Katherine Hankey was born in 1834 and was more affectionately known as Kate amongst her family and friends. Her father was a wealthy banker and part of a more evangelical faction of the Anglican Church. The desire for a gospel outreach in her community, encouraged Kate to organize Sunday School classes for the rich and the poor throughout London. The students of these classes were so spiritually influenced that many in turn became zealous Christian workers.
Kate did considerable writing, including several books for teaching and books of verse. All the royalties for these publications were directed to foreign mission projects.
At around 30 years of age, Kate experienced a serious illness. During this time, she wrote a lengthy poem on the life of Christ. The first 50 verse section was entitled “The Story Wanted” …from which came the hymn ‘Tell Me The Old, Old Story’. The second 50 verse section was entitled, “The Story Told” and from these words came our the well known hymn. I LOVE TO TELL THE STORY. Although, Kate also wrote music for this hymn, it was later changed to the tune we now use composed by, William Fischer. This is an amazing story to tell…and to sing about!