Events

• Council of Nicaea 325
  The first ecumenical council, called by Emperor Constantine at Nicaea in Asia Minor in 325 to settle the dispute over Arius.
• Council of Constantinople 381
  The second ecumenical council, called by Emperor Theodosius I at Constantinople in 381, which reaffirmed Nicaea against Arianism and confessed the full divinity of the Holy Spirit.
• Council of Carthage 418
  A council of North African bishops in 418 that condemned the teaching of Pelagius on original sin and grace. Pope Zosimus endorsed the condemnation the same year.
• Council of Ephesus 431
  The third ecumenical council, called by Emperor Theodosius II at Ephesus in 431 over the teaching of Nestorius.
• Council of Chalcedon 451
  The fourth ecumenical council, called by Emperor Marcian at Chalcedon, near Constantinople, in 451.
• Great Schism 1054
  The break between the churches of Rome and Constantinople, conventionally dated to 1054, which divided the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.
• Reformation 1517
  The sixteenth-century movement in Western Europe that sought to reform the church and led to the Protestant churches. It is usually dated from Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses in 1517.
• Council of Trent 1545
  The Catholic church’s council in answer to the Reformation, held in three periods between 1545 and 1563. It defined Catholic teaching on Scripture and tradition, justification and the sacraments, and launched the Counter-Reformation.
• Synod of Dort 1618
  A synod of the Dutch Reformed Church at Dordrecht (1618–19), with delegates from Reformed churches abroad. It rejected the Remonstrants’ articles and issued the Canons of Dort.
• First Vatican Council 1869
  The twentieth ecumenical council in Roman Catholic reckoning, held in Rome (1869–70) under Pope Pius IX, which defined papal primacy of jurisdiction and papal infallibility and taught on faith and reason. It was cut short when Italian troops took Rome in 1870, and a minority who rejected its decrees formed the Old Catholic churches.
• Azusa Street Revival 1906
  A revival held at a mission on Azusa Street in Los Angeles from 1906, led by William J. Seymour, an African American Holiness preacher, whose meetings featured speaking in tongues and drew people of many races and nations.
• Second Vatican Council 1962
  The twenty-first ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church, held in Rome from 1962 to 1965. Pope John XXIII opened it and Paul VI closed it.
• Lausanne Congress 1974
  The International Congress on World Evangelization, held in Lausanne, Switzerland, in July 1974 and convened by Billy Graham. It brought together Evangelical leaders from around the world, with many from Africa, Asia and Latin America.
• Chicago Statement on Inerrancy 1978
  The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, drawn up in October 1978 at a summit of the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy and signed by several hundred Evangelical leaders.
• Danvers Statement 1987
  A statement drafted in 1987 at a meeting in Danvers, Massachusetts, by the newly formed Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, setting out the complementarian view of men and women.
• Church of England Ordains Women 1992
  The process by which the Church of England opened its ordained ministry to women: the General Synod voted in November 1992 to ordain women priests, and the first were ordained in 1994.
• Ordinatio Sacerdotalis 1994
  An apostolic letter of Pope John Paul II, issued in May 1994, declaring that the church has no authority to ordain women as priests and that this is to be held definitively by all Catholics.
• Lambeth Conference 1998 1998
  The once-a-decade meeting of Anglican bishops from around the world, held in Canterbury in 1998, best known for Resolution I.10 on human sexuality.
• Joint Declaration on Justification 1999
  The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, signed in Augsburg in 1999 by the Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church.
• United Methodist Split 2019
  The division of the United Methodist Church over sexuality, from a 2019 special General Conference to the departure of about a quarter of its U.S. congregations by the end of 2023.