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October 6
Fannie Lou Hamer, Vivion Brewer, William Tyndale, Miles Coverdale, and the founding of Germantown
David Barnhart
October 06, 2025
Hibiscus flower, 2025. Own photo.
Today marks the feast day of William Tyndale and Miles Coverdale, in the Anglican and Episcopal Churches. Tyndale was arrested in 1535 in the Netherlands for daring to translate the Bible into English and challenging the doctrines of the Catholic Church. Coverdale continued Tyndale’s work after his arrest and published the Bible in English on October 4, 1535. Just a year later, on October 6, 1536, Tyndale was executed by strangling and burning.
Today in 1683, German immigrants founded Germantown, Pennsylvania, on land that had belonged to the indigenous Lenape people. Many of the settlers were Moravian and Mennonite, who were pacifists, and sought a community where they could practice nonviolence. Their commitment to nonviolence irritated leaders of the British colonies. Five years later, Germantown would become the site of the first anti-slavery protest in America.
Today is the birthday, in 1900, of Vivion Brewer, a white woman who grew up in Little Rock and organized the Women’s Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools in the face of the Little Rock Nine crisis. Because of her activism to resist segregation, she received threats and harassment.
Today is also the birthday, in 1917, of Fannie Lou Hamer, civil rights activist, community organizer, and educator. Her deep faith, hymnody, bravery and perseverance have inspired generations of activists and organizers.
Reflection:
Fannie Lou Hamer said:
“You can pray until you faint, but if you don’t get up and try to do something, God is not going to put it in your lap.”
William Tyndale’s words which are appropriate today for addressing White Christian Nationalism:
“The preaching of God’s word is hateful and contrary unto them. Why? For it is impossible to preach Christ, except thou preach against antichrist; that is to say, them which with their false doctrine and violence of sword enforce to quench the true doctrine of Christ. And as thou canst heal no disease, except thou begin at the root; even so canst thou preach against no mischief, except thou begin at the bishops.”
In our modern era, I would substitute “mega-church preachers” for “the bishops.”
Prayer: God may our actions imitate our prayers, and may our prayers be for liberation, peace, and justice. Amen.