Hymn #493: O Jesus, I Have Promised | First Congregational Church

John Ernest Bode (1816-1874) wrote this hymn in 1855 for the confirmation of his daughter and two sons at the English church where he was rector. It was first published in a leaflet in 1868 by the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge.

John E. Bode, an English rector, received his education at Eton, Charterhouse, and Christ Church, Oxford, England. He served churches in Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire, England, after working as a tutor for seven years. Bode wrote two volumes of verse, but this is his only enduring hymn.

Arthur Henry Mann (1850-1929) composed the tune ANGEL’S STORY in 1881 for the hymn “I Love to Hear the Story Which Angel Voices Tell.” A Fellow of the Royal College of Organists in England, he played at King’s College, Cambridge, for fifty-three years.

Arthur H. Mann received his early musical training as a chorister and played the organ for a cathedral service at the age of eight. When his voice changed, he abandoned singing but continued his studies and earned a doctor of music degree in 1882. Mann spent most of his career at King’s College, Cambridge.