By Warren Shiver

Without question this hymn has touched more people than any song ever written. This song came from the heart of an invalid woman who felt useless and was in deep depression.

Charlotte Elliot was born in Clapham, England on March 18, 1789. As she grew up she was blessed with the talent of a portrait artist and the writer of humorous verses .By the time she was thirty years old her health began to fail and she became a bed ridden invalid for the rest of her life.

Stories Behind the Hymns | By Warren Shiver

Isaac Watts was born on July 17,1674 in Southampton, England. Isaac's childhood was very exciting for him and his parents. He was reared in a home that opposed the Church of England and its rituals and sequences of worship. His father was twice thrown in prison because of his religious views, and openly criticized the fact that hymns were not allowed to be sung by the congregation. Only a special choir was allowed to furnish music for the worship service and this was in the form of chanting psalms.

By Warren Shiver

Katherine Lee Bates was a prolific poet, a professor of English, and head of the English Department at Wellesley College in Boston, Mass. She was born on August 12, 1859 in Falmouth, Mass., and was educated at Wellesley. Her father was a Congregational minister, and died when Katherine was less than a month old. Her brothers quit school, and went to work to support the family. They saw to it that Katherine received an education. She received her B. A. from Wellesley College in 1880. She wrote poetry to supplement her income. She wrote the poem,” Sleep”, and it was published by The Atlantic Monthly during her undergraduate years at Wellesley.

In the spring of 1893, she went to Colorado Springs, Colorado to teach a summer course. On her way from Mass. to Colorado, she stopped at Niagara Falls, NY, where she stood in awe at the sight of the great waterfalls and their beauty. She then traveled on to Chicago, IL and stopped over to attend “The Columbian Exposition”, which was celebrating the 400th anniversary of Columbus’s discovery of America. Here she experienced the man made spectacle of the fair. It was here that the first ice cream cone was invented, the first hot dog was made, and the Ferris Wheel was introduced.

By Warren Shiver

Thomas Kelly was born on July 13, 1769 in Kellyville, Stradbally, Queens County, Ireland. He was the son of the Honorable Baron Kelly, and as his father, he always envisioned being a lawyer. After his primary and elementary education, his father advised him to enroll in Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. He earned his BA degree in 1789 at age 20.

God had a mission for Kelly and began dealing with his heart. After yielding to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, he gave his heart to God and completely surrendered to the will of the Holy Spirit for his life.

By Warren Shiver

This hymn is very unusual because of the history of why it was written. As a protestant we should always be aware of those who have gone before us, and gave their all from the Old Testament saints to the New Testament martyrs, such as Paul, John, Peter, Steven, and others, but this song was not written about them.

The “Faith of Our Fathers” referred to in this hymn, however, is the faith of the martyred leaders of the Roman Catholic Church during the sixteenth century. The writer of this hymn, Fredrick William Faber, was born June 28, 1814, in Calverley, Yorkshire, England. His father was a clergyman in the Church of England, and he was reared in strict adherence to the church’s teachings. He was educated at Oxford University, and later, was ordained as a minister in the Anglican Church.

By Warren Shiver

The music for a number of hymns of the early church was written by William H. Doane. These included, “Pass Me not O Gentle Savior”, "Near The Cross," "Savior More Than Life To Me," “Rescue the Perishing”, “I Am Thine O Lord” and many others. For almost a century the music for gospel hymns for most protestant hymn books were many of those composed by Dr. Doane. It has been said that not a place that has been civilized on this earth; has not felt the influence of Dr. Doane’s music. But, Dr. Doane was a businessman. The writing of music with him was an avocation. It is interesting to note that in the writing of hymns, is the rule rather than the exception.

Stories Behind the Hymns
By Warren Shiver

Edward H. Bickersteth, Jr. was born on January 25, 1825 in Islington, England. Not much is known of the childhood of Edward or his educational achievements until he reached college. He was an honor graduate of Trinity College in Cambridge, England. After graduation he was ordained a minister and served as Vicar of Christ Church, Hampstead. He, also, served as Dean of Gloucester and Bishop of Exeter (1885-1900).

By Warren Shiver

William Walsham How was born on December 13, 1823 in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. William was the son of a solicitor and being from an upscale family, he received a great primary and elementary education. After graduating from finishing school, William attended Wadham College, in Oxford, England. How felt that God wanted him to enter the ministry, and although his father probably wanted him to follow in is footsteps, and become a solicitor he chose to enter the ministry. He earned a B.A. degree in 1845 at age 22.

Stories Behind the Hymns
By Warren Shiver

After Fannie Crosby, Phillip P. Bliss is considered by many as the best song writer of gospel hymns of all times. The songs born many years ago in his heart still bring joy to countless thousands of people today. Bliss was passionately fond of music and his friends said that he loved music and it came natural to him as a bird learning to fly.

