The song was born in Kansas City, Missouri, though the one who gave it inspiration is unknown. A listener, a preacher named Ira Forest Stanphill, was paying attention because he had, after all, solicited suggestions for a new song. What was in the heart of an unidentified Christian believer in that Kansas City church that helped spawn “Room at the Cross” is likewise unknown. But, the words stuck. Were the other suggestions less worthy, in Ira’s estimation? His own testimony suggests otherwise, and yet the one that had quickly captured his eye was indeed the first one that emerged from his handiwork. How many of Ira’s other works were developed the same way? Even Ira probably couldn’t tell, although why he chose his method for song incubation was not random. What was it in the song’s title that moved this songwriter? Let’s see.
It was 1946, and the 32-year-old Ira Stanphill was doing something in a KC church that he loved – preaching and singing the good news. Sometime during the worship service, Ira asked those gathered to offer titles for new songs that he would write for them to sing later. Ira was a well-known artist, with a gift that must have spurred the energy among those people, for he received some 50 ideas. These were deposited in one of his pockets, for the time being. Something resonated in the next few hours, and Ira says the song ‘Room …’ was penned very quickly. This was typically how Ira developed his songs – from the crowds to whom he spoke. ‘Room…’ wasn’t the only title that he tried out on a worshipping crowd later, though he admits it was the only one among the others that prevailed for long. Why’d he do things this way? His response was that he thought the songs connected with his real-world experience, and that hearers responded for similar reasons. In other words, someone in that KC church had been motivated by the thought that he/she was welcome at God’s redemptive moment. He wants me to join myself to His pivotal, history-changing act of sacrifice. You can hear this seminal thought emerge in Ira’s words, and presume that they resounded as well in the ears and heart of that anonymous person who first suggested the song’s title. Maybe that person had a story that told of coming to know God, of realizing that He’s opening his arms and waiting with a loving embrace. Ira variously describes His cross as a ‘shelter’ and a ‘fountain’ (v.1), that this divine Christ is a ‘friend’ (v.2), One who at once embodies ‘love’ and ‘strength’ (v.3). ‘Who doesn’t need what He offers?’, Ira wrote.
Ira Stanphill and his unknown collaborator seemed to capture something important about God. Jesus didn’t reserve that Calvary moment for his own, for He and His Father to shoulder with a Divine detachment. Certainly, only Jesus could do what He did that day. But He wasn’t alone. A crowd, even family, were there. Why didn’t God urge them to leave? Because He knew what we need, a need more urgent than one that could have shielded Mary and John and the others from an awful scene. In fact, I need to look at that hour most intently, and make the same sort of observation of myself. That’s real life, as Ira suggested. That’s the only way to get above and beyond what hurts most in life – death. Fix my attention on His to get over mine. Sound like a plan?
See more information on the song story in these sources: The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs by William J. Petersen and Ardythe Petersen, Tyndale House Publishers, 2006; Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1990; 101 More Hymn Stories, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1985; and Stories Behind Popular Songs and Hymns, by Lindsay Terry, Baker Book House Company, 1992.
Also see this link for author’s biography: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/s/t/a/n/stanphill_if.htm
Also see this link, showing all three original verses and the chorus: https://www.hymnlyrics.org/newlyrics_r/room_at_the_cross_for_you.php
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