Judson W. Van DeVenter

Judson Wheeler Van DeVenter was an American teacher, artist, evangelist, musician, and gospel-song writer born near Dundee, Michigan, in 1855. He was educated in local schools and at Hillsdale College, received additional musical training through singing schools, and spent years teaching art and penmanship. He served as supervisor of drawing in Sharon, Pennsylvania, and also studied art seriously enough to travel through Europe in 1885 visiting major galleries and studying painting.

During his teaching years Van DeVenter was active in the Methodist Episcopal Church, sang in the choir, participated in evangelistic meetings, and eventually became licensed as a local preacher. After a prolonged struggle over whether to pursue an artistic career or devote himself to evangelism, he entered full-time Christian service. His campaigns took him through the United States, England, and Scotland, often with gospel singer Winfield S. Weeden.

Van DeVenter wrote many gospel songs, including “Looking This Way” and “Sunlight.” Late in life he lived in Florida, where Billy Graham remembered him as a regular visitor to the Florida Bible Institute and an important influence on his early preaching. “I Surrender All” grew from Van DeVenter's own remembered vocational surrender and became his most widely circulated hymn.