Fanny crosby1/7/2023 “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance that race that is set before us.” (Hebrews 12:1 – NKJV)įrancis Jane Crosby, better known to the Christian world as, Fanny Crosby, was born in Brewster, New York, on March 24th, 1820.They are “so great a cloud of witnesses.” The Church should never allow that their names are forgotten. They are witnesses, who, by the testimony of their lives, have afforded to us footprints that we do well to follow in. The Fanny Crosby Memorial Home for the Aged operated from 1925 to 1966, when it was merged into the Bridgeport Rescue Mission.We have, in our Christian faith, those who have gone before us, those who have set forth example after example for we who make up the body of Christ in this current age. She left funds in her will to start a home for homeless men in the Connecticut city, a bequest enlarged by fund-raising by the women of the First Methodist Church and the local federation of churches. Her commitment to mission went with her to Bridgeport and lasted for many decades thereafter. Crosby moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut to care for a sick friend. Some institutions she championed, such as the Bowery Mission in New York City, founded in 1879, still operate today. Crosby helped to promote the “rescue mission” (also called “city” or “gospel” mission) movement, an international, non-denominational phenomenon aimed largely at lifting the poor, often migrants in the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries. Publishers paid poorly for hymn texts.Īlong with her friend Phoebe Palmer, the founder of the Methodist holiness movement, Ms. She lived at various locations in Brooklyn and Manhattan across the years and was often on the edge of poverty. The marriage did not flourish, and the couple lived apart from 1880. Their only child, a daughter, died soon after birth. Crosby married a fellow teacher, Alexander Van Alstyne, in March,1858, who was also blind. Root and Ira Sanky would become prominent musical collaborators The year 1864 saw her first published hymn. She was the first women to formally speak in the chamber of the U.S. presidents and other notables of the day. Crosby became a public celebrity, personally acquainted with U.S. Her first book of poems, “The Blind Girl and Other Poems,” was published in 1844. Her ability to write verse was expressed in hymns as well as poems for civic occasions and newspapers. She was born in Putnam County, New York, lost her sight when only six weeks old, and attended the New York Institution for the Blind in New York City from ages 15 to 23. The United Methodist Hymnal has seven hymns by her. Favorites include “Safe in the Arms of Jesus,” “Rescue the Perishing,” “I Am Thine O Lord, “To God Be the Glory,” and “Blessed Assurance” (co-written with Phoebe Knapp). Crosby wrote the words to more than 8,000 hymns. Her hymns were influenced by enthusiastic Methodist singing.īlind from childhood, Ms. Ecumenical in spirit, she belonged to the Methodist Episcopal Church but spent some years taking part in Baptist and Presbyterian congregations. While known today primarily as a prolific hymn writer, Fanny Crosby (aka Fanny Van Alstyne and Frances Jane Crosby) was also an influential figure in the “rescue mission” movement of the late 19 th century, notably in New York City where she lived most of her adult life.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |