AMAZING GRACE

The much-loved hymn ‘Amazing Grace’ was written by the former slave-trader John Newton, who was born in 1725 to a Puritan mother and a sea captain Father who took him to sea at 11 years old.  After a reckless youth  he became the master of a slave trading ship, treating his slaves cruelly.  During one voyage  the ship was caught in a horrendous storm off the coast of Ireland, and almost sank.  Newton prayed to God for survival, and vowed to change his ways. He was ordained as an Anglican priest, and worked with William Wilberforce for an end to slavery.  He wrote ‘Amazing Grace’ in 1772, as a testimony to the grace of God that had transformed his life.