George Bennard

George Bennard was an American Methodist Episcopal evangelist, gospel-song writer, and composer born in Youngstown, Ohio, on February 4, 1873. His family later moved to Iowa, and he served for several years with the Salvation Army before entering Methodist Episcopal ministry. Much of his work was itinerant: preaching revival campaigns, singing, writing songs, and publishing materials for evangelical use.

Bennard wrote both the words and music of “The Old Rugged Cross.” His own later accounts describe the hymn growing out of sustained study and prayer about the meaning of Christ’s cross while he was conducting evangelistic meetings in the Midwest and New York. The work developed over time rather than in one clearly documented moment, and surviving local traditions in Albion, Pokagon, and Sturgeon Bay preserve different parts of that process.

Bennard continued writing and publishing gospel songs after this hymn became widely known. Collections associated with him include “Bennard’s Melodies of Salvation,” “New Songs of Salvation,” and “Full Redemption Songs.” He eventually settled in Reed City, Michigan, where a museum preserves material connected with his ministry. He died there on October 10, 1958.