His parents were poor and it seemed that his love for music would be crushed out amid his unfavorable surroundings. As a child, without having been taught for lack of money, he fashioned crude instruments on which he could play an assortment of music. At the age of ten, he passed a house where he heard someone was playing a real piano. He was so thrilled with the beautiful music coming from the house that ragged and dirty as he was, he walked right into the house where a woman was playing. She must have been startled to look up and see this child standing there barefoot and begging her to play more. She did not realize how much he loved music and ordered him out of her house at once.

Stories Behind the Hymns
By Warren Shiver

The year was 1693 and one of the first hymns of the church was born. Rev. Thomas Shepherd, minister in the Church of England wrote this hymn as a concluding exhortation for one of his sermons as was the custom of the day. The hymn was titled,"Shall Simon bear the cross alone,and other saints be free?" The church of England opposed the singing of hymns in the church by the congregation.

The psalms were chanted by a special choir. The other beliefs in the church of England were that you had to keep the sacraments of the church and also conform to the rituals of the church in order to go to Heaven. Thomas felt led of the Lord to write a hymn that all the congregation could sing. Since this conflicted with church policy he decided to leave the church of England, and become a nonconformist. This was hard for him to do because his father William Shepard was Vicar of Tilbrook,Bedfordshire. Although he was ordained an Anglican priest,he felt lead of God to leave the Anglican and one year later he became pastor, in 1694 of the Independent Castle Hill Baptist Meeting in Northampton, England. In 1700 he moved to Bocking, Essex, and preached in a barn for seven years until he could raise enough money to build a chapel for his congregation.

Stories Behind the Hymns
By Warren Shiver

George Fredrick Root was born August 30, 1820 in Sheffield, Massachusetts. He was born to a family with a musical background. George was of German descent and he was proud of his ancestry. He used a couple of pseudonyms, Wurzel (German for "Root") and G. Friedrich Wurzel. We know he had a great childhood with a loving family and a great primary and elementary education. He was gifted with a great talent for music at an early age. He wrote several types of music including Minstrel, Patriotic, Secular, and Gospel.

George had two brothers and five sisters. One of his sisters, Frances A. Root played piano and taught piano lessons and voice lessons and was very successful. George could also play 13 different musical instruments and sing very well by age 13.

At age 25, George married his sweetheart, Miss "Mary Olive Woodman" in August 1845. They had two sons, Fredrick Woodman Root and Charles Root. They also had four daughters. All the daughters sang in Cantatas and Church choirs.

By Warren Shiver

Augustus Montague Toplady was born on November 4, 1740 at Farnham, Surrey, England. His father, Richard Toplady was probably from Enniscorthy, County Wexford in Ireland. Richard was a commissioned officer in the Royal Marines in 1739. Two years later he had reached the rank of Major. In May of 1741, shortly after Augustus birth, Richard participated in the Battle of “Cartagena de Indias.” This was the most significant Battle of the “War of Jenkins’ Ear.” It was during this battle, that Richard died. He was not killed in battle but died with “yellow fever.” This left Augustus’ mother Catherine to raise him alone.

Catherine took Augustus and moved from Farnham to Westminster. Augustus attended school here form 1750-1755. He was fifteen years old when he finished this school. In 1755 Catherine and Augustus moved to Ireland and Augustus enrolled at Trinity College in Dublin. In 1756 Augustus attended a service in a barn and heard a sermon preached by Rev. James Morris, a follower of John Wesley. The meeting was the turning point in Augustus life. This is when he felt the call of God and he surrendered his life to Christ.

By Warren Shiver

Thomas Ken during his lifetime was both rewarded and punished because he adhered to the principles of his heart. Thomas was born in July 1637 at Little Berkhampstead Herts, England. Thomas was orphaned at an early age, and was reared by his half-sister Anne, and her husband, the well-known angler, Izaak Walton. Walton had been married before he married Anne. His first wife was Rachel Floud. They were married in 1626, and had seven children all of whom died young. Rachel died in 1640, leaving Izaak without any family. He married Anne in 1646, and they adopted Thomas. Izaak was a very gentle man, and had a great influence on Thomas’ life.

By Warren Shiver

Charles Albert Tindley was born on July 7, 1851 in Berlin, Maryland. He was born to a slave father and a free mother. He was exposed to a great number of Negro spirituals. Spirituals were written by slaves, while working in the hot cotton, wheat, corn, or other fields in the daylight or be a camp fire or in a brush arbor meeting at night. The slaves held secret meetings in the woods or in a barn on the plantation at night. Spirituals were written usually by iterinate slaves. One would start singing and another would repeat the words and tune or they would add another line, and it to would be repeated until a spiritual was produced spontaneously. None of the true spirituals were credited to anyone writer since all those present in a gathering chipped in on the verses or chorus. Several were arranged by other people in years after the emancipation.

