DOWAGIAC — More than a century ago, in 1913, a minister and musician named George Bennard stopped by the tiny community of Pokagon in order to lead some meetings at the local Methodist church.

While staying in the home of the church’s pastor, Bennard received the inspiration he needed to finish final verses of the hymnal he had spent the past year composing. When he performed the song to the pastor and his wife, they were so moved by the song that they insisted it be played during a service that summer at the church.

On June 7, Bennard and group of five singers, accompanied by a guitar, sang the lyrics of “The Old Rugged Cross Hymn” for the first time in public.

The rest, as they say, is history.

In the years that followed, “The Old Rugged Cross Hymn” spread to other parts of the country — and later the world — thanks to famous Christian evangelist Billy Sunday.

Today, the song ranks up there with the likes of “Amazing Grace” as one of the most performed and recorded hymns in history.

Thanks to a campaign by a popular Christian radio station personality, “The Old Rugged Cross Hymn” may soon become enshrined as Michigan’s official song.

Pokagon Township’s Robert and Molly Shaffer, who have dedicated their lives to preserving the spot where the hymn was first performed, were recognized during a ceremony Saturday in Flint, Michigan, organized by Don Cox, a host with Flint’s WSNL who is leading a campaign to make “The Old Rugged Cross Hymn” the state’s official song. Nearly 2,000 people attended the concert, where Michigan Chief Supreme Court Justice Stephen Markman presented the local couple with a resolution from Gov. Rick Snyder praising the 114-year-old song for its importance to Michigan’s history.

“It [‘The Old Rugged Cross Hymn’] was composed and first sung here in Michigan, and became a song known throughout the world, just like ‘Silent Night’ was in Austria,” Robert said.

The plaque containing the proclamation now fittingly resides inside the site where the song was first performed, now named The Old Rugged Cross Church in honor of hymn.

The Shaffers — who have lived in Pokagon Township for 41 years — have spent the past 19 years working to restore the church to the condition it was in when Bennard first debuted the hymn in 1913. The couple, longtime members of the Pokagon United Methodist Church, purchased the former chapel in 1998, after learning the historic structure was near collapse following years of neglect from its former owners, who used it as a barn after the Methodist church moved to its present location across the street.

“God may have instilled in us the desire for us to buy it,” Robert said. “I can’t tell you any other reason.”

In the years that followed, the two have raised around $1 million in donations to bring the sanctuary back to life. Today, the restoration is around 98 percent complete.

While no longer used for regular church services, The Old Rugged Cross Church chapel is used for special services, hymn sings and funeral services, while the back of the building contains a museum with old artifacts from the church’s past, including the old bell that once rang from its rooftop belfry.

“It’s an awesome project,” Robert said. “Literally thousands have come to visit the church, from across the country, and even some in Europe and Asia.”

Learning that “The Old Rugged Cross Hymn” may soon become enshrined by the state Legislature as the state’s official song reaffirms the couple’s mission to preserve the chapel where it was first performed — and is a fitting payoff for the many people who invested in the restoration over the last 19 years, Robert said.

“First, the church belongs to the lord, and next it belongs to the people,” he said. “Without them, this restoration would have never happened. Molly and I may have started it, but thousands have made it possible.”