The story of Ira David Sankey begins with a sixteen-year-old boy attending revival meetings at King's Chapel, a small church about three miles from his home in Edinburgh, Pennsylvania. Born in 1840, young Ira had grown up in a household filled with evening hymn-singing—his father David was a banker, former state senator, and Methodist lay preacher who nurtured his son's evident love of music.
Teenage Conversion in Pennsylvania
At that revival meeting in 1856, Ira Sankey gave his life to Christ. It was a decision that would change not just his life, but the very nature of evangelical worship for generations to come.
Sankey's gift was his voice—rich, warm, and compelling. But it wasn't until 1870, at a Y.M.C.A. Convention in Indianapolis, that his destiny became clear. The singing at the convention had been poor, and someone asked Sankey to lead. He began with the familiar hymn, "There is a fountain filled with blood."
The Moody Sankey Partnership Begins
In the crowd sat Dwight L. Moody, America's most famous evangelist. Moody was instantly captivated. At the end of the session, he tracked down the young man and made his demand: "I have been looking for you for the last eight years."
Sankey resisted. He had a government job, a stable life. But Moody persisted, urging and cajoling. Finally, in 1871, Sankey consented to spend one week with Moody in Chicago. Before that week ended, he resigned his position and joined forces with the evangelist "for their life-work."
Gospel Music Revolution Transforms Ministry
What followed was revolutionary. Sankey traveled with a small portable organ, seeking out songs that were "warm, simple, evangelistic, and emotional." This was new territory for church music. Many traditionalists were skeptical—even hostile. But the people responded.
The famous Scottish hymn writer Horatius Bonar attended their meetings in Edinburgh and gave his approval with words Sankey never forgot: "Well, Mr. Sankey, you sang the gospel tonight."
That phrase captured exactly what Sankey did. He didn't just perform; he proclaimed. Songs like "The Ninety and Nine," "Hiding in Thee," and "A Shelter in the Time of Storm" carried the gospel message in melody.
In 1873, Sankey published "Sacred Songs and Solos" in England, initially a small collection of favorite hymns from the Moody-Sankey campaigns. Over the years, it expanded to include 1,200 pieces. The Moody-Sankey movement spawned an entire generation of gospel songwriters: Fanny Crosby, Philip Bliss, Daniel Whittle, and many others.
A Voice That Changed History
After Moody's death in 1899, Sankey attempted to continue alone but was defeated by ill health and eventually blindness. He died in 1908, inducted posthumously into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1980.
Looking back at that sixteen-year-old boy in King's Chapel, converted at a revival meeting, who could have predicted such a legacy? Sometimes God takes a simple gift—a voice raised in praise—and uses it to change the world.
