The Life & Works Francis Schaeffer Timeline

	A	B
1	Date	Event

2	1912	Francis August Schaeffer was born January 30 in Germantown, Pennsylvania. He was the only child of Francis August Schaeffer III and Bessie Williamson Schaeffer.
3	1914	Edith Rachel Merritt Seville (Francis Schaeffer's future wife) was born in China on November 3. She was the fourth child of George Hugh Seville and Jessie Maude Merritt Seville.
4	1930	Schaeffer became a Christian at the age of eighteen after reading the Bible, beginning with Genesis, for about six months.
5	1932	Met his future wife on June 26 at the First Presbyterian Church in Germantown, Pennsylvania.
6	1935	Graduated from Hampden-Sydney College in June. Schaeffer was second in his senior class and graduated magna cum laude.
7	1935	Married Edith Seville on July 6.
8	1935	Entered Westminster Theological Seminary in September.
9	1937	Schaeffer's first daughter , Precilla, was born on June 18.
10	1937	Schaeffer leaves Westminster Theological seminary during the church split between the Presbyterian Church of America (now the Orthodox Presbyterian Church) and the Bible Presbyterian Church. Schaeffer would be instrumental in the founding of the new seminary.
11	1938	Graduated from Faith Theological Seminary.
12	1938	Ordained as the first pastor of the Bible Presbyterian Church denomination.
13	1938	Began serving as pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Grove City, Pennsylvania.
14	1941	Elected moderator of the Great Lakes Presbytery of the Bible Presbyterian Church.
15	1941	Began serving as associate pastor of the Bible Presbyterian Church in Chester, Pennsylvania.
16	1941	The Schaeffers' second daughter, Susan, was born on May 28.
17	1943	Began Serving as the pastor of the Bible Presbyterian Church in St. Louis, Missouri.
18	1943	Several months after arrival, the Schaeffers founded Children For Christ which in a very short time would develop into an international ministry.
19	1945	The Schaeffers' third daughter, Deborah, was born on May 3.
20	1947	Traveled throughout Europe for three months to evaluate the state of the church in Europe as a representative of the Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions and as the American Secretary for the Foreign Relations Department of the American Council of Christian Churches. His observations would inspire a lot of the future content for the book and film series How Should We Then Live nearly 30 years later.
21	1948	Moved to Lausanne, Switzerland with Edith and their three daughters to be missionaries to Europe. Their primary work involved their Children for Christ ministry, and helping with the formation of the International Council of Christian Churches.
22	1949	Moved to Chalet des Frenes in the mountain village of Champery, Switzerland.
23	1950	Schaeffer accompanied four other theologians (Young, Buswell, Bennet, Stam) to a meeting with Karl Barth. in August
24	1950	Fran delivers an address to the International Council of Christian Churches on Barth and the new modernism. He sends a copy to Barth for further discourse, however Barth responds rather harshly to Schaeffer and Buswell's papers. He received a paper from Buswell the same day.
25	1951	Went through a spiritual crisis in the winter months. During this time, Schaeffer recognized that something was deeply wrong and he carefully reconsidered his Christian commitment and the priorities of life. Schaeffer emerged from this experience with a new certainty about his faith, a new emphasis on sanctification and the work of Holy Spirit, and a new direction in his life which would unfold over the next four years. This crisis will be the catalyst for the for the studies he writes for lectures in 1953-54, which will later be the basis for his book True Spirituality.
26	1952	Francis August Schaeffer IV was born in August 3.
27	1953	Returned to the US with family on furlong.
28	1953-1954	Traveled across the country speaking 246 times during 515 days about the deeper spiritual life. During this time Schaeffer first presented the talks which grew out of his spiritual crisis and later became the basis for his book True Spirituality.
29	1954	Awarded honorary Doctor of Divinity degree in May by Highland College in Long Beach, California.
30	1954	Returned to Champery, Switzerland in September. Franky Schaeffer contracted polio on the boat en route to Switzerland.
31	1955	Received notice from the Swiss government on February 14 that they must leave Switzerland permanently within six weeks.
32	1955	The Schaeffers moved into Chalet ls Melezes in Huemoz, Switzerland on April 1 after receiving the money needed to purchase les Melezes through a series of miraculous circumstances.
