My co-author and the originator of the concept for this blog recently confided that he never imagined that This Day in Presbyterian History would be around this long. Now we are going into our fifth year in 2016. We make no great claims for the blog, but we’re pleased to be able to serve a (generally) growing list of subscribers and others.

In the annual review put together by WordPress, they summarize our 2015 statistics this way:

“Madison Square Garden can seat 20,000 people for a concert. This blog was viewed about 68,000 times in 2015. If it were a concert at Madison Square Garden, it would take just over 3 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

The busiest day of the year was July 4th with 584 views. The most popular post that day was July 4: Happy ‘Presbyterian Rebellion’ Day.’ ” Visitors to the blog came primarily from the United States, followed by the United Kingdom, Canada and 129 other countries around the globe.

For the year ahead, we have several plans that should keep things interesting. 2016 will be a big election year, and with that theme in mind we are very pleased that the Rev. Dr. David W. Hall, pastor of the Midway Presbyterian Church in Powder Springs, Georgia, will be writing a series of posts for us, focused on the early American practice of the election day sermon. These posts will run on Saturdays, beginning on January 30th, just before the Iowa Caucus, and will end on October 29th, just before election day in November.

Our long-running feature on the Shorter Catechism, written by the Rev. Leonard T. Van Horn, will conclude around April of 2016 and we are working on what will replace that Sunday feature. Many of our posts in past years have been biographical, and while biographies will continue to be part of the mix, there will be a greater effort to be more event focused. We also plan to include more posts on local church histories.

2015 began with a serious health challenge for me, and ended with emergency surgery for my son. The Lord preserved us through it all, and I pray for His blessings in the coming year, that it may prove to be a time of faithful service, of lifting up the name of Christ our Savior, and of doing His will in all that we say and do. If this blog can play even the tiniest part in all of that, it will have served its purpose.

Words to Live By:
Psalm 67 has been a particular comfort and guide in prayer over the past year:

1 God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah.

2 That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.

3 Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.

4 O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Selah.

5 Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.

6 Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us.

7 God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.