Here I Raise Mine Ebenezer

A Book Three Years in the Making

As the congregation lifted their voices, Bob Cratchit sang with them, though more quietly than most. He had known the hymn for many years, yet never had it seemed to rest upon him with such weight as it did that morning.

When they came to the second verse, the sound within the church grew stronger, and the words, long familiar, seemed to take on a deeper meaning:

Here I raise mine Ebenezer; hither by thy help I’m come;

and I hope, by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.

At that line, Bob’s voice faltered.

The name, once spoken lightly in the course of ordinary days, now returned to him with a force he could not easily set aside. He had first known it as the name of a master to whom he owed his employment. In time, it had become the name of a benefactor, and then of a friend. And now it stood before him as something else entirely. Not merely the name of a man, but the sign of a help once given, and not forgotten.

Cover Image for The Funeral of Ebenezer Scrooge

That passage comes from the original narrative at the heart of my new book, The Funeral of Ebenezer Scrooge: Experiencing Change and Finding Meaning at Christmas. After more than two years of writing, research, revision, and preparation, I am proud and grateful to announce that the book will be released on October 1.

My relationship with Ebenezer Scrooge began long before I ever considered writing a book about him. In 1984, when I was eleven, I watched George C. Scott’s portrayal of Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. I was captivated by the story. Through the years, I returned to it again and again, always fascinated by the possibility that a person could awaken to the truth about his life and choose a different path.

The idea for this book began to take shape through an Advent sermon series. As I worked through Dickens’s story, one question stayed with me: What happened after Christmas morning?

Dickens tells us that Scrooge became a changed man. He repaired his relationship with his family, treated Bob Cratchit with generosity, became a second father to Tiny Tim, and lived with a new spirit. I began to wonder what that change looked like over the next seventeen years. How did it reshape his family and his business? How did one changed life affect a city and the generation that followed him? What kind of legacy did Ebenezer Scrooge leave behind?

Original Artwork from Alexis Pochubay for the Funeral of Ebenezer Scrooge

As a pastor, I have led hundreds of funerals. Eventually, my questions led me to imagine Scrooge's funeral. Who would have come? What stories would they have told? How would London remember the man he had become? Those questions gave the book its title and opened the door to an entirely new story.

Over the past three years, that original idea has grown into a thirty-one-day journey through December. The first part follows Dickens’s beloved story while reflecting on the ways memory and regret can awaken us, how generosity can repair relationships, and how faith can shape the legacy we leave behind. The second part is an original narrative set seventeen years after Scrooge’s transformation, when London gathers to say farewell and consider the difference one changed life has made.

Obituary for Ebenezer Scrooge

Working on this book has also caused me to examine my own life. That is part of the enduring power of A Christmas Carol. Scrooge’s journey invites us to look honestly at our patterns, relationships, regrets, and hopes. His story keeps asking whether meaningful change remains possible while there is still time.

Beginning October 1, The Funeral of Ebenezer Scrooge will be available online, with ordering information posted at ScroogeAndCratchit.com. On Sunday, October 4^th, copies will be available at the church. The book will become part of our life together as a congregation during Advent. Throughout December, it will provide the foundation for our Advent sermon series as we explore the themes of change, redemption, generosity, and legacy through the story of Ebenezer Scrooge.

If you would like to follow the book’s journey and receive updates throughout December, you can enter your email at the link below. You will also receive a free sample chapter from the book.

I am deeply grateful for the encouragement I have received over the past two years. I look forward to sharing the finished book with you on October 1 and then walking through its message together during the Advent Christmas Season at First Baptist Church of Massillon.

In the words that moved Bob Cratchit that Christmas morning:

Here I raise mine Ebenezer; hither by thy help I’m come.