Ira Forest Stanphill

Ira Forest Stanphill (1914–1993) was an American gospel singer, songwriter, evangelist, pastor, and Assemblies of God minister. Born in Bellview, New Mexico, he grew up largely in Oklahoma and Kansas. After the family moved to Coffeyville, Kansas, he studied piano and voice, learned several instruments, and performed on local radio while still young. He was converted at age twelve, became active in the Assemblies of God youth movement, and wrote his first small chorus as a teenager. He graduated from Coffeyville High School in 1932 and later attended Chillicothe Junior College in Missouri.

In his twenties Stanphill combined music with evangelistic and pastoral ministry. He served in youth and music work, preached revivals, worked as a radio musician, and pastored or assisted Assemblies of God congregations in several states. The Southern Missouri District ordained him on April 28, 1939. His later ministry included continued evangelistic work, pastorates in Florida, Pennsylvania, and Texas, and a period as campus pastor at Evangel College, now Evangel University.

Stanphill wrote more than 600 gospel songs. Among his best-known works are “Mansion Over the Hilltop,” “I Know Who Holds Tomorrow,” “Supper Time,” “Follow Me,” “Room at the Cross,” and “Happiness Is the Lord.” His songs circulated through revival meetings, radio ministries, gospel songbooks, recordings, and denominational hymnals. The Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center notes that “Room at the Cross” became closely associated with the Assemblies of God Revivaltime radio broadcast. Stanphill was inducted into the Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1981. His career links twentieth-century Pentecostal evangelism, gospel-song publishing, radio ministry, and congregational hymnody.