Forgotten in America, revived in London: the unusual journey of “To God Be the Glory”

Some hymns become popular immediately. “To God Be the Glory” waited nearly eighty years for its moment, and it took a crusade in London to bring it back.

Crosby and Doane

The words were written by Fanny Crosby, the blind American hymn writer who wrote thousands of texts, including “Blessed Assurance”. She lost her sight as a baby but became one of the most prolific hymn writers in history. The tune was composed by William Howard Doane, a businessman and composer who worked with Crosby on many hymns. Their partnership produced some of the most popular gospel songs of the nineteenth century.

The hymn appears to have been written around 1872. It was first published in 1875 in Brightest and Best, a song collection by Robert Lowry and Doane.

Sankey and 1954

Ira Sankey, the singer who worked with evangelist D. L. Moody, introduced the hymn in Britain during Moody’s 1873 to 1874 campaigns. It was included in British hymnals and sung there. In the United States, however, the hymn largely fell out of use. For decades, American congregations rarely sang it. In 1954, Cliff Barrows, the song leader for evangelist Billy Graham, was handed a copy of the hymn with the suggestion that it be added to the songbook for Graham’s London Crusade. The crowds took to it quickly.

Back to America

After London, Graham’s team brought the hymn back to the United States, where it became a regular feature of his crusades. It spread through churches again. “To God be the glory, great things He hath done.” The refrain calls on the earth to hear God’s voice and the people to rejoice. It is a hymn of pure praise, focused on what God has done through Christ.

The hymn is popular in African churches, especially at thanksgiving services, anniversaries and ordinations. Choirs often sing it with drums and joyful harmonies.

A second chance

Fanny Crosby wrote so many hymns that she used a large number of pen names, partly so that hymnals would not seem to be filled with her work alone. “To God Be the Glory” is one of the few that reached its greatest popularity long after her death. The story of “To God Be the Glory” shows that a good hymn can wait. It needed the right moment and the right crowd. When it found them, it spread around the world in a way its writers never saw.