Phyllis C Spiers

Phyllis C. Spiers was a mid-20th-century Canadian hymnwriter, composer, and music director who played a significant, specialized role in the musical development of the Latter Rain Movement—a major post-WWII Pentecostal revival that swept through North America. Operating alongside her husband, James Murray Spiers, Phyllis became one of the most prolific early musical voices of this renewal, shaping the spontaneous, chorus-driven worship style that would lay the groundwork for modern contemporary Christian music.

The Spierses were originally based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but became deeply involved in the initial outbreak of the Latter Rain revival in 1948 at the Sharon Orphanage and School in North Battleford, Saskatchewan. Working with revival pioneers like the Hawtin brothers, Phyllis recognized that the intense spiritual fervor of the movement required a new musical vocabulary. Traditional, lengthy metered hymns were set aside in favor of short, highly scripture-centric, and easily repeatable "revival choruses" that could be sung spontaneously under the direction of the Holy Spirit.

In November 1949, the couple published a landmark sheet music collection titled Spiritual Songs by the Spiers through the Philadelphia Book Concern. The Library of Congress copyright catalog from the era noted that the songbook specifically served to introduce "many new latter rain choruses by Phyllis C. Spiers." As the revival spread across North America, the Spierses traveled extensively, taking their distinct musical ministry to the Elim Bible Institute in Lima, New York, and collaborating closely with the prominent mid-century radio evangelist Thomas Wyatt.

Though Spiers wrote and composed dozens of choruses, such as "Sing a New Song," "This Is the Promise," and "Mighty Signs and Wonders", her permanent masterwork is the triumphal gospel hymn "Behold What Manner of Man Is This."

First copyrighted in 1950 by her husband James, the hymn acts as a vibrant Christological tapestry, weaving together narrative elements from the Gospels with the grand, apocalyptic visions of the Book of Revelation. The verses marvel at Christ’s earthly ministry, detailing Him calming the raging sea, healing the lame, and opening prison doors to set captives free. The second verse pivots brilliantly into the Book of Revelation, describing Christ standing among the seven lampstands with eyes like a flame of fire and seven stars in His hand.

Spiers set her own text to a driving, joyful melody in $E\flat$ major, structured around an infectious, soaring refrain that became an anthem across Pentecostal and evangelical denominations:

Chorus:

"He's the Lord of Glory, He is the Great I Am;

The Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.

His name is Wonderful, the Prince of Peace is He;

The Everlasting Father throughout eternity."

Though her music originated within a localized Canadian revival, Spiers’ compositions possessed an accessible, infectious energy that quickly breached denominational borders. "Behold What Manner of Man Is This" (often cataloged under her tune name, HE'S THE LORD OF GLORY) was picked up by major evangelical publishers, including the Gospel Publishing House, and eventually found a permanent home in structured, multi-volume hymnals like The Christian Hymnary. Her work remains a foundational example of mid-20th-century revival hymnody, bridging the gap between classic gospel songs and modern praise choruses.