Quaker (Friend) and his colony established religious freedom as one of its principles. Many Christians from smaller denominations migrated to Pennsylvania because of this religious freedom; the most popularly known group were the Amish.
1688
Four Friends (Quakers) from Germantown, PN, issued "A Minute Against Slavery, Addressed to Germantown Monthly Meeting, 1688." This may be the first protest of African slavery in the Colonies.
1692
New Spain: Don Diego de Vargas, the Governor of New Mexico, returned to Santa Fe with a small army, surrounding the city and demanding the Pueblos to surrender, swear allegiance to the King of Spain, and become Catholic; all demands were met.
1692
The Salem Witch Trials occurred.
1693
New Spain: Some of the Pueblos in New Mexico changed their minds and recaptured Santa Fe. De Vargas returned with a Spanish force and retook the city; hundreds of Pueblo Native Americans were killed or executed.
1693 also
The College of William and Mary was founded. The Church of England in Virginia founded the school.
1701
Yale University founded by the Congregationalists.
1703
Jonathan Edwards born. He played a prominent role in the First Great Awakening, is known as the first great American theologian, and is one of the founders of Evangelicalism.
1705
Europe: Philip Jacob Spener died. He has been called the "Father of Pietism." His influences include the cell groups/small group Bible studies of today. To read more of him and the spiritual classic he wrote, go here.
1714
George Whitefield born. (pronounced "whit-field") He became an Anglican priest, helped in the founding of Methodism, was one of the cornerstones of the First Great Awakening and one of the founders of Evangelicalism.
1729
John and Charles Wesley established the "Holy Club" while at college. Whitefield was amongst the members. They were given the name of "Methodists" because they were disciplined in their Christian living; fellow students understood this as following a "method." To learn more, go here.
1730s
Whitefield began preaching in the open fields. He was not the first to do so, but he was the one who popularized the practice.
1730s & 1740s
The First Great Awakening (1GA). This revival movement was led by Jonathan Edwards, who defended it, and George Whitefield, who preached it. The 1GA produced new practices into Christianity: People became more emotional, often crying and weeping as they considered their spiritual state, and they sought conversion. Some Christians did not approve of this and so the 1GA also produced divisions. Those who approved were called "New Lights." Those who disapproved were called "Old Lights."
The First Great Awakening (1GA) helped spawn the American Revolution. Prior to the 1GA, the colonists did not view themselves as a unit, as a whole. Instead they were part of a colony or some other social or religious group. But the 1GA was the first mass movement which was felt (positively or negatively) throughout the colonies. It was the first time that colonists from Georgia to New England had a shared experience. In addition, the 1GA helped to introduce emotionalism and of the importance of following acting on your personal emotions. These two would be needed thirty years later as the colonists had to become angry together and decide to act together in order to break from the rule of England.
1740
Whitefield embarked on a preaching tour through all 13 colonies. He became so well-known that he has been called America's first celebrity. Benjamin Franklin estimated that he could be heard by 30,000 people at once. While on this tour, Whitefield employed open air preaching, used extemporaneous preaching and utlized his acting abilities. All three were new methods of preaching, with the latter two common in Evangelical churches today. To learn more about Whitefield, go here.
Edwards preached his most famous sermon: "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." To read a portion, go here.
1743
John Wesley's societies (home Bible studies) had grown so numerous that he decided to write "General Rules" for the "United Societies." This is the basis for the Methodist denomination which developed later.
1746
Edwards publishes Religious Affections. In this book he defends the emotionalism and conversions which are taking place.
Evangelicalism can be defined as the acceptance of the Bible as the sole authority for the Christian, the need to experience a conversion, emotionalism, and the need to share Jesus with others (evangelize). With this definition, Evangelicalism began in the First Great Awakening.
1746 also
Princeton University founded by New Light Presbyterians.
