Song Story: Shine, Jesus, Shine

“Shine, Jesus, Shine” is a popular praise song.  It was written in 1987 by Graham Kendrick.

Kendrick recounted that he’d written three verses and road-tested them. The song didn’t seem to come together and he put it away for a while.

Sometime later the phrase “Shine Jesus Shine” came to his mind and he wrote the song in less than thirty minutes. The chorus fell right into place but the tempo to the verses and chorus had to be altered to work together.

He first performed the song at Spring Harvest, preferring other songs at the time, but “Shine, Jesus, Shine” soon became a hit.

When asked in 2006 if he thought the song would become so popular, Kendrick’s ansewr was “The honest answer to this is no, as at the time most people were writing short songs or choruses and this is quite substantial like a hymn so I didn’t think it would be picked up as quick! The song was used and there seemed to be something special about it, but over the years it has developed its own identity.” For more on an interview Kendrick click here

The song is considered a classic Christian praise song.