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"Follow On", also known in certain cases as "Down In The Valley With My Saviour I Would Go" and "I Will Follow Jesus", is a 
Hosea 6:3
Cushing wrote this hymn in New York after he became a Christian minister in 1854; he started writing hymns in 1870 when his health declined, forcing him to retire. He wrote more than three hundred hymns. Cushing once said about his inspiration to write it:
The hymn started to get dropped from certain hymn books during the 1960s; however it is still contained in Baptist hymnals. There is now a movement to bring back certain traditional hymns such as "Follow On" into current usage.
The hymn's music has been adopted for the anthem of the Scottish
A Baptist church congregation singing Follow On
{{authority control American Christian hymns 1878 songs 19th-century hymns Hymns by Robert Lowry
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
hymn
A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...
written in 1878 by William Orcutt Cushing
William Orcutt Cushing (31 December 1823 – 19 October 1902) was an American Unitarian minister and hymn writer from Hingham, Massachusetts.
Personal life
Cushing was born in 1823 in Hingham to Unitarian parents. When he was a teenager and s ...
. The music for it was composed in 1880 by both Robert Lowry Robert Lowry may refer to:
* Robert Lowry (governor) (1829–1910), American politician, governor of Mississippi
* Robert Lowry (hymn writer) (1826–1899), American professor of literature, Baptist minister and composer of gospel hymns
* Robert L ...
and W. Howard Doane.
History
The hymn was originally written as aBaptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
hymn and it is also used by the Salvation Army
Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...
. The lyrics are based on the Biblical verse iHosea 6:3
Cushing wrote this hymn in New York after he became a Christian minister in 1854; he started writing hymns in 1870 when his health declined, forcing him to retire. He wrote more than three hundred hymns. Cushing once said about his inspiration to write it:
Present day
The hymn started to get dropped from certain hymn books during the 1960s; however it is still contained in Baptist hymnals. There is now a movement to bring back certain traditional hymns such as "Follow On" into current usage.
The hymn's music has been adopted for the anthem of the Scottish association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
club, Rangers, in their club anthem, "Follow Follow
"Follow Follow" is a song sung by supporters of Rangers, a association football, football club in Glasgow, Scotland. It is based upon the revivalist hymn "Follow On (hymn), Follow On".
Club usage
The song has been adopted by Rangers as their clu ...
". There have been disagreements over the Rangers fans' usage of the hymn's music as their anthem with claims such as from the Boys' Brigade complaining that using it and changing the lyrics prevented it from remaining a major hymn in their organization because of the association with Rangers. The original hymn was sung at their Ibrox Stadium
Ibrox Stadium is a football stadium on the south side of the River Clyde in the Ibrox area of Glasgow, Scotland. The home of Rangers Football Club, Ibrox is the third largest football stadium in Scotland, with an all-seated capacity of .
O ...
in Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
on 3 January 2011 at a memorial service for the sixty-six victims of the Ibrox disaster and their families and friends.
References
External links
A Baptist church congregation singing Follow On
{{authority control American Christian hymns 1878 songs 19th-century hymns Hymns by Robert Lowry