1750
A gathering of slaves began that eventually turned into the Silver Bluff Baptist Church, Beech Island, SC. It was the first slave gathering that formed into a church that has been discovered.
1754
Apocalypticism (the idea that Jesus will return to the earth, also known as the rapture) would play a prominent role in certain areas of Christianity in the middle and late 1800s. Yet even at this early stage Christians were wondering when it would take place. Charles Wesley (brother of John Wesley) wrote a letter in this year in which he "proved" that Jesus would come back in 1793. To learn more, click here.
1758
Jonathan Edwards died.
1758 also
One of the first known slave congregations was founded on the plantation of William Byrd III in Mecklenburg County, Virginia. It was known as the African Baptist or Bluestone church.
1760
The Anglican Church opened the first school for slave children in Virginia; it was located in Williamsburg. Among the topics was learning to read the Bible and learning the catechism of the Anglican Church.
1770
George Whitefield died. He preached an estimated 18,000 sermons, including four on the day before he died.
1771
Francis Asbury (Methodist) moved to the American colonies.
1776
Declaration of Independence. Beginning of the American Revolution.
1783
England declared defeat in the American Revolution and acknowledged the independence of the United States of America.
1783 also
In England, Robert Raikes published details about a new idea he called "Sunday school." The first Sunday school in the USA occurred in Virginia in 1785. For more information, go here.
1784
Junipero Serra died. He was the leading Franciscan friar who worked to established missions in present-day California. From the year he entered California, approximately in 1768, to 1845, 146 Franciscan friars worked to established 21 missions in California.
1784
The Christmas Conference of the Methodists. The beginning of the Methodist denomination in the USA. Methodists had been in America for decades, but this Conference produced two American bishops, Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke, and a framework for working in the USA.
1787
USA Constitution adopted.
1787 also
Free blacks Richard Allen, Absalom Jones, and others left St George Methodist Church in Philadelphia after they were asked to move from the white section during a prayer. Allen purchased a piece of property on which to build a new church. The free blacks began to meet together. See 1794 for more information.
1788
The First Colored Baptist Church in Savannah, GA, is constituted.
1791
John Wesley died.
1794
The free blacks under Richard Allen purchased a blacksmith shop and moved it to the property Allen had purchased in 1787; they began having worship services there and called it Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church. (At that time Methodists were called Methodist Episcopals.) Bishop Francis Asbury dedicated Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. Richard Allen was the pastor. This would one day be the mother church of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the largest African-American denomination today. To learn more about this denomination, click here.
1794 also
Eight Russian Orthodox monks arrived at Kodiak Island, Alaska. At that time Russia owned Alaska. These eight were the first Orthodox believers in the Americas.
1800
James McGready and other Presbyterian ministers preached for 4 days on the border of Tennessee and Kentucky. This revival (15,000 people) is considered the first revival of the Second Great Awakening.
1801
Revival at Cane Ridge, KY. This was the first large revival of the Second Great Awakening. An estimated 20,000 people attended. Camp meetings such as these would become a prominent frontier feature of the Second Great Awakening. Typically these occurred at the end of the harvest season with farm families traveling great distances to gather for a week or more. These camp meetings were a time of spiritual reflection after a summer when many did not get to church often or at all, but were also times of rest, getting together with family members, courting (for a spouse), and just general "vacation" time. But the overarching purpose was the revival. To see a great hand-drawn map of an 1809 revival campmeeting from an eyewitness, click here.
Whereas the First Great Awakening (of the 1700s) began in the urban areas and moved to the frontier, the Second Great Awakening (2GA) began in the frontier of the West (meaning Kentucky and Tennessee) and moved to the urban east. The 2GA was different than the 1GA in a number of other ways: use of camp meetings, more pronounced use of emotions (crying, running, rolling, barking, shouting, etc.), introduction of the anxious bench (Charles Finney; precursor to the altar call of today), increased conversion of slaves, use of large tents, rise of the Baptists and Methodists, and proliferation of societies (volunteer organizations whose purpose was to improve society; for example, Temperance or restraining from drinking alcohol which would eventually lead to Prohibition). One gradual change which fully occurred at the end of the century: a movement toward directing services so that people were brought to a state of spiritual crisis instead of waiting on God to direct it.
