“Old Rugged Cross” by Melharmonic Virtual Choir directed by Chibuike N Onyesoh

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In 1913, George Bennard struggled with a problem that caused him much suffering. His mind went back again and again to Christ’s anguish on the cross. This was the heart of the Gospel!

The cross he pictured was no gold-covered icon. It was a rough, splintery thing, stained with gore. As he studied on the verse Philippians 3:10, Bennard got the theme for a hymn that has become a favorite for many.

The Old Rugged Cross

Bennard, an evangelist in the Methodist Church was “praying for a full understanding of the cross and its plan in Christianity.”

Over a period of time he studied more and more about the cross

He prayed and meditated on the cross of Christ until one day he was able to say

“I saw the Christ of the cross as if I were seeing John 3:16 leave the printed page, take form and act out the meaning of redemption.”

The theme was so great, it needed a song

In a room in Albion, Michigan, Bennard sat down and wrote a tune

But the only words that would come were “I’ll cherish the old rugged cross”

He struggled for weeks to set the words to the melody he had written

Bennard was scheduled to preach a series of messages in New York

And as he found himself focusing on the cross, it became increasingly more urgent to him

He sat down in Albion, Michigan again and this time the words came

“I sat down and immediately was able to rewrite the stanzas of the song without so much as one word failing to fall into place

I called my wife, took out my guitar, and sang the completed song to her. She was thrilled”

On June 7,1913 George Bennard introduced the new hymn in a revival meeting he was conducting in Pokagon, Michigan

The Old Rugged Cross soon became one of the top ten most popular hymns of the 20th century.

Read Philippians 3:7-11