Learn about the history behind the hymn “At Calvary” in this quick one-minute read by our co-pastor, Dr. Jim Willoughby.

God used two devoted, gifted, and sincere Christians to create this most beautiful hymn. 

The Words

The words were composed by William R. Newell.  William was born May 22, 1868 in Savannah, Ohio.  After accepting Christ as his Savior, he received his education from Wooster College, Princeton, and Oberlin Theological Seminary.  After graduation, he went on to pastor for several years.  He quickly became well known as a conference speaker and Bible scholar and ultimately became the assistant superintendent of the Moody Bible Institute toward the end of D.L. Moody’s life and ministry.  While on staff, he began teaching Bible courses in several different cities and authoring commentaries on New Testament books that are still in print today.

The Music

The music for this song was composed by Daniel B. Towner.  Daniel was born March 5, 1850 in Rome, Pennsylvania.  Dr. Towner was well known for his musical abilities as a soloist, conductor, teacher and composer.  Composing only gospel music, he published over 2000 songs in his lifetime.  In 1885, he led the choir at a D.L. Moody meeting in Cincinnati.  Moody was so impressed that he immediately recruited Daniel Towner to take over the music at Moody Institute.  At the age of 50, he was given a doctor of music degree by the University of Tennessee in recognition for his great contributions to evangelical church music.

The Song

God brought these two humble men together in 1895 to create At Calvary.  Hymnologist Kenneth Osbeck describes the encounter:  “One day, while on his way to a class at the institute, the words for this hymn crystallized in Newell’s mind.  He stepped into an unoccupied classroom and wrote down quickly on the back of an envelope the words as they now appear.  Moments later, he met Daniel B. Towner, director of music at the institute, and showed him the text with the suggestion that Towner try composing the music for the words.  An hour later when Newell returned from his class, Dr. Towner had already completed the tune and with gratitude to God, they sang their new hymn together.”

We hope you enjoyed this piece of hymn history authored by our pastor, Dr. Jim Willoughby, Temple Baptist Church in Kokomo, IN. For more articles like this, we invite you to visit our blog. For more information about our church, visit our homepage.