The text of this hymn has also been attributed to Mary Dana Shindler, 1810-1853, an American poet and hymn writer. However, the poem first appeared in the March 3, 1838 edition of Church of England Magazine. Mary Ann Serrett Barber, who was born in England, had many of her poems published in this magazine.
The Hymns and Hymn Writers of the Church: an annotated edition of the Methodist Hymnal by Charles S. Nutter and Wilbur F. Tillett (Eaton and Mains, 1911)