Hymn: God Is Here
The story of this hymn’s advent is as follows: The text was
written by Fred Pratt Green in 1979, at the request of the co-director of music
at University United Methodist Church in Austin, Texas, who wrote: “We are in
need of a hymn. It would be sung for the first time at the closing service of
an eight-month long festival centering round the themes of Worship, Music and
the Arts...” The closing service was to be a “dedication of new reading desks,
communion table, and font, and finally, the rededication of the people to the
life commanded of us and given through Jesus Christ.” The text was written in
8.7.8.7.D meter so that the tune ABBOT’S LEIGH could be introduced to the
congregation.
Hymn: Great Is Thy Faithfulness
LindaJo McKim writes, “This text is one of the few gospel
hymns that address God specifically.” Written by Thomas Obediah Chisolm, it is
based on Lamentations 3:22-23. The line “no shadow of turning” comes from James
1:17.
Anthem: They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love
Peter Scholtes wrote this hymn based on John 13:34-35 and
Ephesians 4:4-6 in 1966. Since its initial publication, the work has been
included in 19 collections, including PCUSA’s Sing the Faith, the supplement to the 1990 Presbyterian Hymnal. The first three stanzas emphasize our
Christian unity both in faith and in action; the final stanza serves as a
doxology to the Trinity. Over all, of course, is the refrain, which speaks for
itself: “And they’ll know we are Christians by our love.”
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