The Birth of a Hymnal That Changed Church History

Every church service, choir rehearsal, and private devotion that opens the pages of Sacred Songs and Solos (SS&S) participates in an evangelistic legacy that shook the Western world in the late nineteenth century. Today, containing 1,200 beloved hymns, this iconic volume is known affectionately to millions simply as "Sankey." But how did this monumental collection come to be?

The Providential Meeting in Indianapolis (1870)

In 1870, Ira David Sankey was a thirty-year-old internal revenue officer and devout Methodist choir director living in New Castle, Pennsylvania. Respected for his rich baritone voice, Sankey traveled as a delegate to the International YMCA Convention held in Indianapolis, Indiana.

One morning at 7:00 AM, Sankey attended an early prayer meeting. The singing was slow, dragging, and lackluster. A friend whispered to Sankey, "Please, Ira, start a hymn that has some life in it!" Sankey stepped forward and began singing the stirring hymn, "There is a Fountain Filled with Blood." The room caught fire with spiritual energy, and the entire assembly joined in vibrant praise.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the speaker—a stocky, vigorous evangelist from Chicago named Dwight Lyman Moody—marveled at the singing and asked who the young baritone was. Introduced to Sankey, Moody looked him straight in the eye with characteristic bluntness:

"Where do you come from? What is your business? Well, you will have to give that up! I have been looking for you for eight years. You must come with me to Chicago and help me in my work!"

Sankey was stunned. He had a secure government position, a wife, and children. But after months of prayer and deep conviction, Sankey resigned his post and joined Moody in Chicago, pioneering a partnership that would redefine Christian revivalism.

The Great British Campaign (1873–1875)

In June 1873, Moody and Sankey arrived in Great Britain for what was planned as a quiet tour. Initially met with skepticism from formal British clergy who were unused to American revivalism, the campaign ignited when Sankey sat down at his small, portable reed organ and began "singing the Gospel."

Unlike traditional choir anthems, Sankey sang with clear, passionate diction, treating hymn verses as musical sermons. Crowds began packing churches in York, Sunderland, Newcastle, and Edinburgh. In Glasgow, over 20,000 people stood outside in the rain to hear Moody preach and Sankey sing.

The Scraps of Paper in a Pocketbook: The 24-Hymn Booklet

During these massive meetings, Sankey had no printed hymnal. He carried a scrapbook of poems clipped from religious newspapers and magazines, singing them to tunes he adapted or composed himself.

In Edinburgh, worshipers continually begged for copies of Sankey's songs. Sankey approached the Edinburgh publishers with a collection of twenty-four hymns, offering to give them the copyright if they would print a small paper booklet. The publishers refused, stating that "nobody would buy a collection of modern American songs."

Undeterred, Sankey walked to a London printer named Morgan & Scott and agreed to pay for the printing costs out of his own modest funds. The little 24-hymn booklet, bound in cheap paper and entitled simply "Sacred Songs and Solos," was released in 1873.

An Phenomenal Publishing Sensation

The response was immediate and unprecedented. The initial print run sold out in days. Before long, hundreds of thousands of copies were rolling off London presses every month. The booklet expanded rapidly:

1873: The original 24 hymns.
1875: Expanded to 271 hymns.
1881: Expanded to 441 hymns.
1896: Enlarged to 750 hymns.
1903: The definitive, monumental edition containing 1,200 hymns was finalized!

Over the decades, more than 80 million copies of Sacred Songs and Solos were sold worldwide, making it one of the best-selling religious books in history second only to the Holy Bible itself.

Finances of Total Integrity

The astronomical sales of the hymnal generated hundreds of thousands of pounds in royalties. Both Moody and Sankey knew that accusations of personal greed could destroy their ministry. Therefore, they refused to take a single dollar of the hymnal royalties for personal gain.

Instead, they established a strict board of independent trustees. Every penny of the vast proceeds was funneled into building schools for underprivileged children, funding inner-city rescue missions, and establishing Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and Northfield Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts.

The Vision for Today's Digital Age

Ira D. Sankey believed that singing was not merely a performance, but the common property of every believer—a vital spiritual weapon in evangelism and personal devotion. Whether you sing Hymn #1 ("Praise, my soul, the King of heaven") or Hymn #1,200, you are standing on the shoulders of two men who surrendered their gifts entirely to Christ to make the Gospel audible to every generation.