John Needham › Hymnals

Needham, John, was the son of John Needham, Baptist Minister, of Hitchin, Herts, but the date of his birth is unknown. He would doubtless be educated by his father, who was a tutor and in repute as a learned man. In 1750 Needham became co-pastor with John Beddome at the Baptist meetinghouse in the Pithay, Bristol; but, two years later, Beddome having retired through age, a violent controversy arose in the Church with regard to a continuance of the plan of co-pastorship. As the result, Needham and a number of his friends removed to a Baptist meetinghouse in Callowhill Street, where a Mr. Foot was pastor. For a time the two societies used the same builing at different hours, but in 1755 they were united, with Mr. Needham and Mr. Foot as co-pastors. It is known that up to 1774 this arrangement continued, and it is also known that in 1787, both Mr. Needham and Mr. Foot having died, the Callowhill Street Church became extinct, but which of the two pastors was the survivor is not known. The date of Needham's death is unknown. It was probably circa 1786. In 1768 he published Hymns Devotional and Moral on various Subjects, collected chiefly from the Holy Scriptures, &c, Bristol, S. Farley, 1768. These hymns are 263 in all, and whilst none of them possess great excellence, yet several are of a pleasing and useful character. During the past 120 years several have appeared in Nonconformist hymnbooks, and specially in those of the Baptists. Of these the following are still in common use:—
1. Ashamed of Christ! my soul disdains. Not ashamed of Christ.
2. Awake, my tongue, thy tribute bring. The Divine Perfections.
3. Glory to God, Who reigns above. Jesus, the Messiah.
4. Great author of the immortal mind. Imitation of God's Moral Perfections. From "flow matchless, Lord, Thy glories are."
5. Happy the man whose cautious steps. Christian Moderation.
6. Holy and reverend is the Name. Reverence in Worship.
7. Kind are the words that Jesus speaks. Christ the Strengthener.
8. Lord,ere [Now Lord] the heavenly seed is sown. Parable of the Sower.
9. Methinks the last great day is come. The Judgment.
10. Rise, O my soul, pursue the path. The Example of the Saints.
11. See how the little toiling ant. Youth for Christ.
12. Thou art, O God, a Spirit pure. God a Spirit.
13. To praise the ever bounteous Lord. Harvest.
14. When some kind shepherd from his fold. The Lost Sheep. From this “O how divine, how sweet the joy," in Hatfield's Church Hymn Book, New York, 1872, is taken. [Rev. W. R. Stevenson, M.A.]

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)