Charles Tindley was a very gifted person and had a desire to reach lofty goals that he set for himself. When he reached a personal goal, he simply raised the bar and attained another goal. Charles taught himself to read and write by age 17. He would gather pieces of paper or magazines thrown out along the highway, and hid them in his overalls until he could hide them in his quarters. At night he would burn pinecones, which were abundant, and they gave off a good light, and he would study the papers he had found that day and learned his A.B.C.'s.

By Warren Shiver

Author: Isaac Watts (1674-1748); Composer : G.F. Handel (1685-1759); Arranged by: Lowell Mason (1792-1872)

Isaac Watts (1674-1748) was one of the greatest hymn writers in England. He has been called the father of English hymnody and along with Charles Wesley shared the title of being the two greatest songwriters ever from England. Isaac left some fifty-two published volumes in his time. He was the son of a non-conformist boarding house-keeper who was a deacon in Southampton, England. Isaac had eight brothers and sisters. He was the baby of the family.

His father was put into prison twice for “his conscience sake”. The mother carried Isaac in her arms while visiting his father in prison. She sang hymns to her husband to cheer him up before leaving the prison each visit. As Isaac grew up, he was not impressed with the hymns his mother and father sang at church and complained to his father that the congregation was listless. His father challenged him to provide better hymns. He took his father advice and at the age of fifteen he composed several hymns that the congregation enjoyed.

By Warren Shiver

A visit to the Holy Land inspired the beloved Christmas carol, “O Little Town Of Bethlehem”. On Christmas Eve in 1865, Phillip Brooks was traveling from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. Stopping on the way, he climbed up a steep hill overlooking the little town where the shepherds had been tending their flock on the night Jesus was born. He had a profound spiritual experience as he visualized the events of the birth of our Lord. Three years after his visit, Brooks was planning a Christmas program for the children of his church in Philadelphia. He searched for a suitable hymn for them to use. As he pondered several ideas for a hymn, his mind wandered back to that night three years earlier in Bethlehem, and the experience he had never forgotten. He wrote a poem about it. He gave it to his organist and Sunday school superintendent, Lewis Redner, (1831-1908), and asked him to write a simple tune. Redner struggled with this assignment and by Saturday night before he was to have the song finished for the Sunday service the next day, he still had not composed the tune. He went to bed, and in the middle of the night, he awoke with the tune in his mind. He finished the harmony early Sunday morning just in time for the Christmas program. Render always gave the Holy Spirit credit for giving him the tune.

Phillip Brooks was born in 1835 in Boston, Mass. He became one of the greatest preachers in America. He was educated at Harvard and at the Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia. He was a brilliant and cultured man. He was a giant of a man, not only spiritually but also physically. He was six feet, six inches tall with a commanding and elegant presence. He was also loving and warmhearted, and everyone especially children were drawn to him.

By Warren Shiver

One of the finest of harvest hymns is that written by Henry “Dean” Alford, “Come Ye Thankful People Come”. Henry Alford was born in London, England on Oct. 7,1810. His father was a clergyman of the Church of England and Henry’s desire was to follow in his father’s footsteps.
When he was sixteen years old, he felt a deep presence of God and wrote upon the fly leaf of his Bible these words, “I do this day in the presence of God and my own soul, renew my covenant with God, and solemnly determine, henceforth, to become his and to do His work as far as in me lies”.

By Warren Shiver

Some of the greatest music in the form of hymns came from the Welsh people. We sing songs today that have survived since the eighteenth century.
William Williams was born February 11,1717 in Pantycelyn, Wales. He was a very intelligent child and was destined to achive great things.After Primary school he attended college and prepared himself for a career in medicine. God had other plans for his life. Sometimes we make a decision to yield to the desires of our hearts, and never seek Gods will for our lives. We are thankful that William followed God's will.
There was a young preacher, Rev. Howell Harris, that was stirring Wales with his evangelistic preaching. Revival fires were burning through out Wales, and William Williams attended one of the revival meetings. At the invitation, he came forth and surrendered his life to God. He immediately felt the call of God to preach. He forsook the training he had, to be a doctor and entered into the ministry in the chruch of England. William served two churches in two different parrishes, but never felt that he was in the will of God.

By Warren Shiver

The bow of the ship pointed to the north of the Savannah River, where Georgia and South Carolina meet on the Atlantic Ocean.

On board were two Englishmen, brothers Charles and John Wesley. Charles was twenty-eight years old at the time and John was thirty-two. They were sent to America by the The Church of England to support the Anglican's in the Georgia Colony.

By Warren Shiver

Martin Lowrie Hofford was born on January 27,1825 near Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Not much is known about his childhood, but we do know that he was an intelligent child and received a good primary education. As Martin grew older he felt the hand of God leading him. He first attended Lafayette College and after graduation he enrolled at Princeton University where he studied Theology, preparing for the ministry.

