The Church’s One Foundation

The words of the hymn were written by a twenty-seven-year-old Anglican priest who was assigned to a mission church in a small community adjacent to Windsor, England, where the Royal Castle is located. Samuel J. Stone wrote more than fifty hymns during his eight-year stay at Windsor, but only this one is widely known. The circumstances that prompted Stone to write this hymn involved a major controversy in the Church of England. Oddly, the focal point of the theological storm was in South Africa and involved two bishops of the church. Bishop John Colenso of the province of Natal in South Africa, in his published writings, critically questioned some Old Testament writings. Bishop Gray of Capetown, along with other Anglican bishops, charged him with heresy and demanded his resignation. The battle soon involved Anglican leaders throughout the British Empire. Stone sided with Bishop Gray and wrote this hymn in 1866 in strong defense.