John Willard Peterson (November 1, 1921 – September 20, 2006) was a

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

who had a major influence on

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

Christian music Christian music is a genre of music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christianity, Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence and lament, and its f ...

in the 1950s through the 1970s. He wrote over 1000 songs, and 35

cantatas A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning ...

Biography

Born in

Lindsborg, Kansas Lindsborg is a city in McPherson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 3,776. Lindsborg is known for its large Swedes, Swedish, other Nordic and Scandinavian Americans, Nordic and Sc ...

, he served as an

Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

pilot flying the '' China Hump'' during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Later, he attended

Moody Bible Institute Moody Bible Institute (MBI) is a private evangelical Christian Bible college in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded by evangelist and businessman Dwight Lyman Moody in 1886. Historically, MBI has maintained positions that have identified it as ...

and served on the radio staff there for a number of years. In 1953, he graduated from the

American Conservatory of Music The American Conservatory of Music (ACM) was a major American school of music founded in Chicago in 1886 by John James Hattstaedt (1851–1931). The conservatory was incorporated as an Illinois non-profit corporation. It developed the Conservat ...

in Chicago and shortly thereafter settled in Pennsylvania to continue his songwriting career. He then moved to

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

, where for over ten years he was President and Editor-in-Chief of Singspiration, a sacred music publishing company (now part of

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

, except for the choral music publishing division, which is now affiliated with Celebrating Grace, the

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) is a Baptist Christian denomination in United States, established after the conservative resurgence within the Southern Baptist Convention. It is affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance, and headquarte ...

-affiliated music publisher following UMG's 2023 spinoff of choral music). While there, he compiled and edited the hymnal, ''Great Hymns of the Faith'' (1961), which included 47 of his compositions out of a total of 548. He also served on the board of Gospel Films, Inc. of

Muskegon, Michigan Muskegon ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Muskegon County, Michigan, United States. Situated around a harbor of Lake Michigan, Muskegon is known for fishing, sailing regattas, and boating. It is the most populous city along Lake Michigan' ...

. He also had direct contact with popular Christian musicians of the day such as Bill Pearce and Dick Anthony. He resided in

Scottsdale, Arizona Scottsdale is a city in eastern Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and is part of the Phoenix metropolitan area. Named Scottsdale in 1894 after its founder Winfield Scott (chaplain), Winfield Scott, a retired Chaplain Corps (United States ...

, where he continued to write music. Peterson died September 20, 2006, aged 84, following a bout with

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

. Some of his more popular song titles include "It Took a Miracle", "Over the Sunset Mountains", "Heaven Came Down", "So Send I You", "Springs of Living Water", "Jesus is Coming Again", "Surely Goodness and Mercy", "This is the day that the Lord hath made" and "O Glorious Love". His cantatas include ''Night of Miracles'' and ''Down From His Glory''. He also composed the musical "Jesus is Coming", arranged by Don Wyrtzen. In 1986, he was inducted into the

Gospel Music Hall of Fame The Gospel Music Hall of Fame, created in 1972 by the Gospel Music Association, is a hall of fame dedicated exclusively to recognizing meaningful contributions by individuals and groups in all forms of gospel music. Inductees This is an incompl ...

References

External links

Official web site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peterson, John W. 1921 births 2006 deaths 20th-century American composers 20th-century American songwriters 20th-century evangelicals 21st-century evangelicals People from Lindsborg, Kansas Songwriters from Kansas United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II American evangelicals Christian music songwriters Musicians from Scottsdale, Arizona Musicians from Grand Rapids, Michigan Deaths from prostate cancer in the United States Songwriters from Michigan Songwriters from Arizona Hymnal editors