It Is Well With My Soul

The story of this hymn

Horatio Spafford was a Chicago lawyer who had already lost heavily in the Great Fire of 1871. In November 1873 the ship carrying his wife and four daughters to Europe sank in mid-Atlantic; all four girls drowned, and his wife cabled two words: 'Saved alone.' He wrote these verses at sea on the crossing to join her — family memory places it near where the ship went down. Philip Bliss set the words to music, naming the tune 'Ville du Havre' after the lost ship.

Where it sits in the service

Often placed after the tributes, when the service turns from remembering a life to steadying the living; many families also choose it as the closing hymn. Print the refrain after every verse rather than once — congregations expect to sing 'It is well with my soul' each time, and a sheet that leaves it out causes a stumble at the very line that matters most.

In the programme, list it in the order of service as “Hymn — It Is Well With My Soul” with the leader or choir named beside it.

How it is actually sung

Written by a man who had just lost four daughters at sea, which is the reason it carries such weight at a funeral and why so many families choose it once they know. The refrain is the part everyone joins; the verses are often carried by a soloist or the choir with the congregation coming in on “It is well”. Five verses is more than most services use — three and the refrain is plenty.

Printing the words

Public domain. Print the refrain prominently, because it is the part the congregation sings even when they do not know the verses.

This is practical guidance rather than legal advice. Reproduction rights vary by territory, by hymnal edition and by the licence your church holds — the church office is the right place to ask, and they answer this question often.