Written at a camp meeting in Maryland: “There Is Power in the Blood”

“Would you be free from the burden of sin? There’s power in the blood, power in the blood.” The hymn’s call-and-response refrain has echoed through revival tents, village churches and city cathedrals for more than a century.

Jones and the camp meeting

The hymn was written by Lewis E. Jones, an American who worked for the YMCA and wrote gospel songs in his spare time. Jones wrote “There Is Power in the Blood” in 1899 while attending a camp meeting at Mountain Lake Park, Maryland. Camp meetings were outdoor revival gatherings lasting several days. Each verse asks a question: would you be free from sin, from pride, whiter than snow, do service for the King? The refrain answers each time: there is power in the blood of the Lamb.

The refrain and revival

The hymn draws on the Christian belief that Jesus’s death on the cross, his shed blood, brings forgiveness and freedom from sin. It echoes passages such as Revelation 12:11 and 1 John 1:7. The refrain repeats “power” again and again, with the lower voices echoing the melody. It is easy to learn and invites everyone to join in.

The hymn became a favourite of revivals and evangelistic meetings in America and spread through Methodist, Holiness and Pentecostal churches. In Ghana and Nigeria, the hymn is sung in English and local languages, often with clapping and drums, especially in Pentecostal and charismatic churches.

Where camp meetings led

Camp meetings drew families from miles around, who camped in tents and attended several services a day. Songs written for these gatherings needed strong choruses that a crowd could pick up quickly, and Jones’s hymn fitted that need exactly. Jones wrote other gospel songs, sometimes under pen names, but none became as widely known. For most Christians, his name is tied to this single hymn.

The short refrain makes the hymn simple to render in Twi, Ga, Ewe, Yoruba or Igbo. Congregations can sing the verses in one language and repeat the chorus in another without losing the rhythm.

At communion

Gospel, country and bluegrass artists have recorded the hymn, and it remains a staple of gospel albums. Some churches sing it during communion services, when believers remember the death of Christ. The hymn is not complicated. It repeats one message with conviction, which is why it works so well when a large crowd sings together.

Many famous hymns were written in quiet studies. This one was written at a camp meeting, surrounded by singing crowds. Perhaps that is why it still sounds best when sung loudly by many voices at once.