God Be With You (Till We Meet Again)

The Story Behind God Be With You (Till We Meet Again)

“God Be With You Till We Meet Again”, which was created by Jeremiah Rankin, was composed so his church choir could have a hymn to sing when they parted each week. Rankin was the minister for the First Congregational Church in Washington, D.C. and said this about the hymn, “Written…as a Christian goodbye, it was called forth by no person or occasion, but was deliberately composed as a Christian hymn on basis of the etymology of “goodbye,” which is “God be with you.” He got the idea for the first stanza of the song when he saw the dictionary definition of "good-bye" was short for "God be with you." The hymn was written in 1882 when Rankin was 54 years old.

While Rankin was responsible for penning the lyrics, William Tomer, who was the music director at Grace Methodist Episcopal Church, composed the music.

"God Be With You" became the official closing hymn for the Christian Endeavor Convention. Dr. Rankin said: “It has had no sweeter recognition than that given it by its adoption by the Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavor. Long, long, may they sing it!”

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