Join us as we go on location to the birthplace of the man who wrote “Great is Thy Faithfulness”
Join us as we go on location to the birthplace of the man who wrote “Great is Thy Faithfulness”
Dr. David Smith is the son of Al Smith, founder of Singspiration.
In this episode, Dr. Smith tells the fascinating histories behind some of the most loved hymns of today.
A surprising number of Gospel songs in our hymnals come from central Pennsylvania. In this episode, Dr. Loyer, the archivist for the Susquehanna Conference of the United Methodist Church, talks about these songs and the stories behind them.
In this episode, Bob and Mary Shaffer, of the Old Rugged Cross Church and Museum, invite us into the restored, 1913 church building where the beloved hymn was first sung.
They talk about how they took a collapsing barn and turned it back into a church, some of the other sites that claim “The Old Rugged Cross,” George Bennard, and more!
Ed Petrus of New Castle, Pennsylvania, tells the story of Ira Sankey and the inspiration for his song, “The Ninety and Nine.”
He wrote Shall We Gather at the River, What Can Wash Away My Sin?, Low in the Grave He Lay, Jesus My Savior; as well as the chorus to I Need Thee, O I Need Thee
In Ashtabula, Ohio, near the hospital, is a historical marker to what was the worst train disaster in American history to that point.
Even though Philip Bliss and his wife, Lucy, died on December 29, 1876, in one of America’s greatest train wrecks, he left us the great hymn, “I Will Sing of My Redeemer.”
Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus
Ye soldiers of the cross;
Lift high His royal banner,
It must not suffer loss:
From vict’ry unto vict’ry
His army shall He lead,
Till every foe is vanquished
And Christ is Lord indeed.
Stand up for Jesus
Ye soldiers of the cross;
Lift high His royal banner,
It must not, it must not suffer loss.
Stand up! stand up for Jesus!
The trumpet call obey;
Forth to the mighty conflict
In this His glorious day.
Ye that are men, now serve Him
Against unnumbered foes;
Let courage rise with danger.
And strength to strength oppose.
Stand up! stand up for Jesus!
Stand in His strength alone;
The arm of flesh will fail you;
Ye dare not trust your own.
Put on the Gospel armor,
And, watching unto prayer,
Where duty calls, or danger,
Be never wanting there.
Stand up! stand up for Jesus!
The strife will not be long:
This day the noise of battle,
The next the victor’s song;
To him that overcometh
A crown of life shall be;
He, with the King of glory,
Shall reign eternally.
Join us as we go on location to West Bend, WI to learn about the Wisconsin gospel song, Wonderful Peace!
This hymn is a uniquely Wisconsin hymn. The words were written by a pastor buried in Wisconsin, and set to music by a pastor born in Wisconsin.
Rev. Warren D. Cornell was born in Michigan but left at 19 to teach and preach in Texas. At 23 he came to Wisconsin, where he’d spend the next 40 years of his life in pulpit ministry and civic service. He pastored in the greater Oshkosh area for awhile and 1889 found him as pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Berlin, Wisconsin. He later founded an independent church in Fond du Lac, the same city where he’s also buried.
In the 19th century, Camp meetings were an opportunity for churches to come together for singing and fellowship, but primarily preaching the way of Salvation, with the Mourner’s Bench prominently at the front.
Rev. William G. Cooper was pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church in West Bend, Wisconsin, he’d later go on to pastor several Baptist churches, but in 1889, his church in West Bend held their annual summer camp meeting from Wednesday night to Sunday night. According to the church historian, the families would gather at the farm of Francis Gansel, a Prussian immigrant to America, who became Town Chairman of West Bend.
We’re standing on the site of the original Francis Gansel farm where the camp meetings were held, although now it is the Bicentennial Park in West Bend.
Rev. Cornell came down from Ripon as a guest speaker at the camp meeting, and on Sunday, the last day of the camp meeting, took a walk down the Milwaukee River just a mile to our east, over by the church building.
Many hymns come from personal tragedy. This hymn however comes from a time of happiness, reminding us that the same God who sends times of sorrow also sends times of joy. Rev. Cornell was so filled with joy after five days of camp meeting spent fellowshipping and eating with believers, testimonies, singing, and preaching, that the words flowed out of the overabundance of his soul. According to a couple sources, as he walked, Rev. Cornell grabbed the back of an advertising flyer and penned these words along this river:
Far away in the depths of my spirit tonight
Rolls a melody sweeter than psalm;
In celestial strains it unceasingly falls
O’er my soul like an infinite calm.
Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
Coming down from the Father above!
Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray
In fathomless billows of love!
Rev. Cornell put the paper back in his pocket, and walked back to the campground for the evening service, surrounded by His Father’s love
Back here at the campground, after the evening service, the host pastor, Rev. Cooper, was cleaning up the grounds when he saw a paper lying on the floor. He read the words, and took the paper to the organ, and began composing a tune for the words. As he played on the organ, the words to another stanza began to form in his mind, this stanza an invitation to unbelievers to partake of this peace:
Ah soul, are you here without comfort and rest,
Marching down the rough pathway of time?
Make Jesus your friend ere the shadows grow dark;
Oh, accept this sweet peace so sublime!
Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
Coming down from the Father above!
Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray
In fathomless billows of love!
Three years later, in 1892, Rev. Cooper and his friend Robert McCabe published the hymn in their songbook, Pearls of Paradise, with the note, Dedicated to the M.E. Church, West Bend, Wisconsin, that hosted that camp meeting that gave birth to this beloved hymn, Wonderful Peace.
Learn the story behind “Safe in the Arms of Jesus” and “I Shall Know Him” as we go on location to Bridgeport, CT where Fanny Crosby’s later years were spent. We’ll see:
Bridgeport Public Library:
Open any hymnal and you will find countless hymns by Fanny Crosby. Though her early life was spent in New York, her later years were here in Bridgeport, CT. Here at the Bridgeport Public Library they have many newspaper articles on the life of their prolific resident. They have an autographed book by Fanny – did you know that Fanny Crosby, blind for life, learned to write so she could autograph her books?
Let’s head over to her home and see where she lived:
Fanny Crosby Home – Wells St, Bridgeport:
In 1900 Fanny Crosby moved from New York City to Bridgeport, CT. In 1906 she moved in with her sister and niece. Fanny died from arteriosclerosis and a cerebral hemorrhage here in the early hours of Feb 12, 1915 at the age of 94.
Fanny Crosby Church – Golden Hill Methodist
The old First Methodist Episcopal Church is where her funeral was held.
Fanny Crosby Grave – Mountain Grove Cemetery
Buried in the same cemetery as P.T. Barnum and Tom Thumb.
The Old Rugged Cross was written over a hundred years ago, and performed in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Friends Community Church has an outdoor memorial commemorating the first public performance of the hymn, and we take you there! #churchhistoryonlocation