Our Christian Heritage

Wonderful Peace!

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 of 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, 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.

The Old Rugged Cross

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

Transcript:

We’re here in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, outside Friends Community Church—a historic site tied to one of the most beloved hymns in Christian history: “The Old Rugged Cross.”

This is where evangelist George Bennard, during revival meetings from December 29, 1912, to January 12, 1913, finished writing the hymn and performed it publicly for the first time. On the closing night (January 12, 1913), Bennard and his colleague Rev. Ed E. Mieras sang it as a duet, accompanied by organist Pearl Torstensen Berg, before a full house. The church’s backyard now features a large wooden cross monument with a plaque honoring the event: “Most popular and widely accepted Christian hymn, ‘The Old Rugged Cross,’ completed by Reverend George Bennard during evangelistic meetings December 1912 to January 1913. First sung as a duet here.”

George Bennard (1873–1958) was born in Youngstown, Ohio, the son of a coal miner who also owned a bar. The family later moved to Iowa, where his father died when George was young, leaving him to help support his mother and siblings by working in the mines starting at age 16. Despite early hardships and an initial aspiration to enter the ministry, Bennard was converted at a Salvation Army meeting. He and his wife became active in the Salvation Army as brigade leaders before transitioning to the Methodist Episcopal Church, where he was ordained and served as a traveling evangelist.

While preaching across the country, Bennard faced mockery and persecution—especially from local youth who ridiculed his emphasis on the cross and the call to surrender one’s life to Jesus. This opposition led to a period of deep reflection and even depression. As he prayed, studied Scripture, and meditated on passages like “take up your cross and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24) and Paul’s words “I am crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20), the message of the cross became profoundly real to him.

Words and melody came to him during this time. He began writing the first verse and chorus in Albion, Michigan, in late 1912 (possibly after a revival there), and completed the full hymn during his Sturgeon Bay meetings. When he shared it with his wife, she was moved to tears—it was powerful and personal. The hymn’s enduring appeal comes from its heartfelt focus on Christ’s sacrifice and the believer’s response.

The song gained massive popularity through Bennard’s publisher, Homer Rodeheaver (“Rody”), the famous song leader for evangelist Billy Sunday. Rodeheaver purchased the rights for $500 (some accounts say $50 initially, but $500 is commonly cited) and featured “The Old Rugged Cross” in countless Billy Sunday crusades, helping spread it nationwide. It was published in 1915 and became a staple in gospel music.

In Sturgeon Bay, the original Friends Church fell into disrepair over the years and was even used as a barn for a time. But in recent decades, recognizing that many great hymns were fading from modern worship, dedicated folks raised funds to restore it. Today, Friends Community Church hosts regular afternoon hymn sings that draw people from miles around. Services often begin with a reenactment of Bennard’s first duet performance, using researched original shaped-note music to share the hymn’s message anew.

This is the story of “The Old Rugged Cross”—a hymn born from personal struggle, divine inspiration, and faithful proclamation. As the lyrics declare:

“On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, The emblem of suffering and shame; And I love that old cross where the dearest and best For a world of lost sinners was slain.

So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross, Till my trophies at last I lay down; I will cling to the old rugged cross, And exchange it someday for a crown.

Oh, that old rugged cross, so despised by the world, Has a wondrous attraction for me; For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above To bear it to dark Calvary.

In the old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine, Such a wonderful beauty I see; For ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died, To pardon and sanctify me.

To the old rugged cross I will ever be true, Its shame and reproach gladly bear; Then He’ll call me someday to my home far away, Where His glory forever I’ll share.”