PRINTER'S NO. 1165
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE RESOLUTION
No.
181
Session of
2017
INTRODUCED BY ARGALL AND MENSCH, SEPTEMBER 19, 2017
INTRODUCED AND ADOPTED, SEPTEMBER 19, 2017
A RESOLUTION
Commemorating the 283rd anniversary of "Schwenkfelder
Thanksgiving Day" on September 24, 2017, in Pennsylvania.
WHEREAS, The Schwenkfelders are the only Protestant sect of
the Spiritualist branch of the Radical Reformation, with roots
in the Protestant Reformation that still exist today; and
WHEREAS, The Schwenkfelders are named after Protestant
Reformer Caspar Schwenckfeld von Ossig, a contemporary of Martin
Luther; and
WHEREAS, The Schwenkfelders originally lived in Silesia, a
region annexed to Poland after World War II, and were
periodically persecuted for their religious faith after the
death of Schwenckfeld von Ossig in 1561; and
WHEREAS, In order to avoid further persecution, the
Schwenkfelders fled their homeland in 1726 and emigrated to
Saxony, Germany, under sanctuary provided by Count Nicholas
Zinzendorf, the founder of the Moravian Church; and
WHEREAS, With the assistance of Mennonites in Holland, the
Schwenkfelders emigrated to Pennsylvania between 1731 and 1738;
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and
WHEREAS, The day after one of their early arrivals in
Pennsylvania, on September 24, the Schwenkfelders gathered for a
time of worship to thank God for their safe arrival in the new
land of freedom; and
WHEREAS, Annually thereafter on that same date, the
Schwenkfelders met in worship to honor that occasion and called
it Gedächtnis-tag, or "Day of Remembrance," in recognition of
the hardships their ancestors endured for the sake of religious
freedom; and
WHEREAS, Currently the Schwenkfelder Church continues the
tradition by holding a service on the Sunday closest to
September 24 to celebrate Gedächtnis-tag; and
WHEREAS, Gedächtnis-tag is considered the oldest continuous
celebration of thanksgiving in the United States; therefore be
it
RESOLVED, That the Senate commemorate the 283rd anniversary
of "Schwenkfelder Thanksgiving Day" on September 24, 2017, in
Pennsylvania.
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