On June 5, 1865, Anglican priest and polymath Sabine Baring-Gould wrote the processional hymm, "Onward Christian Soldiers."  The hymm was originally written for children walking to Horbury St. Peter's Church near Wakefield in Yorkshire, England. Far from the cultural stereotype that the hymm that earned Baring-Gould - that of a militant, narrow-minded clergyman fearful of and fighting against new knowledge - he actually led an impressive life, remaining keenly inquisitive about the world God had made.  The song, which he wrote in about 15 minutes, was originally titled "A Hymm for Procession with Cross and Banners," It was inspired by biblical imagery of the Christian as a soldier and only became popular when composer Arthur Sullivan wrote a new melody for it later. Its military imagery, out of step with today's cultural vibes, has led many contemporary hymmbook compilers to leave it asside.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Like other Anglican clergymen of his day, Baring-Gould was involved in more than serving parishers and writing children's processionals. He was the son and heir of a noble family but decided on a career in the church. Ordained in 1864, he became curate at the church at Horbury Bridge, where a year later he would pen "Onward Christian Soldiers."  There, he met Grace Taylor, the then-teenaged daughter of a local miller. The two fell in love and, despite a considerable age gap, were married for 48 years until her passing. Together, they raised 15 kids, all but one of whom survived into adulthood. Even while serving in parishes, Baring-Gould was a prolific writer, with nearly 1,300 titles to his credit. These included novels and short stories published in a variety of journals, a 16-volume series called Lives of the Saints, modern biographies, travelogues, hymms (the best known of which aside from "Onward, Christian Soldiers" being "Now the Day is Over"), sermons, apologetics, and cultural and anthropological studies.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             He had an international reputation as an antiquarian. His Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, a study of 24 medieval superstitions and their variants and antecedents, was particularly popular and was even cited by sci-fi and horror writer H.P. Lovecraft. He also published The Book of Werewolves, a collection of stories still widely cited.  Baring-Gould was also an amateur ironworker and painter. Prior to his ordination, while a teacher at a boys' school, he designed the ironwork for the school and painted scenes from The Canterbury Tales and The Faerie Queen on the jambs of the windows.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Co-authored by Dr. Glenn Sunshine & John Stonestreet   Breakpoint Daily-Colson Center