Samuel Stennett was a Baptist

Baptist

Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...

 minister and hymnwriter.

Pastor and hymnwriter

He was born in Exeter

Exeter

Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...

, but at the age of 10 his family moved to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, where his father served as the minister of the Baptist church in Little Wild Street. Samuel succeeded his father as minister in 1758, a position which he held until his death. Samuel Stennett received a Doctorate of Divinity from King's College, Aberdeen

King's College, Aberdeen

King's College in Old Aberdeen, Scotland is a formerly independent university founded in 1495 and an integral part of the University of Aberdeen...

 in 1763.

Although friend and supporter to the reigning monarch, George III, Stennett refused political opportunities to devote himself to ministry. He attained prominence amongst the Dissenting ministry

English Dissenters

English Dissenters were Christians who separated from the Church of England in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.They originally agitated for a wide reaching Protestant Reformation of the Established Church, and triumphed briefly under Oliver Cromwell....

 and used his influence with political figures in behalf of Dissenters suffering diabilities under the Clarendon Code

Penal law

In the most general sense, penal is the body of laws that are enforced by the State in its own name and impose penalties for their violation, as opposed to civil law that seeks to redress private wrongs...

.

Stennett authored some 39 hymns, five of which appeared in Rippon's Selection

John Rippon

John Rippon was an English Baptist minister and in 1787 published an important hymnal, A Selection of Hymns from the Best Authors, Intended to Be an Appendix to Dr. Watts’ Psalms and Hymns, commonly known as Rippon's Selection, which was very successful, and was reprinted 27 times in over 200,000...

, which was published in 1787. His grandfather, Joseph Stennett, had also been a prominent Dissenting hymn writer. Samuel continued this tradition, although with less passionate language than had marked his grandfather's Puritan-influenced notions of Christian experience.

More than any other of Samuel Stennett's hymns, "On Jordan's Stormy Banks, which was published in Rippon's Selection

John Rippon

John Rippon was an English Baptist minister and in 1787 published an important hymnal, A Selection of Hymns from the Best Authors, Intended to Be an Appendix to Dr. Watts’ Psalms and Hymns, commonly known as Rippon's Selection, which was very successful, and was reprinted 27 times in over 200,000...

 under the title "Promised Land," found enormous popularity especially amongst 19th-century American Methodists. It was sung in camp meeting

Camp meeting

The camp meeting is a form of Protestant Christian religious service originating in Britain and once common in some parts of the United States, wherein people would travel from a large area to a particular site to camp out, listen to itinerant preachers, and pray...

s and brush arbors, and also found its way into the 1835 Southern Harmony

Southern Harmony

The Southern Harmony is a shape note hymn and tune book compiled by William Walker. The book was released in 1835 under the full title of The Southern Harmony, and Musical Companion. It is part of the larger tradition of shape note singing....

 and is part of the American shape note

Shape note

Shape notes are a music notation designed to facilitate congregational and community singing. The notation, introduced in 1801, became a popular teaching device in American singing schools...

 tradition. Several of Stennett's hymns are preserved in the Sacred Harp

Sacred Harp

Sacred Harp singing is a tradition of sacred choral music that took root in the Southern region of the United States. It is part of the larger tradition of shape note music.- The music and its notation :...

.

Stennett also printed a memoir ("Memoirs of the Life of William Ward" 1825) of the Missionary to India William Ward

William Ward (missionary)

William Ward was an English pioneer Baptist missionary, author, printer and translator. On 10 May 1802 he was married at Serampore to the widow of John Fountain, another missionary, by whom he left two daughters.-Early life:...

 which also contained several sonnets and short poems by Ward, which were printed as an appendix. A portrait, engraved by R. Baker from a painting by Overton

Overton

-People:* Constantine Overton* David M. Overton* Doug Overton* Edward Overton, Jr. , United States representative from Pennsylvania* Elli Overton* Frank Overton* Guy Overton* Hall Overton* Iain Overton...

is prefixed to the same work.

Hymns by Samuel Stennett

On Jordan's Stormy Banks I stand

How Charming Is the Place

Prostrate, Dear Jesus, At Thy Feet

External links

• Biography at the Cyber Hymnal
• Julian's Dictionary of Hymnology: "Samuel Stennett" at Hymnary