This week in Christian history: ‘It came upon a midnight clear’ published, Pentecostal movement leader weds

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, December 26, 2021

'It came upon a Midnight Clear'' first published – Dec. 29, 1849

Edmund Sears (1810-1876), a Unitarian minister and author who wrote the lyrics to the famous Christmas Carol 'It came upon a midnight clear.' — Edmund Sears (1810-1876), a Unitarian minister and author who wrote the lyrics to the famous Christmas Carol "It came upon a midnight clear." | Public Domain

This week marks the anniversary of when the beloved Christmas Carol “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” was first published by a Boston, Massachusetts-based publication known as the Christian Register.

The author of the hymn text was Edmund Hamilton Sears, a Unitarian minister who wrote the words in response to the growing social upheaval that led to the American Civil War.

“Sears’ context was the social strife that plagued the country as the Civil War approached,” wrote Professor C. Michael Hawn of the Perkins School of Theology.

“John Julian, editor of the Dictionary of Hymnology, an important British reference work at the turn of the 20th century, offers high praise for Sears’ two Christmas hymns (the other being the lesser-known ‘Calm on the listening ear of night’), calling them some of the best in the English language.”