1802
Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter which contained the phrase "a wall of separation between church and state." To learn more about this letter and to read it in full, go here.
1805
Joseph Smith, Jr., born. He founded the Mormons.
1808
The USA bans the importation of slaves. This does not end the internal slave trade, but slaves can no longer legally be brought into the USA.
1814
New Harmony, Indiana, established as a utopian community. During the late 1700s to early 1900s over 100 of these communities developed; these groups peaked in the mid-1800s. The purpose was to separate from society and form a self-sustaining Christian community. All of these died out except for two: The Shakers (three members in 2022) and the Mormons. To learn more and read a short list of some of these communities, go here.
1814 also
The Triennial Convention was the first Baptist Convention in the USA. Baptists as a denomination (or denominations) date from this year.
1816
The African Methodist Episcopal denomination was formed by separating from the Methodist Episcopla denomination. It is the first independent black denomination. To learn more about the formation of this denomination, click here.
1824
The Sunday School Union was formed in Pennsylvania.
1825
Charles Finney began a decade of highly successful revivals. He introduced what would be called "New Measures" to the Second Great Awakening: the "anxious bench" (in which those who showed a spiritual struggle were directed to come sit in the front of the church; the precursor to the altar call), women prayed and testified in the meetings, the meetings met at "unseasonable hours" (for long periods and late at night), entire communities aided in preparing and hosting the revivals. To read more about Finney and the New Measures, go here.
Picture of Charles Finney.
He had a piercing glare.
Many people became Christian during the Second Great Awakening. Combine this with the idea of a new nation with very little restrictions or laws governing many aspects of a person's life, and you end up with Societies. Many Christians looked around at their new country and decide to improve different aspects by forming Societies. Examples of Societies include abolition (free slaves), temperance (reduce alcohol consumption), missions, education, Sabbath observance peace, prison reform, Sunday school, and women's rights organizations. These will have varying degrees of success. For example, the Temperance Movement will eventually help lead to Prohibition and the decision by some denominations to switch from wine to grape juice during Communion. (To learn more about this, go here.)
1830
Joseph Smith published The Book of Mormon. In the 1820s he claimed to have found gold tablets written in an unknown language and special glasses so that he could read the gold tablets. He finally published the translation in this year. He said the angel Moroni took the gold tablets back to heaven.
1830
In reflection of the tremendous interest and involvement in Christianity produced by the Second Great Awakening, between 1790 and 1830 over 600 religious magazines were started.
1831
Between 1829 and 1831, the American Bible Society printed and distributed one million Bibles. During this middle part of the century, the American Tract Society will print the equivalent of 5 pages of tracts per person.
1831 also
The Nat Turner Rebellion. Nat Turner led a rebellion in rural southeastern Virginia which killed 60 white people. It was eventually defeated by the white militia and Turner caught and hanged. Because of this rebellion most southern states enacted laws restricting the rights and freedoms of slaves and even free blacks. The right to gather without a white presence, the ability to save money, the ability to purchase one's freedom, the ability to read and write, all these were curtailed after the Turner Rebellion. [author's note: The South which most people think of when they think about the way the slaves were treated developed after the Turner Rebellion; this period is also called the Antebellum Period
1834
William Carey died in India. He is known as the Father of Modern Missions. To learn more, go here.
1835
Finney ended his revivals and became a professor at Oberlin College.
1837
The Presbyterians split into the Old School Presbyterians and New School Presbyterians. The issue was how to incorporate the new ideas that had developed in large part due to the Second Great Awakening.
1839
By this time, Joseph Smith and his Mormon followers have moved to Nauvoo, IL. They intend to stay here, and they began building a Temple.
