Sylvanus Dryden Phelps

Sylvanus Dryden Phelps was an American Baptist minister, editor, poet, hymn writer, and travel author. Born in Suffield, Connecticut, on May 15, 1816, he attended the Connecticut Literary Institute, graduated from Brown University in 1844, and completed theological studies at Yale Divinity School in 1847. He served the First Baptist Church of New Haven for nearly three decades, from 1846 to 1874, and then briefly served Jefferson Street Baptist Church in Providence, Rhode Island.

Phelps later became editor of The Christian Secretary, a Baptist newspaper published in Hartford. He was also a co-editor of The Baptist Praise Book and published poetry, sermons, addresses, and travel writing. His books included Eloquence of Nature and Other Poems, Sunlight and Hearthlight, Holy Land with Glimpses of Europe and Egypt, and The Poet’s Song for the Heart and the Home.

His hymn writing addressed baptism, prayer, missions, trust, consecration, and Christian service. Representative texts include “Christ, Who Came My Soul to Save,” “Sons of Day, Arise from Slumber,” and “Savior! Thy Dying Love.” Phelps’s work reflects the literary and devotional culture of nineteenth-century American Baptist worship and Sunday-school song.