The Secretary’s Newsletter: No.85: Summer 2020 From the Secretary: Revd Robert A. Canham Windrush Braithwaite KESWICK CA12 5SZ Phone: 017687 78054 Email: Please see our Contact page The Hymn Society Website: www.hymnsocietygbi.org.uk The Hymn Society of Gt Britain and Ireland New Subscription Rates to take effect from January 2021 There will be a modest increase in Subscription Rates effective 1st …
24 Rainbow – Canham
The rainbow of God’s mercy Alan Gaunt (1935 – ) © 1991 Stainer & Bell Ltd Used by Permission of Stainer & Bell Ltd 23 Gruneisen Road, London N3 1DZ, www.stainer.co.uk Robert Canham The rainbow of God’s mercy has over-arched the years, creating joyful colours from human grief and tears; we see the dark clouds gather, we hear the thunder roll, …
07 Fight the Good Fight – Wilson
John Samuel Bewley Monsell (1811-1875)Public Domain Claire Wilson Hymn-related dilemmas featured now and again during my East London parish ministry. I recall an occasion about twenty years ago when it struck me just before the service began that an unfortunate choice had been made. That Sunday we were observing World Peace Day: was it appropriate to begin this particular act …
06 Fill thou my life – Galbraith
Fill thou my life, O Lord my God, in every part with praise Horatius Bonar (1808-1888) Public Domain Douglas Galbraith Ira D Sankey lists his first gospel song as ‘Yet there is room! The Lamb’s bright hall of song’. The text was by Scottish writer Horatius Bonar, for whom Sankey went on to compose a number of other melodies. He …
05 In heavenly love abiding – Watson
Anna Laetitia Waring (1823-1910) Public domain Professor J. R. Watson In heavenly love abiding, No change my heart shall fear; And safe is such confiding, For nothing changes here: The storm may roar without me, My heart may low be laid; But God is round about me, And can I be dismayed? Wherever he may guide me, No want shall …
04 In the bleak midwinter – Wootton
Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894) Public Domain Janet Wootton This may seem an odd choice of hymn for July! But the global pandemic has made us all aware that we share this world and its seasons. We may fear that the coming of winter may mean the return of the virus. But the present situation has opened our eyes to broader …
03 Ye sons and daughters of the King – Constable
John Mason Neale (1818-1866), Jean Tisserand (d. 1494) Public Domain Douglas Constable The 3rd July is widely observed as St Thomas’ day, and, having been Vicar of St Thomas’ parish in Derby, I am happy to share my affection and sense of kinship with Thomas. I first became aware of him seventy years ago, the Easter before my tenth birthday. …
02 Day by day without a word – Pratt
Andrew Pratt (1948 – ) © 1995 Stainer & Bell Ltd. and the Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes Andrew Pratt At a very young age I remember cereal packets having pictures of the constellations on the back. So I guess my very amateur enthusiasm for astronomy is rooted in my time in primary school. I’ve owned a telescope, various binoculars …
01 O God of earth and altar – Leckebusch
Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936)Public Domain Martin Leckebusch It’s natural, when something disruptive or threatening happens, to ask why – why this, why now, why me? Whether the tragedy is personal (bereavement, maybe redundancy) or more far-reaching (flooding, or even a pandemic), people look for reasons. And often, whether spoken or not, there is the question: What have I done to …