Tell me the old, old story is a well-known hymn

Hymn

A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...

 which was written as a poem by an English evangelist

Evangelism

Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....

, Miss Katherine Hankey

Katherine Hankey

Arabella Katherine Hankey was an English evangelist who is best known for being the author of a poem from which the hymns, Tell me the old, old story and I love to tell the story, were derived....

, in 1866 when she was recovering from a serious illness in 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...

. It was set to music by Bishop Doane

George Washington Doane

George Washington Doane was a United States churchman, educator, and bishop in the Episcopal Church for the Diocese of New Jersey.-Biography:Doane was born in Trenton, New Jersey...

 who was much impressed by the poem when it was recited by Major General David Russell while they were attending an international convention of the YMCA

YMCA

The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...

in Montreal in 1867.

Lyrics

Tell me the old, old story

Of unseen things above,

Of Jesus and his glory,

Of Jesus and his love.