Welcome to five minutes in church history hosted by Dr Stephen Nichols, where we take a little

break from the present to go exploring the past. Travel back in time as we look at the people,

events, and even the places that have shaped the story of Christianity.

This is our story, our family history. Let's get started.

Welcome back to another episode of five minutes in church history. On this

episode and also next week we're going to be looking at what I think is one of

the untold stories of church history and that is the story of

philanthropy or the funding of church history. So to get at this story we're going to look at two fascinating philanthropists.

This week we're going to be talking about John Wannamaker.

John Wannamaker was born in Philadelphia in 1838.

He built what may very well be the very first

department store in America. He opened this store right there in Philadelphia and

before long he opened a second store in New York City.

Then he opened stores across the country and then he went overseas and even opened a store

in London and in Paris.

He was considered a pioneer in advertising. He was the first retailer to buy a full-page newspaper ad.

The year was 1879, and he himself wrote his own advertising copy for that first ad.

When John Wannamaker died, no less than Thomas Edison was a pall bear at his funeral.

This was a man of remarkable influence. But there is

another side to the Wannamaker story and that side was very significant to him. In fact, as crucial as his accomplishments were in and of themselves,

the contributions that he made to culture and to his community, those contributions

enabled him to do something else to give and

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