This song was written in 1857 By William S. Pitts. It is a common country gospel song. The picture of the church in the background is the real Little Brown Church in Iowa. As the story goes, William Pitts was going past this spot before there was a church there. He thought that there should really be a church there and made a song about the church in the vale. A couple years later he came back and saw the townsfolk building the church at the spot he imagined it.The song has grown in popularity since then.