“When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder”: the hymn a Sunday school teacher wrote for a missing pupil

James Milton Black was calling the roll at a youth meeting in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, when one name brought no answer. A girl named Bessie, the daughter of a struggling family, was absent. Black later learned she was seriously ill. Thinking about how sad it would be if anyone’s name were not answered at the final roll call in heaven, he went home and wrote a hymn. “When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and time shall be no more,” it begins. It became one of the most loved gospel songs of its time.

James Milton Black and the roll call

Black was a Methodist Sunday school teacher, singing teacher and editor of gospel songbooks in Pennsylvania. According to Black’s own account, the hymn grew from his concern for a girl in his Sunday school who was absent because of illness. Black wrote both the words and the music, published in 1893.

The hymn imagines the morning of Christ’s return, when the saved are gathered and their names are called. The refrain repeats, “When the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there,” a joyful declaration of hope.

Popularity, funerals and Africa

The final verse urges believers to “labour for the Master from the dawn till setting sun”, connecting hope of heaven with faithful service. The song spread quickly through revival meetings, Sunday schools and camp meetings. It is often sung at funerals, expressing confidence in reunion in heaven. The hymn has been translated into many African languages and is a favourite in churches and at wakes.

Gospel, country and bluegrass artists have recorded the hymn. Accounts say the girl whose absence inspired the hymn later died, giving the song a poignant background.

Reflection and camp meetings

The hymn asks a personal question: will you be there when your name is called? In America, the song became a favourite at outdoor camp meetings, where thousands gathered for days of preaching and singing. Its rousing refrain was easy for large crowds to learn, and it travelled from there into churches around the world.

One empty seat at a Sunday school meeting gave the world a hymn about heaven. More than a century later, congregations still sing it to answer the roll on behalf of loved ones gone ahead.