George Stark Schuler

George Stark Schuler was an American gospel composer, pianist, organist, teacher, and evangelical musician born on April 18, 1882. Hymnary gives his life dates as 1882-1973 and catalogs more than one hundred tunes under his name. Biographical accounts consistently associate his long career with Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, where he taught music, and with the wider gospel-song culture that linked Bible institutes, revival meetings, choirs, and religious publishing.

Schuler composed the tune now called SCHULER in 1924 for Ira Bishop Wilson's earlier text. Hymnary records the tune as 10.7.10.7 with refrain and notes that it was dedicated to the Moody Memorial Church Choir. The song was copyrighted in 1924 and renewed in 1952; later hymnals consistently identify Schuler as composer. By 1928 the text and tune were printed together in Popular Revival Hymns, and the pairing became the standard musical form of Make Me a Blessing.

Schuler also co-edited Songs of Evangelism, published by Glad Tidings in 1925 with E. O. Excell and William E. Biederwolf, and later catalogs record keyboard and hymn-tune publications under his name. He died in 1973. Although detailed primary-source biographical material is limited, his substantial catalog and the continuing hymnal circulation of SCHULER document a long career in American evangelical church music.