Son of a Meth­od­ist min­is­ter, Run­yan showed an in­ter­est in mu­sic when ve­ry young, and by age 12 oft­en served as church or­gan­ist. He be­came a Meth­od­ist min­is­ter at 21, and held var­i­ous pas­tor­ates in Kan­sas, 1891-1903. He was ap­point­ed evan­gel­ist for the Cent­ral Kan­sas Meth­od­ist Con­fer­ence, and served for some 20 years.

Runyan wrote his first Gos­pel song in 1915 and was great­ly en­cour­aged by Dan­iel Town­er of Moody Bi­ble In­sti­tute. In 1924, Run­yan went to John Brown Un­i­ver­si­ty, Si­lo­am Springs, Ar­kan­sas, and served as pas­tor of the Fed­er­at­ed Church, and ed­it­or of the Christ­ian Work­ers’ Mag­a­zine. Mov­ing to Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois, he was as­so­ci­at­ed with the Moody Bi­ble In­sti­tute, and served as ed­it­or for Hope Pub­lish­ing Com­pa­ny un­til his re­tire­ment in 1948. He re­ceived an hon­or­ary Doc­tor of Let­ters from Wheat­on Coll­ege, Il­li­nois, in 1948. His works in­clude:

• Songs of the Great Sal­va­tion, with Dan­i­el Town­er (Wi­chi­ta, Kan­sas: The Run­yan Mu­sic Pub­lish­ing Co., cir­ca 1918)
• Revival Prais­es, with Ar­thur Mc­Kee (Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: The Run­yan Mu­sic Pub­lish­ing Co., 1925)

• Erickson, p. 381
• Hustad, p. 311
• Young, p. 823

1. Again He’ll Come
2. Come, Blessed Lord! © 1935
3. Dearer to Me Ev­ery Day
4. Gates Will Open Wide, The © 1925
5. I Sing of a Sav­ior © 1924
6. If We Bright­ly Shine
7. In the Hollow of His Hand © 1929
8. Jesus
9. Jesus, Name I Love © 1930
10. King’s Trea­sures, The
11. Like as a Mother Com­forteth
12. Lord, I Have Shut the Door
13. Loud from the Mount­ain­top © 1925
14. More Pre­cious to Me © 1925
15. Old-Time Bless­ings © 1925
16. On the Home­ward Way © 1925
17. Praise His Ho­ly Name! © 1925
18. Savior for Me, The
19. To Thy Tem­ple Ho­ly
20. Word of God

1. Gates Will Open Wide, The © 1925
2. Faithfulness
3. What God Hath Prom­ised
4. O Spir­it, Come © 1935
5. Processional
6. Runyan
7. Sanctuary