33	1955	Resigned from the Independent Board of Presbyterian Foreign Missions on June 4, marking the informal beginning of the L'Abri Fellowship.
34	1958	English L'Abri founded after Schaeffer gave lectures at Oxford and elsewhere in England. Schaeffer's lectures at Swanwick, England would prompt British Inter-Varsity to request that they could be published as a book. The lecture transcript would be organized into a book and sent to him.
35	1959?	The Schaeffers meet a young doctor that would later become the Surgeon General of the United States, when he diagnosed their daughter Priscilla with a rare ailment that he specialized in. They would later collaborate on Whatever Happened to the Human Race?
36	1965	Lectures given at Wheaton College, originally titled, "Speaking Historic Christianity into the Twentieth Century World." These lectures would later become the basis of The God Who Is There.
37	1968	The God Who Is There is Published.
38	1969	Edith publishes her first book, L'Abri.
39	1969	Death in the City is published.
40	1970	Pollution And The Death Of Man is published.
41	1970	The Church At The End Of The Twentieth Century is published.
42	1970	The Mark Of A Christian is published.
43	1971	Edith publishes The Hidden Art of Homemaking: Creative Ideas for Enriching Everyday Life.
44	1971	The Church Before The Watching World is published.
45	1971	True Spirituality is Published.
46	1971	Received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree in June from Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts. "The degree D.Litt. is awarded to candidates whose record of published work and research shows conspicuous ability and originality and constitutes a distinguished and sustained achievement. " (definition from wikipedia).
47	1972	Back To Freedom and Dignity is Published.
48	1972	Basic Bible Studies is published.
49	1972	Genesis In Space And Time
50	1972	He Is There And He Is Not Silent
51	1972	The New Super Spirituality
52	1973	Art And The Bible
53	1973	Edith publishes Everybody Can Know
54	1974	No Little People is published
55	1974	Two Contents Two Realities is published.
56	1974	Began work on the book and film from How Shall We Then Live? with Franky Schaeffer.
57	1975	Ash Heap Lives is published.
58	1975	Edith publishes Christianity is Jewish.
59	1975	Joshua and the Flow of Biblical History is published.
60	1975	No Final Conflict is published.
61	1975	Edith publishes What is a Family
62	1976	How Shall We Then Live? is published.
63	1977	Began a twenty-two-city seminar and speaking tour in January for the film series How Shall We Then Live?
64	1977	Helped to found the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy.
65	1977	Edith publishes A Way of Seeing
66	1977	Began work on the film series Whatever Happened to the Human Race? with C. Everett Koop and Franky Schaeffer.
67	1977	Edith publishes Lifelines.
68	1977	Edit publishes Affliction.
69	1978	Diagnosed as having lymphoma in October, at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
70	1978	Whatever Happened To The Human Race is published.
71	1979	Began a national seminar and speaking tour in September for the film series Whatever Happened to the Human Race?
72	1979	The American headquarters for L'Abri was established in Rochester, Minnesota.
73	1981	A Christian Manifesto is published.
74	1981	Edith publishes The Tapestry
75	1982	Publication of the Complete Works of Francis Schaeffer.
76	1983	Edith publishes Common Sense Christian Living.
77	1983	Received honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the Simon Greenleaf School of Law.
78	1983	Schaeffer is a contributor on a book, Who Is For Peace.
79	1983	Was flown in critical condition from Switzerland to Mayo Clinic in December.
80	1984	The Great Evangelical Disaster is published.
81	1984	Schaeffer is a contributor on a book, Who Is for Life.
82	1984	Went on a seminar tour to ten Christian colleges during March and April in connection with his last book The Great Evangelical Desaster.
83	1984	Passed away in his home in Rochester, Minnesota on May 15.
84	1985	The Letters of Francis Schaeffer are published.
85	1986	Edith publishes Forever Music.
86	1988	Edith Publishes With Love, Edith. The L'Abri Family Letters 1948-1960
87	1989	Edith Publishes Dear Family. The L'Abri Family Letters 1961-1986
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89	Note: Some of the more specific dates are not included in this spreadsheet. For the complete time line consult the class lecture notes.
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