Samuel Stennett (1 June 1727 – 24 August 1795) was a

Seventh Day Baptist Seventh Day Baptists are Baptists who observe the Sabbath as the seventh day of the week, Saturday, as a holy day to God. They adopt a covenant Baptist theology, based on the concept of regenerated society, conscious baptism of believers by immer ...

minister and hymnwriter.

Pastor and hymnwriter

He was born in Exeter but at the age of 10 his family moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, where his father served as the minister of the Baptist church in Little Wild Street. Samuel succeeded his father as minister in 1758, a position which he held until his death. Samuel Stennett received a Doctorate of Divinity from

King's College, Aberdeen King's College in Old Aberdeen, Scotland, the full title of which is The University and King's College of Aberdeen (''Collegium Regium Abredonense''), is a formerly independent university founded in 1495 and now an integral part of the Univers ...

in 1763. Although friend and supporter to the reigning monarch,

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

, Stennett refused political opportunities to devote himself to ministry. He attained prominence amongst the Dissenting ministry and used his influence with political figures on behalf of Dissenters prevented from fully participating in society, especially as teachers, under the

Clarendon Code In English history, the penal laws were a series of laws that sought to uphold the establishment of the Church of England against Catholicism and Protestant nonconformists by imposing various forfeitures, civil penalties, and civil disabilitie ...

. Stennett authored some 39 hymns, five of which appeared in Rippon's Selection, which was published in 1787. His grandfather, Joseph Stennett, had also been a prominent Dissenting hymn writer. Samuel continued this tradition, although with less passionate language than had marked his grandfather's Puritan-influenced notions of Christian experience. More than any other of Samuel Stennett's hymns, "On Jordan's Stormy Banks", which was published in Rippon's Selection under the title "Promised Land," found enormous popularity especially amongst 19th-century American Methodists. It was sung in

camp meeting The camp meeting is a form of Protestant Christian religious service originating in England and Scotland as an evangelical event in association with the communion season. It was held for worship, preaching and communion on the American frontier d ...

s and brush arbors, and also found its way into the 1835

Southern Harmony The ''Southern Harmony, and Musical Companion'' is a shape note hymn and tune book compiled by William Walker, first published in 1835. The book is notable for having originated or popularized several hymn tunes found in modern hymnals and shap ...

and is part of the American

shape note Shape notes are a musical notation designed to facilitate congregational and social singing. The notation, introduced in late 18th century England, became a popular teaching device in American singing schools. Shapes were added to the notehe ...

tradition. Several of Stennett's hymns are preserved in the

Sacred Harp Sacred Harp singing is a tradition of sacred choral music that originated in New England and was later perpetuated and carried on in the American South. The name is derived from ''The Sacred Harp'', a ubiquitous and historically important tun ...

Hymns by Samuel Stennett

How Charming Is the Place
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Majestic Sweetness Sits Enthroned
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References

External links

at the Cyber Hymnal
Julian's Dictionary of Hymnology: "Samuel Stennett" at Hymnary
1727 births 1795 deaths Clergy from London Christian hymnwriters English hymnwriters 18th-century English Baptist ministers Seventh Day Baptists Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Burials at Bunhill Fields {{christianity-bio-stub