Welch ein Freund ist unser Jesus

Author: Joseph Medlicott Scriven

Joseph M. Scriven (b. Seapatrick, County Down, Ireland, 1819; d. Bewdley, Rice Lake, ON, Canada, 1886), an Irish immigrant to Canada, wrote this text near Port Hope, Ontario, in 1855. Because his life was filled with grief and trials, Scriven often needed the solace of the Lord as described in his famous hymn. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, he enrolled in a military college to prepare for an army career. However, poor health forced him to give up that ambition. Soon after came a second blow—his fiancée died in a drowning accident on the eve of their wedding in 1844. Later that year he moved to Ontario, where he taught school in Woodstock and Brantford. His plans for marriage were dashed again when his new bride-to-be di… Go to person page >

Translator: Heinrich Ernst Gebhardt

(no biographical information available about Heinrich Ernst Gebhardt.) Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: Welch ein Freund ist unser Jesus
English Title: What a friend we have in Jesus
Author: Joseph Medlicott Scriven
Translator: Heinrich Ernst Gebhardt
Language: German
Copyright: Public Domain

Tune

CONVERSE (Converse)

CONVERSE (also "Erie", named for the city in Pennsylvania where the composer lived for many years) was written in 1868 and published two years later in his Silver Wings under the pseudonym Karl Reden. The tune has also been called "Friendship." –Hymnal Companion to the Lutheran Book of Worship

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Glaubenslieder #313

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