Hymn Story: Hark, the Voice of Jesus Calling         

Daniel March wrote the lyrics to “Hark, the Voice of Jesus Calling” in 1868. At the time he was a pastor in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Asked to speak at an associational meeting, he learned shortly before the service that one of the hymns chosen was not suitable. In “great haste” he wrote the hymn, and it was sung from the manuscript.

March was born on July 21, 1816 in Millbury, Massachusetts. He married twice and outlived both wives and two of his four children. He died on March 2, 1909 in Woburn, Massachusetts.

Joseph Barny (1838-1896) provided the melody “Galilean” in 1883. Several other tunes from composers such as Mozart, Lowell Mason, and Ira Sankey has also been married to the words.