Ferdinand Q. Blanchard was born on July 23, 1876, in Jersey City Heights, NJ. He was a graduate of Amherst and Yale Divinity School. He served as a pastor in Congregational Christian churches in Connecticut, New Jersey and Ohio. For thirty-six years, he was senior minister at the Euclid Avenue Congregational Church in Cleveland, OH. From 1942 to 1944, he was Moderator of the General Council of Congregational Christian Churches, which at the time was one of America's largest Protestant denominations (it later merged with the Evangelical & Reformed Church denomination to form the United Church of Christ). The Rev. Blanchard was also a writer, poet and hymn lyricist. He composed the lyrics for the hymns "O Child of Lowly Manger Birth", "Before the Cross of Jesus", "O Jesus, Youth of Nazareth", and "Word of God, Across the Ages". He authored a popular children's book entitled, "Jesus: How One Man Changed The World". He was active in many religious and social causes throughout his long life. He died three weeks before his ninetieth birthday.

Ferdinand Q. Blanchard was born on July 23, 1876, in Jersey City Heights, NJ. He was a graduate of Amherst and Yale Divinity School. He served as a pastor in Congregational Christian churches in Connecticut, New Jersey and Ohio. For thirty-six years, he was senior minister at the Euclid Avenue Congregational Church in Cleveland, OH. From 1942 to 1944, he was Moderator of the General Council of Congregational Christian Churches, which at the time was one of America's largest Protestant denominations (it later merged with the Evangelical & Reformed Church denomination to form the United Church of Christ). The Rev. Blanchard was also a writer, poet and hymn lyricist. He composed the lyrics for the hymns "O Child of Lowly Manger Birth", "Before the Cross of Jesus", "O Jesus, Youth of Nazareth", and "Word of God, Across the Ages". He authored a popular children's book entitled, "Jesus: How One Man Changed The World". He was active in many religious and social causes throughout his long life. He died three weeks before his ninetieth birthday.