Martin graduated from Princeton in 1849. He accepted the job as principal at the Camden Collegiate Institute. While here, he organized a church at Beverly, New Jersey, being licensed by the Presbytery in Philadelphia in 1852. In 1855 he was ordained as an evangelist in Burlington, New Jersey.

In 1860 he became a teacher at the Renton City Institute, at Allentown, Pennsylvania. His work here was very prosperous and the school flourished under his leadership. It was later incorporated as Muhlenberg College in which he was named a professor and later President. He taught at the college and held pastorates at Camden and Beverly, New Jersey. He also pastored at Morrisville, Pennsylvania.

By Warren Shiver

Elisha Albright Hoffman was born on May 7, 1839 in Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania. He was the son of devout German parents, Francis A. Hoffman and Rebecca A. Hoffman. Elisha was reared in a devout Christian home. The family’s day started with a devotion period, and since Elisha’s father was an ordained minister, he was taught to give God thanks for the blessing of life, pray for daily guidance and love the lost and pray daily for them. They ended the day the same way, with a devotion.

Elisha attended grammar school and was a very good student. He then entered high school in Philadelphia where he graduated at the top of his class. After high school, he entered Union Seminary, (The Evangelical Church Association) in New Berlin, Pennsylvania. He graduated and was ordained a minister in 1868. Elisha took a job with the Evangelical Church Association, working in the publishing division in Cleveland, Ohio for 11 years. After this job, he took a pastorate in Cleveland, Ohio and also a church in Grafton, Ohio in the 1880’s. He was called as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Benton Harbor, Michigan around 1900.

By Warren Shiver

Fanny Crosby was born on March 24, 1820 in Putman County, New York to a poor family. Times were hard and there were no modern conveniences, as we know them today. No running water, (water was either drawn from a well or collected at a spring). There was no plumbing in the house, outside toilets were customary, especially in the country and there was no electricity. There was also no transportation except horse, horse and wagon or stagecoach. These conditions were especially tough on a blind girl living in total darkness.

We look at Fanny's life and it started out with one tragedy after another. At age six weeks Fanny was blinded by the local country doctor or someone filling in for him, while he was on another house call. The exact person has not been identified. Fanny had a bad cold and the attending physician decided to put mustard poultices on her head and chest to break up the congestion. Fanny's mother protested, but was assured she needed the poultices to recover. Her mother gave in only to regret it the rest of her life. The mustard found its way into Fanny's eyes and she was blinded forever.

By Warren Shiver

(1846-1945)
SAVED BY GRACE

There are opportunities for useful service for everyone. Some have a talent for writing, some for singing, some for teaching or preaching, and some just a talent to touch others with their lives. In the case of Fanny Crosby, she was multi-talented. She was only six weeks old when her eyesight was destroyed accidentally by a neighbor or a country doctor. It is not clear who put a poultice on her face to help her cold and chest congestion. But the result was the medication accidently found its way into her eyes. Instead of allowing this affliction to handicap her, she hurdled that obstacle and allowed no gloom or pessimism to sour her disposition, or to warp her outlook on life.

Some people pitied her, but she wanted no part of self-pity. She had a powerful relationship with her Lord, and believed He would always furnish her needs. Needless to say, she was right. She showed her faith in a poem she wrote at the age of eight. The first verse tells it all, “O what a happy soul am I, although I cannot see, I am resolved that in this world, contented I will be.”

By Warren Shiver

Isaac Watts was born on July 17, 1674 in Southhampton, England. His father was a strict nonconformist meaning that he disagreed with the teachings of the Church of England. Isaac was reared in a home of strict obedience to the word of God and was taught as a child that everyone had to answer to God for his or her own sins. This is why the nonconformist pulled out of the Anglican Church. The Church of England (Angelican Church) was very ritualistic in their form of service. The priest read the Bible to the Congregation, interceded for them to God in prayer, led the congregation in readings and responses etc. The only hymns or songs were sung by a special choir, and were chanted from the book of Psalms. Watts was one of the first men to write hymns and was known as the "Father of English Hymnody."

Life was not easy for one who dared to rebel against the Church of England. Watt's father was arrested twice and thrown in jail for his beliefs and for his preaching to those who would listen to his message. His message was simple, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, accept him personally, and serve him through prayer, praise, and obedience to the word of God. He taught that nothing could separate us from the love of God, if we only believe His word.

By Warren Shiver

Those who live by the sea or on a large body of water, understand better than the folks that have never seen or been on the ocean, and seen the powerful waves crashing on the shore, the Biblical accounts of stories that involve the Sea of Galilee.Those who have had first hand experiences on a ship or boat sing with more understanding the hymns that speak of the Christian experience in nautical terms.