Thomas Hooker was born at Leicestershire, England. He fled his native land in 1630 to escape persecution for his Puritan faith. He became pastor of the Congregational church in Newtown (Cambridge, Massachusetts) in 1633. Three years later, he and most of his congregation moved to what is now Hartford, Connecticut. He is considered a founder of that state. He was one of the earliest to propose the idea of a federal government. He also held that the people as a whole, not just church members, should choose their magistrates. He wrote many books and sermons.
Henri Abraham Cesar Malan was born in Geneva, Switzerland. Schooled at the College of Geneva, where his father was a professor, he was ordained in the Reformed church, and served as pastor of the Chapelle du Temoignage in Geneva. His preaching was bold and outspoken against Universalism and formalism. This aroused such opposition that he resigned and founded a chapel on his own property, and preached there for the next 43 years. He made evangelistic tours of Belgium, Scotland, France and England and wrote a thousand hymns and tunes. We sing "Take My Life and Let it Be" to a tune he wrote.
Charles Albert Tindley was born at Berlin, Maryland of slave parents. Overcoming great obstacles, he taught himself to read and took Bible classes at night. Eventually he became pastor of a Philadelphia church where he had worked as a Janitor. It grew so rapidly that a larger building had to be erected. White and black attended together. A hymnwriter, Tindley wrote "Nothing Between My Soul and the Savior."
