In keeping with the theme of the 2023 meeting of the Northeast Jurisdiction Commission on Archives and History, hosted by Susquehanna Conference in May, we are featuring biographies of some of the Evangelical Association hymnwriters whose histories are part of our Conference Archives. Our featured hymn writer for June is Henry Hartzler.
Henry Burns Hartzler (23 Mar 1840 – 3 Sep 1920) began his ministry in 1869 on Snyder County’s Middle Creek circuit. His older brother Jacob Hartzler had begun his ministry on the same circuit in 1856 and later became an agent for New Berlin’s Union Seminary, a three-time district superintendent, and editor of the Evangelical Messenger. Henry followed his brother as editor of the Evangelical Messenger and eventually was elected a bishop in the United Evangelical Church. Both brothers are given articles in the 1974 Encyclopedia of World Methodism.
The author of many poems and hymn texts, he is described as the poet laureate of the Evangelical Church. Among his most popular hymns was “My Beautiful Bible,” a longtime favorite within the denomination. His song “Go and Seek the Lost” is reproduced from the 1921 Evangelical Hymnal, in which it was hymn #423.
Go and Seek the Lost
(ZION 878746)
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Susquehanna Conference UMC Historical Society 