1840
The Methodist denomination is the largest Christian group in the USA.
1843
The Wesleyan Methodist denomination was formed.
1844
Joseph Smith murdered. Brigham Young became the leader of the Mormons and they began the long trek to Salt Lake City. At that time Salt Lake City was in Mexico, therefore the Mormons were trying to leave the country. In 1848, at the end of the Mexican-American War, this area (south to the Rio Grande River) became American property.
1844 also
The Methodists split. The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was formed. In 1939 several smaller Methodist denominations (including this one) will merge and lose the "Episcopal" part of the name, forming the Methodist Church. And in 1968 they will join with the Evangelical United Brethren Church to form the United Methodist Church.
1844 also
March 21: the date William Miller set for Jesus to return to earth. Thousands gathered at different locations to await being raptured. Nothing happened. He then set October 22 as the new date. Thousands gathered at different locations to away being raptured. Nothing happened. Nevertheless, many of Miller's followers form different Adventist denominations, the largest (today) is the Seventh-day Adventist church. To learn more about why Miller chose 1844, click here.
1845
The Baptists in the South withdraw from the Baptist denomination and form the Southern Baptist Convention.
1851
The first Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) was formed in Boston. The YMCA began in England in 1844.
1853
Hudson Taylor made his first trip to China. He founded the China Inland Mission.
1857
The New School Presbyterians split north and south over the slavery issue.
1859
Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species.
1859 also
John Brown led a raid on the US armory in Harpers Ferry. He was unsuccessful but this raid played a role in causing the Civil War.
1861
The Old School Presbyterians split north and south over the slavery issue.
1861-65
The Civil War.
The 50 years after the Civil War experienced many innovations which American Christianity would struggle with: the issue of evolution and geological studies questioned the Genesis account of creation, higher criticism of the Bible questioned the validity of some biblical stories and concepts, the rising fields of sociology and psychology questioned the spiritual aspect of humans and reduced religion to a social phenomenon, and comparative religious studies questioned the validity of Christianity as the sole method for reaching God.
1863
The Seventh-day Adventist denomination is formed. Being adventist, they focus on the return of Jesus, and being seventh-day they believe the proper worship day for Christians is Saturday.
1872
Dwight Moody begins to rise to prominence as an evangelist.
1877
Reconstruction ended with the Compromise of 1877. Reconstruction tried to integrate the blacks into society in the South. This ended with the Compromise of 1877 which caused whites to gain much more power in the South and led to Jim Crow laws.
late 1870s
Charles Taze Russell founded the Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society. This group eventually formed into the Jehovah's Witnesses.
1880
The Salvation Army first appeared in the USA. It was formed in London, England, in 1865.
1886
The National Baptist Convention is formed. Today it is the largest African-American Baptist denomination.
1894
The Church of God in Christ (African American) denomination is formed. Today it is the largest African-American Pentecostal denomination.
1895
The National Baptist Convention, USA (African American) is formed.
1901
January 1: A group of students from the Bethel Bible College in Topeka, KS, gathered on December 31 to pray in the new year and to try to understand Acts 2 and speaking in tongues. After midnight, Agnes Ozmen began speaking in tongues. Others in the group began to speak in tongues afterwards. This is the beginning of the Pentecostal Movement.
1906-9
William Seymour held a Pentecostal Revival at the Azusa Street Mission, Los Angeles. This revival popularized the Pentecostal movement.
early 1900s
In response to the perceived attacks on Christianity (see the list at the end of the 1800s), many denominations began drawing up lists of beliefs which were they believed were unassailable. For example, in 1910 the General Assembly of the Northern Presbyterian Church published a "Doctrinal Deliverance" which listed five required beliefs: the inerrancy (no mistakes) of the Bible, the virgin birth of Christ, his sacrifice for sins on the cross, his bodily resurrection, and his miracles.
