All Places

Place where John & Abigail Adams, and John Quincy & Louisa Catherine Adams worshipped and are buried.   Of interest is a letter from John to Abigail about his thoughts on church:   Phyladelphia Octr. 9, 1774 My Dear I am wearied to Death with the Life I lead. The Business of the Congress is tedious, beyond Expression. This Assembly Read more...

The Pilgrims who gathered first in Scrooby, then moved to the Netherlands, then they worshipped together in the Mayflower as they sailed in 1620. Their meetinghouse was the fort (depicted at Plimoth Plantation but originally located on Burial Hill), then moved down the hill to the current location. In 1801, the Trinitarians left in the split (identifying with the theological Read more...

  William Bradford, signer of the Mayflower Compact and Governor of Plymouth Colony for over thirty years. His memoir, Of Plimoth Plantation, preserves the history of the Pilgrim migration.     Image Credit: File:of Plimoth Plantation First 1900.jpg – Simple English Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 1900, simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Of_Plimoth_Plantation_First_1900.jpg. Read more...

William Brewster was pastor to the Pilgrims during and after the Mayflower Voyage. The only University-trained member of the voyage, he was the spiritual leader of the group.   The Pilgrim Voyage is the subject of the Brinkman Adventures series: Freedom.   Image Credit: Elder William Brewster  (1564-1644) – Find a Grave… 1 Jan. 1564, www.findagrave.com/memorial/16195888/william-brewster. Read more...

The Pilgrims did not seek to build fancy houses of worship like those of the Church of England that they left. Rather they met in the fort for collective worship. The church later had its own building at First Parish Church.   Image Credit: Swampyank at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons Read more...

Although depicted nearby at Plimoth Plantation, the actual location of the Pilgrim’s first church is here. Later the church would move down the hill to First Parish Church.   Site of the First Fort Built in 1621 Lower part used for church Also site of the fort built in 1675 which was 100 ft sq. Sides 10½ ft high   Read more...

Better known as Patch the Pirate, Ron Hamilton authored thousands of songs and the musical adventure series, The Adventures of Patch the Pirate.   Obituary in Christianity Today From his obituary: Ronald Allen Hamilton was born in South Bend, Indiana on November 9, 1950. His parents, Melvin Hamilton and Leota Marie Hamilton, were perfect family planners. Marta Sue was born exactly two Read more...

Tabernacles & Sawdust Trails: “At Ames, Iowa,” he says, “we had to wait for the train and we went to a little hotel and they came about one o’clock and said : ‘Get ready for the train.’ I looked into mother’s face, and her eyes were red, her hair was disheveled. I said: ‘What’s the matter mother?’ All the time Read more...

Wikipedia: By fourteen, Sunday was shifting for himself. In Nevada, Iowa, he worked for Colonel John Scott, a former lieutenant governor, tending Shetland ponies and doing other farm chores. The Scotts provided Sunday a good home and the opportunity to attend Nevada High School.[5] Although Sunday never received a high school diploma, by 1880 he was better educated than many Read more...

Wikipedia: In 1880, Sunday relocated to Marshalltown, Iowa, where, because of his athleticism, he had been recruited for a fire brigade team. In Marshalltown, Sunday worked at odd jobs, competed in fire brigade tournaments, and played for the town baseball team.[7] In 1882, with Sunday in left field, the Marshalltown team defeated the state champion Des Moines team 13–4.[8] Sunday’s Read more...

Site of Pacific Garden Mission from 1880-1923, location of Billy Sunday conversion. Wikipedia:  In 1880, the mission moved to 67 E. Van Buren Street, in a location which was formerly known as the Pacific Beer Garden. At that time, the current name of the mission, Pacific Garden Mission, was adopted; However, evangelist D.L. Moody suggested that the name of the former occupant should Read more...

Wendy Knickerbocker, Society of American Baseball Research During the winter of 1887-88, Sunday made arrangements to take courses in elocution and rhetoric at Evanston Academy, part of Northwestern University. In exchange for the courses, he agreed to coach the university’s baseball team during their winter practice sessions. On the night of January 1, 1888, Sunday proposed to Nell Thompson. Evanston Read more...

Jefferson Park Presbyterian Church. Jefferson Park is now Skinner Park. Northeast corner of Adams & Throop St. Billy Sunday started attending in 1886, became an elder, and was ordained there in 1905. Real Billy Sunday: IN 1905 Mr. Sunday was ordained a minister in the Presbyterian Church, by the Chicago Presbytery, the ordination taking place at the Jefferson Park Presbyterian Read more...

From the Center: The Winona History Center is located in the original Westminster Hotel, one of several hotels built to lodge the many guests that flocked to Winona Lake through the years. The west wing of the first floor, which houses the museum, was the location of the offices of gospel music pioneer Homer Rodeheaver. In addition to highlighting Rodeheaver’s Read more...

On November 6th, 1935, Billy Sunday died at the home of his wife (Nell)’s brother William J Thompson Jr. Read more...

From Builder of Bridges: The more I have read of Dr. Bob’s meetings, the more I have come to realize that regardless of how much men try to “blow up” meetings today to make them look big, they fade into insignificance when compared with the meetings of Dr. Bob and other evangelists during the horse-and-buggy days. Neither time nor space Read more...

February 17, 1889, Billy Sunday preached his first message at Farwell Hall. Chicago Tribune featured it on the front page: Image Credit: Feb 18, 1889, Page 1 – Chicago Tribune at Newspapers.com. www.newspapers.com/image/349864826/?match=1. “STRIKING OUT” SATAN. BILLY SUNDAY, THE NOTED BALL TOSSER, TURNS EVANGELIST. The Famous Centre-Fielder Addresses a Large Crowd at Farwell Hall — He Didn’t Even Allow the Read more...

  Image Credit: Wikipedia contributors. Arnold Friberg. 24 Dec. 2024, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Friberg#/media/File:The_Prayer_at_Valley_Forge_by_Arnold_Friberg.png. The iconic painting, Washington’s Prayer at Valley Forge is moving. The father of our country in prayer for his country. Arnold Friberg (December 21, 1913 – July 1, 2010) was an American illustrator and painter noted for his religious and patriotic works. He is perhaps best known for his 1975 painting The Prayer at Valley Forge, a depiction of George Read more...

Sight & Sound: Growing up on a dairy farm in rural Lancaster County, our founder Glenn Eshelman was so inspired by the beauty of the world around him that he began painting landscapes as a boy. As he grew up, Glenn continued to pursue his artistic interests, eventually buying a camera to take reference photos for his paintings. Photography quickly Read more...

The Jefferson Memorial We’re at the Jefferson Memorial, a monument to Thomas Jefferson, a man who in his lifetime was full of personal contradictions, and he was also conflicted about those contradictions. And yet, the life of Thomas Jefferson, the writings of Thomas Jefferson, give us some amazing principles. In his Declaration of Independence, he writes that all men are Read more...