“Lord, I’m Coming Home” is a gospel hymn with words and music by William J. Kirkpatrick, published in 1892. It is also known by its first line, “I’ve Wandered Far Away from God.” Kirkpatrick, a Philadelphia church musician who served as music director at Grace Methodist Church, composed more than a hundred hymns.
In the account usually given, he wrote it at a series of Methodist camp meetings in Pennsylvania. The young soloist who sang each night always left once his song was over and never stayed for the preaching. Kirkpatrick prayed for him, and the words and tune came to him as he prayed; the soloist sang the new hymn, felt moved to stay for the sermon, and answered the altar call. The hymn is a prodigal’s confession in the manner of the parable in the fifteenth chapter of Luke: a sinner who has wandered far, spent many years in sin, repents and asks to be taken in again.