1910 also
The 1910 World/Edinburgh Missionary Conference held. Some consider this the beginning of the ecumenical movement. Representatives from many different denominations gathered to discuss commonalities and purposes.
1910-1915
Publication of The Fundamentals. This twelve-volume series included articles which defended many of the basic Christian ideas and doctrines which had come under attack. Three million free copies were sent out.
1914-18
World War I
1918
Billy Graham born.
1920
The word "fundamentalist" is coined.
1922
The Soviet Union formed. It was the first nation whose goals include the elimination of religion.
1925
Scopes "Monkey" Trial. John Scopes was arrested for teaching evolution in Tennessee, which had a law against teaching evolution in public schools. At the trial he was found guilty but the verdict was overturned because of a technicality. The main result from the trial was that those who were fundamentalists were painted as ignorant and against education in the press. Therefore the fundamentalists, who knew they were rejected and even mocked in the public opinion, turned to building Bible colleges, focused on the churches, and producing their own literature. They would again gain the nation's attention with the Moral Majority of the 1980s.
1939
Several smaller Methodist denominations merged and formed the Methodist Church.
1939-45
World War II.
1942
Wycliffe Bible Translators is founded.
1945
The Christian Airmen's Aviation Fellowship was formed. This would eventually be renamed as Mission Aviation Fellowship.
1948
The World Council of Churches was founded. The various denominations represent over 500 million people.
1948
Israel became a nation.
1949
Billy Graham's breakthrough revival in Los Angeles; this propelled him to national attention.
1950
The Missionaries of Charity, Mother Teresa's Order, approved.
1951
Bill Bright founded Campus Crusade for Christ (now CRU). This is one of the largest Evangelical organizations in the USA.
1956
Billy Graham and others began Christianity Today.
c. 1960
The Charismatic Movement began.
1962-5
Vatican II. This Council of the Catholic Church focused on modernizing many of the Catholic Church's practices. For example, the Mass (worship service) prior to Vatican II was in Latin, after Vatican II it was held in the local language.
1963
Pope John XXIII died. Pope Paul VI became pope.
1964
Pope Paul VI met with Ecumenical (Greek Orthodox) Patriarch Athenagoras in Jerusalem. The two agreed to set aside the excommunication of 1054 between the Eastern and Western Churches. The schism did not end, but this meeting did signify an increased fellowship between the two Churches.
1966
Ralph Carmichael is known as the Father of Contemporary Christian Music; he founded Light Records, a music publishing company, in this year to promote a new style of music. This music would become known as Contemporary Christian Music.
1967
Bill Gaither quit his job teaching English to focus on producing Christian music full-time.
1968
The United Methodist Church is formed when the Evangelical United Brethren Church and the Methodist Church merge.
1969
The first year for the Dove Awards.
1971
Liberty University founded as Lynchburg Baptist College by Jerry Falwell, Sr.
1973
The New International Version of the New Testament is published.
1975
Bill Hybels founded Willow Creek Community Church. This is considered one of the first churches to use the megachurch model (using a business model to run the church, using cell groups or in-home Bible studies, have 2000+ members, etc.)
1976
Jimmy Carter, the first president who claimed to have been born again, elected president.
1978
The New International Version of the Old Testament is published.
1978 also
Pope Paul VI died (6 Aug).
Pope John Paul became pope (26 Aug).
Pope John Paul I died (28 Sep).
Pope John Paul II became pope (16 Oct).
1980
Rick Warren founded Saddleback Church.
1982
The New King James Version Bible is published.
1990
The Soviet Union fell.
1997
Mother Teresa died.
1999
Joel Osteen became the senior pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, TX. Today it is the largest church in America with over 47,000 members and millions who watch on television.
2004
Rockbridge Seminary, one of the first totally online seminaries, founded.
2005
Pope John Paul II died. Pope Benedict XVI became pope.
2013
Pope Benedict XVI resigned. Pope Francis I became pope.
