Chuck Colson didn’t set out to be a hymn writer when he took the pulpit at Christ Church Presbyterian in Jacksonville, Florida, but the former campus minister and Anglican rector says that the hymns were born out of both need and circumstance.

“These [songs] aren’t written in a laboratory or a studio,” he explains. “They are written in the trenches.”

Colson (no relation to the founder of Prison Fellowship) explains that he began writing hymns as a way to preach hope to his own soul. The result was an album titled “Yellowhammer Hymns,” released this past May.

In the midst of the joys and sorrows of pastoral life, Colson began scratching out a few lines of song. He gradually began sharing his work with a few musicians for feedback, including Wade Williams, a family friend and the former director of music at Perimeter Church. The two agreed to write a resurrection hymn together, but Williams died of brain cancer in 2014 before the hymn was complete. Colson picked the song back up, and with assistance from his director of music, Andy Zipf, “Wake Up, O Sleeper” took shape.

The hymns have emerged organically, as Colson finds inspiration through the Psalms or while preparing sermons.

Devotional Quality of Hymns

The hymns have emerged organically, as Colson finds inspiration through the Psalms or while preparing sermons. He sends some lines to Zipf, who pulls together a melody and helps refine the lyrics. They workshop anywhere and everywhere — the sanctuary at Christ Church, an old bank vault that served as a temporary office, and the family rooms of congregants with pianos.

Through in-depth reflection on the Psalms and the great hymns of Christendom, Colson says that hymns have a unique power to impress things on the soul in ways that go beyond a sermon.

“I was always intrigued by the devotional quality of the great hymn writers. They distilled theological truth into accessible poetry that connects with the experience of the believer,”

Colson says. “When paired with good music, the truths of Scripture are impressed upon the heart and mind in a unique way.”