“Tell Me The Old, Old Story” - Katherine Hankey

1834–1911

A group of affluent, influential British Christians banded together around 1790 to try to change the world for Christ. Over the next forty years, they set a moral course for their country. Because of their connection to Holy Trinity Church in London’s Clapham Common, they later became known as the Clapham Sect. William Wilberforce, a member of Parliament, was a driving force as the group strove to eradicate the slave trade, free current slaves, and reform prisons. This was more than do-goodism; it was Christ-following.

Kate Hankey was a generation late for that party. Her family was involved in the Clapham Sect, but by the time she reached adulthood, the group’s influence had waned. Yet nothing could stop her from following Christ into active ministry among the poor and disenfranchised.

This was the world of Charles Dickens, with shabby orphanages and brutal workhouses. Despite her upper-class upbringing, Kate entered a rough part of the city to teach a Bible study to poor “factory girls”—young women who couldn’t get a normal education because they were forced to work.

Then Kate got sick, seriously enough that the doctor prescribed a year of bed rest. While it frustrated her to be removed from her ministry, she used her convalescence for a new type of ministry—writing. During that year she composed two long poems, fifty stanzas each, about the story of Jesus. Each of these formed the basis of a hymn—“Tell Me the Old, Old Story” and “I Love to Tell the Story.” When she recovered, Kate was able to return to the “factory girls.”

Through both her writing and her serving, this young woman teaches us an important lesson. The “old, old story, of Jesus and His love” is central to everything we do—or it should be. We love to tell the story because we recognize its life-changing power, because it has changed our lives. Evangelism is more than just a membership drive for God’s Kingdom. It’s not a debate we’re trying to win. It’s a gift we offer from a loving Lord to people he deeply wants to know.

If sharing your faith has become a chore, then stop. Go back to the old story, and let the Spirit write some new chapters in your life.

Everyone will share the story of your wonderful goodness; they will sing with joy about your righteousness.

Psalm 145:7