Saturday’s Singspiration

I remember as a teen learning that my Grandpa Shunk’s favorite hymn was “The Old Rugged Cross”.  I decided I wanted to learn how to play it.  It was the first hymn I taught myself to play so I could play it for him in church.  I eventually learned to play more hymns and later became the pianist at my Dad’s church.  Hence, this hymn holds a special memory in my heart.

And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.  Philippians 2:8

The Old Rugged Cross

Author: George Bennard

Hymn History:

This hymn was composed in 1912 by evangelist and song leader George Bennard. George Bennard (1873-1958) was born in Youngstown, Ohio, shortly after the end of the Civil War. His father, a coal miner, moved the family to Iowa, and there George came to Christ through the ministry of the Salvation Army.  He felt impressed to train for the ministry, but his plans were disrupted when his father’s death left him responsible for his mother and sisters.  He was sixteen years old. Instead of a theological school, he worked by day and devoted his spare time to his books.

Eventually, George’s obligations lessened, and he was able to move to Chicago, marry, and begin his ministry with the Salvation Army.  Later he was ordained by the Methodist Episcopal church and became a traveling evangelist. During his years as a minister, he wrote many hymns, most becoming lost to time.  But time had a different plan for one song in particular.

On one occasion, after a difficult season of ministry, George realized he needed to better understand the power of the Cross of Christ.  He later said, “I was praying for a full understanding of the Cross… I read and studied and prayed… The Christ of the Cross became more than a symbol…It was like seeing John 3:16 leave the printed page, take form, and act out the meaning of redemption. While watching this scene with my mind’s eye, the theme of the song came to me.”

It took several months for the words to formulate in his mind.  As he preached through the Midwest, George would carry the words with him, working on them, polishing them, and sometimes singing them in his meetings.  It always struck a chord with his audiences.

At last, his hymn finished, George went to the home of his friends, Rev. and Mrs. L. O. Boswick, and sang it for them.  After the last note, he looked at them and asked, “Will it do?”

The Boswicks were so moved that they helped pay the fees to have it printed, and it soon began appearing in hymnbooks across America.

It is a good thing Bennard learned at such a young age to persevere. Quitting is extraordinarily tempting when things get hard, but those that persevere are the ones who receive the reward. If Bennard left the mines when he found them difficult, his family would have fallen into poverty. If he threw away an unfinished hymn with lyrics that wouldn’t come to him, the world would be short of one of the all-time greats.

Resource: Then Sings My Soul: 150 of the World’s Greatest Hymn Stories & https://christianmusicandhymns.com/2019/10/the-old-rugged-cross-hymn-history-and.html

Listen to The Old Rugged Cross sung by George Beverly Shea here: https://youtu.be/E5zTISroqqg