Discover the unwavering spirit and profound legacy of Fanny Crosby, the blind hymn writer who triumphed over adversity to leave an indelible mark on gospel music. Join us as we pay tribute to her life, from her early struggles with blindness to her incredible feat of penning over 8,000 hymns that still resonate in churches worldwide. Our journey through her story will reveal the depth of her faith and the breadth of her impact, which includes timeless classics like "Blessed Assurance" and "Rescue the Perishing."
Embark on a moving exploration of how Crosby's words fueled revivals and soothed souls, transcending her time to touch the hearts of generations. Her work achieved such renown that it earned her the titles of Queen of Gospel Songwriters and the mother of modern congregational singing. We'll reflect on her groundbreaking contributions, which not only shaped the soundtrack of religious awakening but also earned her a hallowed place in the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Be inspired by the life of Fanny Crosby, whose vision of hope and salvation illuminated the path for countless seekers.
Discover the unwavering spirit and profound legacy of Fanny Crosby, the blind hymn writer who triumphed over adversity to leave an indelible mark on gospel music. Join us as we pay tribute to her life, from her early struggles with blindness to her incredible feat of penning over 8,000 hymns that still resonate in churches worldwide. Our journey through her story will reveal the depth of her faith and the breadth of her impact, which includes timeless classics like "Blessed Assurance" and "Rescue the Perishing."
Embark on a moving exploration of how Crosby's words fueled revivals and soothed souls, transcending her time to touch the hearts of generations. Her work achieved such renown that it earned her the titles of Queen of Gospel Songwriters and the mother of modern congregational singing. We'll reflect on her groundbreaking contributions, which not only shaped the soundtrack of religious awakening but also earned her a hallowed place in the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Be inspired by the life of Fanny Crosby, whose vision of hope and salvation illuminated the path for countless seekers.
My website is https://www.godslovingsacrifice.com
Speaker 1:
Today we're going to talk about a poet and a missionary worker, a lyricist, a composer. Her name is Fanny Crosby and if you hear the song that is being played in the background, that is one of the songs that she wrote and it is called Blessed Assurance. And any of you that have been to church in the old days, as my grandkids call it, you probably heard the song Blessed Assurance. Jesus is mine. But we're not going to talk too much about her songs. I want to tell you about this woman's incredible life. She was born March 24th in 1820 and she died February the 12th, 1915. When she was six weeks old she lost her sight because of an infection.
Speaker 1:
She was a prolific writer. She wrote over 8,000 hymns. Now remember, she was blind. She went to a blind school, but she didn't get involved in Braille. Braille had just started at that point in time. But she started to write.
Speaker 1:
She didn't write just hymns, she wrote poems. She wrote cantatas, she wrote biographies. In 1844, she published her first volume of poems, called A Blind Girl and Other Poems. In 1851, she did her second book. That was called Monterey and Other Poems. In 1851, she also began to write verses to be set to music. George F Root was the instructor at the school and she wrote her first successful cantata called the Flower Queen. She also contributed a poetic eulogy for the US President William Henry Harrison, and she sent that to the New York Herald in 1841.
Speaker 1:
She was many things. She kept herself very busy. If you really think about back in the 1800s for a person to be blind, there probably wasn't a much that was offered to her, but she didn't let anything stop her. She was, like I said, a missionary worker. She was a lifelong Methodist and she wrote over 8,000 hymns and gospel songs. Out of that she has over 100 million copies in print of her songs. She's also known for her preaching, her teaching. She worked in a rescue mission and by the end of the 19th century she was a household name. Everyone knew who Fanny Crosby was. She was known as the Queen of Gospel Songwriters and also as the mother of modern congregational singing. In America there were a lot of hymnals that didn't want one person's songs in them. So many of one person's songs. But when you've written 8,000, it's kind of hard not to have a lot of your songs in there. So some of her songs she wrote under different names and she had as many as 200 different names that she wrote under. In 1975, the Gospel Music Hall of Fame inducted her in as the Queen of Gospel Songwriters and during a 2010, songwriter George Hamilton IV toured the Mestez Chapel celebrating Fanny's outstanding contribution to Gospel Music.
Speaker 1:
The Episcopal Church celebrates Fanny with an annual feast day in February. She is in many, many, many hymnals and I do want to tell you some of the names of the songs that she wrote, and you may know some of these. She wrote Safe in the Arms of Jesus, rescue the Perishing, the song that's playing Blessed Assurance, the Bright, forever. Savior, more Than Life to Me and Pass Minato Jintel. Savior, be, Hyteth my soul, draw me nearer and take the world that. Give me Jesus.
Speaker 1:
Can you imagine growing up from six weeks old, blind and not letting anything stop you? She's an amazing, amazing woman. When you think of the time that she lived in, how hard that time was and what she was able to accomplish, it just boggles the mind. If you have any hymnals in your church or if you happen to have a hymnals sitting around your house I say that because I probably got four or five hymnals sitting around my house look her up, see some of the songs that you might have sung when you were in church that were written by Fanny.
Speaker 1:
The Moody Sankey group that did all kinds of revivals. White Elmuty said that her songs made their revivals. They were made for revival and that's to me a pretty good sign that her songs really drew you closer to God. If we could take the determination that Fanny had to do the best for God, even with our limitations, what a world this would be According to her music. Remember, it would be terrible to lose her music. There's so much of it it isn't saying much anymore, but when you start reading the lyrics and listening to the songs you'll find that they were beautiful, beautiful hymns. Let's tell others about Fanny. Start singing some of her songs and see if she doesn't touch your heart too.
