"All for Jesus, All for Jesus", also titled as "All for Jesus! All for Jesus!" and originally titled "For the Love of Jesus", is an English Christian hymn. It was written in 1887 by W J Sparrow Simpson intended as the closing chorus of

John Stainer Sir John Stainer (6 June 1840 – 31 March 1901) was an English composer and organist whose music, though seldom performed today (with the exception of ''The Crucifixion (Stainer), The Crucifixion'', still heard at Passiontide in some Angli ...

's ''

The Crucifixion The crucifixion of Jesus was the death of Jesus by being nailed to a cross.The instrument of crucifixion is taken to be an upright wooden beam to which was added a transverse wooden beam, thus forming a "cruciform" or T-shaped structure. ...

'' oratorio. It started to be published as a separate hymn later in 1901.

History

In 1887, Sparrow Simpson was the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

of Christ Church in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also ) is an area in London, England, and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropo ...

, London. He wrote "All for Jesus, All for Jesus" for ''The Crucifixion'', where he had initially titled it "For the Love of Jesus". It was written as a "meditation on the Passion of the Holy Redeemer" with scriptural references from the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

. The music for the hymn was written by Stainer, with the piece being titled "All for Jesus". The hymn was intended as a closing chorus and, according to Reynolds, also to be a part of ''The Crucifixion'' set aside for congregational singing. The hymn was first performed in public at

St Marylebone Parish Church St Marylebone Parish Church is an Anglican church on the Marylebone Road in London. It was built to the designs of Thomas Hardwick in 1813–17. The present site is the third used by the parish for its church. The first was further south, near ...

Ash Wednesday Ash Wednesday is a holy day of prayer and fasting in many Western Christian denominations. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and marks the first day of Lent: the seven weeks of Christian prayer, prayer, Religious fasting#Christianity, fasting and ...

in 1887. After its first performance, "The Crucifixion" was praised in The Churchman as being "...a first and a very successful attempt to supply an easy and short form of Passion music suitable for use in ordinary

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

es," though Stainer had previously described it as "rubbish". For several years, "All for Jesus, All for Jesus" was performed only as part of ''The Crucifixion''. It was first published as a stand-alone hymn in 1969 in the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

hymnal ''Hymns and Songs''. Since then it has been published as an independent hymn across Christian denominations. In

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

hymnals, an additional verse is included supporting the Catholic doctrine of

transubstantiation Transubstantiation (; Greek language, Greek: μετουσίωσις ''metousiosis'') is, according to the teaching of the Catholic Church, "the change of the whole substance of sacramental bread, bread into the substance of the Body of Christ and ...

despite Simpson being a member of the Church of England, which rejected that doctrine in the Thirty-Nine Articles.

Scripture

"All for Jesus, All for Jesus" Matthew 19:21, Matthew 22:37, John 8:36, Romans 8:38–39, Romans 12:1, 1 Corinthians 2:2 and Ephesians 5:2.

References

{{authority control English Christian hymns 1887 songs Songs about Jesus 19th-century hymns Compositions by John Stainer Hymns in The New English Hymnal