John Rippon

John Rippon was an English Particular Baptist minister, hymnal editor, and historian born at Tiverton, Devon, in 1751. He studied at the Baptist College in Bristol and in 1773 became pastor of the influential Carter Lane Baptist congregation in Southwark, London, succeeding John Gill. Rippon remained pastor for more than six decades, through the congregation’s later move toward New Park Street, and became a major figure in English Baptist worship and publishing.

His most influential hymnal was “A Selection of Hymns from the Best Authors,” first published in 1787 as an appendix to Isaac Watts’s psalms and hymns. It was repeatedly enlarged and reprinted and helped introduce evangelical-era hymn texts into Particular Baptist congregations in Britain and North America. Rippon also edited the “Baptist Annual Register” from 1790 to 1802 and produced collections connected with hymn tunes and the works of Isaac Watts.

Rippon did not originate “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name,” but his 1787 edition substantially shaped the form later used in many hymnals. He altered portions of Perronet’s text and supplied material that became part of the common congregational version. His role is therefore best described as reviser and contributing author rather than original author of the hymn.