The Church’s One Foundation, hymn story part 1: High Spirits, High Calling – the life of Samuel J. Stone

Samuel J. Stone (1839-1900)

“As a boy he was always doing something or other with gunpowder or firearms or climbing dangerous trees, or tumbling into the river. He was full of pluck, and full to the brim of the love of adventure. Even at an early age these qualities were allied with the imagination and the idealism of a poetical nature, and with a strong strain of religious feeling, which came out in childish sermons and verse.”

Early life in rural England

These short sentences show us the boy that would in time become the author of one of the most helpful hymns in the English-speaking world. Pastors might be pictured as cloistered, bookish men, and many may fit that description. But consider some of the preachers of the New Testament – a builder, a tent maker, and more than one calloused fisherman. There is something robust and engaging about someone who hunts or fishes but who also wears out copies of Walter Scott or Tennyson. Such a man was Samuel J. Stone.

Stone was born in England in 1839, the son of a godly minister and a wonderful mother who passed on to him a “rich store of sympathy which he afterwards spent so lavishly in the care of souls.” Samuel's father was trained at Oxford, and though he was an accomplished Hebrew scholar he humbly shepherded a quiet country church. For 13 years Samuel lived in the poem-worthy landscape of central England. He and his sister Sarah learned Latin and the love of poetry from their father. Walter Scott, Elizabeth Browning, and Alfred, Lord Tennyson would be lifelong inspirations.

Years at Oxford University

Stone followed the steps of his father to Oxford. In the midst of his studies he continued to pursue his broader interests, finding time for developing his poetry and for captaining his rowing team. He graduated from Oxford at 23 and soon began his first pastoral position in Windsor, about 20 miles west of central London.

First years in the pastorate

He began as a curate, an assistant to the Anglican priest of the parish, Henry John Ellison. He would come to spend eight years among the people of Windsor, and even as a young man he proved a faithful shepherd, seeking to defend his sheep from the wolves. A scene reminiscent of a hasty young Moses illustrates the point.

Defending a girl from a local bully

His responsibilities in the parish included serving in a small chapel. To walk from school to the chapel the local children had to pass through an area where the local tough kids gathered. One day Stone saw a young girl bent over in pain after she had been hit by one of these boys. Stone caught up with the boy to rebuke him and as he parted “gave him a cuff (slap)” for good measure. The boy was unwise enough to strike back, after which, “Stone fell upon him like an avenging angel, and literally beat him black and blue.” (These were different times!) He later regretted his actions and was grateful he had “nothing but nature's weapons at hand.” He also determined he would never act as judge and executioner again. Unlike Moses he did not need to flee for his life. The police (and the boy's parents) approved of his actions.

Defender of truth in a time of theological drift

When he was not beating back the local thugs, Stone was fighting biblical ignorance. He knew that many people were reciting the Apostles' Creed as part of their family worship at home. (The Apostles' Creed is a fifth century statement of the basic truths of Christianity.) But he was concerned that these poor and uneducated people did not fully understand what they were saying. He thought of writing a book to explain the sections of the creed, but he felt that he could better help his people by expanding each of the sections into a hymn that they could sing.

In 1866 he published Lyra Fidelium: Twelve Hymns on the Twelve Articles of the Apostles' Creed, and dedicated it to his mother. Hymn 9 is listed in the Contents as "The Nature of the Universal Church, and the Fellowship of the Saints." The first line of that hymn is "The Church's one foundation." While his title is too wordy for the average hymnbook, it serves as a very good summary for the broad scope of the hymn. The title we use today keeps us from seeing the breadth of doctrinal ground that it covers.

Concerned to show the biblical accuracy of the creed and of his hymn, Stone placed the hymn text on one page and on the facing page matched Scripture verses to each line. The first edition of his hymn contained seven verses, which would later be condensed into five. The poetic value of some of the lines is clearly deficient, leading a writer from the early 20th century to suggest that the hymn gained by being compressed.

First printing of The Church’s One Foundation, 1866

Move to London

Stone continued his work at Windsor until 1870, at which time he moved to East London, where he served for four years as curate under his father. Here there were many poor and middle class; many were migratory, which provided an unstable atmosphere for building a healthy church. Upon his father’s retirement he took over the leadership of the church and he was well loved by his people. His increased work load left him little time for poetry and hymn writing, but he still enjoyed the occasional adventure like hunting and fishing or weaving a high-wheeled early tricycle through London streets full of horses and carriages. Stone remained unmarried through life, finding companionship in his congregation and in at least one very special dog. Sancho’s death during his time in East London moved him to write a touching epitaph. He was hopeful, based on Paul’s words in Romans 8, that he would meet Sancho again.

Poetic tribute to Sancho, his faithful dog

Final years of ministry

He entered his last phase of ministry in 1890, where he served at All Hallows’ until his death in 1900. This was a dingy, decrepit old church in a business center of the city. There were thousands who passed by its doors in the morning and evening or worked nearby, but in the evenings there were less than 200 in the neighborhood. This too was a challenging place to minister. But he pressed on, even giving up a year’s income to pay for needed repairs. He made sure the church doors were open all day for any who wanted to stop in to pray.

The last year of his life was spent in poor health and pain, but he continued his ministry as best he could. Early in the year he wrote his poem, “Meditations in a Night of Pain.” As he struggled on, he was often heard singing one of his own favorite hymns, William Cowper’s “There is a Fountain Filled with Blood.” On his last day he wrote a letter and said, “Sometimes I am in such pain that I can neither write nor dictate; at others, as now, I am just able to write ‘with mine own hand.’ But whether at the worst or the best in a bodily state, you will rejoice with me to hear that, spiritually, I am not only in patience but in joy of heart and soul.”

Funeral: his congregation sings The Church’s One Foundation

At his funeral they sang his famous hymn and his friend recorded the poignant moment when the congregation began to sing, “ Yet she on earth hath union with God the Three in One, and mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won.” There they sang as they looked at the coffin of their beloved pastor, who, his rest now won, had gone to wait for them on the other side.

*Note: Poems and Hymns by Samuel John Stone, with a Memoir, by F. G. Ellerton (1903) served as the primary source for this article.