When the Sermon is too Long...

Elvina M. Hall sat in the choir loft as the pastor's sermon seemed to drone on longer than need be. While waiting for her pastor, George Schrick of the Monument Street Methodist Church of Baltimore, Maryland to finish speaking, her mind drifted to salvation and the immense price that Christ had paid for it. Some words began to appear in her mind but she had no paper. The only paper she had at hand was her hymnbook. She began scribbling on the flyleaf of her hymnbook the words that were racing in her mind.

After the service had finished she handed the newly written words to her pastor. Pastor Schrick remembered that the organist, John Grape, had recently told him of a new tune that he had recently written and given the pastor called "All to Christ I Owe." 

To the surprise of all, the words of Elvina Hall and tune of John Grape fit perfectly together! The pastor put words and music together and one of the most beloved hymns of the church came into being in 1874. You remember the words to this moving and beloved hymn: