Savior, bless Thy [the] word [words] to all

Author: Thomas Kelly

Kelly, Thomas, B.A., son of Thomas Kelly, a Judge of the Irish Court of Common Pleas, was born in Dublin, July 13, 1769, and educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He was designed for the Bar, and entered the Temple, London, with that intention; but having undergone a very marked spiritual change he took Holy Orders in 1792. His earnest evangelical preaching in Dublin led Archbishop Fowler to inhibit him and his companion preacher, Rowland Hill, from preaching in the city. For some time he preached in two unconsecrated buildings in Dublin, Plunket Street, and the Bethesda, and then, having seceded from the Established Church, he erected places of worship at Athy, Portarlington, Wexford, &c, in which he conducted divine worship and preached. H… Go to person page >

Saviour, bless the word to all. T. Kelly. [For a blessing on the Word.] Appeared in the second edition of his Hymns, &c, 1806, in 3 stanzas of 4 lines (ed. 1853, No, 434). It is in common use in this form. In the American Unitarian Hymns for the Church of Christ, 1853, it is altered to "Father, bless Thy word to all." This text is repeated in a few collections; and, sometimes, as in the Songs for the Sanctuary, N. Y., 1865, with C. Wesley's stanza, "Sing we to our God above," as a doxology.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)