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"I tell you, it is the same in heaven. There is joy in heaven over one sinner who turns away from sin.”

VERSE 1
Ring the bells of heaven! There is joy today, for a soul, returning from the wild! See! the Father meets him out upon the way, welcoming His weary, wand’ring child.

Ring the bells of heaven! There is joy today, for the wand’rer now is reconciled; yes, a soul is rescued from his sinful way, and is born anew, a ransomed child.

Ring the bells of heaven! Spread the feast today! Angels, swell the glad, triumphant strain! Tell the joyful tidings; bear it far away! For a precious soul is born again.

CHORUS
Glory! Glory! How the angels sing! Glory! Glory! How the voices ring! ’Tis the ransomed army, like a mighty sea, pealing forth the anthem of the free.

 William Orcutt Cushing was born on December 31, 1823 in Massachusetts. He began reading the Bible as a teenager and became a member of the local Orthodox Christian church. At the age of 18, he decided to become a preacher. His first church was in Searsburg, NY. He met and married Hena Proper. The couple moved throughout New York. After being together for 14 years, his wife died. Soon after his wife died, William became ill and contracted a disease that paralyzed his voice and left him unable to speak, which forced William to retire after 27 years of preaching. After he retired, William had prayed and asked God to give him something meaningful to do with the rest of his life.  He moved back to Searsburg and supported the church he first pastored. A short time after moving back to Searsburg, he gave his entire life savings of $1000 to help a little blind girl receive the proper schooling that she needed. He even helped to revitalize the Seminary of Searsburg, helped build the Blind School at Batvia. William eventually realized that he had a talent for writing and for poetry. He began writing hymns, and wrote about 300 hymns. For the last years of his life, he lived with a Methodist preacher and his wife. He passed away on October 19, 1902, and is buried at Jones Cemetery in Lisbon, NY.