Old Rugged Cross

As a child I remember hearing this hymn.  It was a favorite hymn of my Dad's.  When my Dad passed, my mother chose this hymn for his funeral service. To this day, I cannot hear this hymn without thinking of my Dad and I will always cry when I hear it. - Sheryl Engler

THE COMPOSER:

George Bennard was born in Youngstown, Ohio on February 4, 1873. While George was quite young, his parents moved to Albia, Iowa, and subsequently to Lucas, Iowa. His father provided for his family by working as a miner in the coal pits of Iowa. At the age of sixteen, George began a brief period of employment in the mines as well. The same year, George’s father passed away. Soon after his father’s death, he was converted and became a Christian. Not long after his spiritual transformation, George became a member of the Salvation Army and served, together with his first wife, as an officer. He traveled and ministered most extensively in the states of Michigan and New York. On one occasion, after returning home to Michigan, he passed through a deeply trying experience, which caused him to reflect intensely upon the significance of the cross of Christ and what Paul meant when he spoke of entering into the suffering of Christ. It was this difficult experience and the conviction, which resulted in his heart concerning the importance of the cross that led to writing the words of the hymn that bears his name. 

Following the writing of “The Old Rugged Cross,” Bennard ministered an additional forty years. During this period, he wrote more than 350 additional gospel hymns, but none of his subsequent hymns ever received the wide public acclaim that which was given to his first hymn.

On October 10, 1958, at the age of eighty-five, Bennard, the holiness evangelist and songwriter, passed from this life, exchanging his “cross for a crown.” He spent the last few years of his life a few miles north of Reed City, Michigan. Near his home where he spent these last years, a twelve-foot-high cross was erected, and still remains, with the words emblazoned upon it,

‘The Old Rugged Cross’

Home of George Bennard, composer of this beloved hymn.

THE HYMN:

This hymn was begun in 1912 as George was holding evangelistic meetings in Michigan. He was contemplating the meaning of the cross, and was inspired to begin the song while meditating on John 3:16. He was unable to finish it, however, until early in 1913, while holding another series of evangelistic services. The song soon achieved wide popularity when it was introduced by evangelist Homer Rodeheaver.

This text was not accepted by most major hymnals until the 1950s, despite great popularity. One reason was the somewhat controversial nature of a hymn expressing such great affection for the cross itself, rather than for Christ, the one who died there.

In George Bennard’s words:

“The inspiration came to me one day in 1913, when I was staying in Albion, Michigan. I began to write “The Old Rugged Cross.” I composed the melody first. The words that I first wrote were imperfect. The words of the finished hymn were put into my heart in answer to my own need. Shortly thereafter it was introduced at special meetings in Pokagon, Michigan on June 7, 1913. The first occasion where it was heard outside of the church at Pokagon was at the Chicago Evangelistic Institute. There it was introduced before a large convention and soon it became extremely popular throughout the country.”