Stories Behind Popular Hymns: Gaither HomecomingSample

I Love to Tell the Story

Arabella Katherine Hankey was a woman who truly did love to tell the story of the gospel. While she was a teenager, Kate (as she was called by those who knew her) and her father, a wealthy London banker, became involved in a missions-focused group called the Clapham Sect, which was led by William Wilberforce. Kate began telling the story by teaching Sunday school for girls in her neighborhood. Soon, she was writing poems and tracts and organizing and leading Bible studies for factory girls, and eventually she went all the way to South Africa as a nurse, continuing to tell the story of Jesus’ love. At thirty, she herself was seriously ill, but she never stopped telling the story. Kate made good use of her time recovering in bed—a whole year—by writing an impressive two-part poem. The first part, entitled “The Story Wanted,” was later adapted into the well-loved children’s hymn, “Tell Me the Old, Old Story.” The second part of Hankey’s poem, entitled “The Story Told,” became the popular gospel song, “I Love to Tell the Story.” Nearly 150 years ago, Kate obeyed Jesus’ last instruction to His apostles to tell His story to the world, and she still does even today.