Hymns that we have sung all our lives often have a story behind them that is worth knowing and sharing. One such hymn is “Blest be the tie that binds”. The story behind this hymn is really the life story of its writer, the Rev. John Fawcett.
Fawcett was born in 1740 near Bradford, Yorkshire, England. At aged 12, his father died. In order to help support the family, the boy went to work in one of the local woollen mills. As an apprentice, he worked from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m., which left him very little time to read his prize possession, a pocket Bible. Not to be deterred, he would save back a few pence each week from his wages in order to buy candles to read by when he returned home.
Another book that had a profound influence on him was John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. In fact, it was from this book he learned to read. The book so captivated his mind that he told his mother that he wanted to grow up and be a pilgrim.
This notion of the Christian pilgrim grew and matured as he got older. When itinerant ministers would come to town and preach to great outdoor audiences, John could always be found on the front row. One minister whose shadow fell over him was the great 18th Century evangelist George Whitefield .
At 19, Fawcett married a village girl, and the two young people joined a local Nonconformist chapel. The members of this congregation were so impressed with this young man’s piety that they soon persuaded him to preach.
Some time latter another chapel at Winsgate pressed him into service as their minister. In 1765, at the age of 25, he was ordained. Because the area was very poor, Fawcett and his wife were forced to live very meagrely. But what really counted was that Fawcett loved his people, and they loved him.
After seven years at Winsgate, Fawcett’s fame spread to London, and he received a call from the fashionable and prosperous Carter’s Lane Chapel. Not without reluctance, Fawcett accepted the call. But, as the family prepared to leave town, he was so touched by the grief of his flock at Wainsgate that he found himself unable to do so.
Instead, he unloaded his cart and began to work on the sermon for the next Sunday. The text he chose for this sermon was: “ A man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”
For that Sunday, he also composed a hymn. The first stanza of which reads:
Blest be the tie that binds / Our hearts in Christian love; / The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above.
Fawcett died February 26, 1816, at the age of 77, but his words live on, reminding Christian people of all denominations of the preciousness of that tie that bind them both to God above and fellow believers here below.
Almighty God, our heavenly Father, who declarest thy glory and showeth forth thy handiwork in the heavens and in the earth; Deliver us, we beseech thee, in our several callings, from the service of mammon, that we may do the work which thou givest us to do, in truth, in beauty, and in righteousness, with singleness of heart as thy servants, and to the benefit of our fellow men; for the sake of him who came among us as one that serveth, thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Rev. Victor H. Morgan is rector of St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Blue Ridge.