Living, He loved me

Living, He loved me,

Dying, He saved me,

Buried, He carried

My sins far away;

Rising, He justified

Freely, forever;

One day He’s coming

O glorious day!

 
This little hymn was written by John Wilbur Chapman in 1910, while at a summer conference of the Stony Brook Assembly in Stony Brook, New York. It received wide notice in recent years when set to music by Mark Hall and recorded by the contemporary band Casting Crowns, under the title Glorious Day in 2009.
 
The writer, known as J. Wilbur Chapman, is more readily recognized as an American evangelist. Chapman was born June 17, 1859 in Richmond, Indiana, the son of Alexander H. Chapman and Lorinda McWhinney. He joined the Richmond Presbyterian Church circa 1876, making a public profession of faith at age seventeen. Chapman attended Lake Forest College at Lake Forest, Illinois and Lane Theological Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was ordained to the ministry on April 13, 1881, while still a student at Lane.
 
J. Wilbur Chapman was married three times and had five children. He pastored six churches in the Presbyterian/Reformed tradition before embarking on a career as a traveling evangelist, usually working with gospel singer Charles McCallon Alexander. John Heman Converse, a wealthy Presbyterian philanthropist, provided funding for his early 20th century campaigns. Chapman also served in administrative capacities of the Presbyterian Church General Assembly. He died December 25, 1918 in New York City, after undergoing surgery for gallstones. He is buried at the Woodlawn Cemetery in Bronx, Bronx County, New York.
 
Chapman, in addition to his preaching ministry, was a prolific writer – the author of numerous theological works. He is not as well known for his hymns, though he wrote a number of them. Probably the most recognizable is “Our Great Savior” / “Jesus! What a Friend for Sinners!” Rowland Hugh Prichard composed the tune Hyfrydol, with which it is usually sung. This hymn was first published around 1910. The first stanza is:
 
Jesus! what a Friend for sinners!
Jesus! Lover of my soul;
Friends may fail me, foes assail me,
He, my Savior, makes me whole.