A Hymn for International Day of Peace - Here is Peace
In 1981, the United Nations General Assembly declared the third Tuesday of September as International Day of Peace. This day coincided with the opening day of the annual sessions of the General Assembly. The purpose of the day was and still remains, to strengthen the ideals of peace around the world.
Two decades after establishing this day of observance, in 2001, the assembly moved the date to be observed annually on September 21. So, beginning in 2002, September 21 marks not only a time to discuss how to promote and maintain peace among all peoples but also a 24-hour period of global ceasefire and non-violence for groups in active combat (I am grateful to Rev’d Pat Bilsborrow for drawing my attention to this day).
Hymn: Here is Peace
Here is peace, when grace astounds us
quelling all our wild pretence.
Here is peace, shalom and kindness,
passion ruled by reasoned sense.
Here is peace, when grace engenders
love that neither fades nor ends.
Here is peace when people welcome;
enemies become as friends.
Here is peace, when grace surprises
ignorance with words of hope.
Here is peace, to light our senses:
see, God’s love has boundless scope.
Words: Andrew Pratt written while listening to Mr D. Rutter, preacher, in Comberbach Methodist Church 2004; © 2010 Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England copyright@stainer.co.uk . Please include any reproduction for local church use on your CCL Licence returns. All wider and any commercial use requires prior application to Stainer & Bell Ltd
Metre: 8.7.8.7.
Tune: ADORATION (Hunt)
A tune can be found here – Traditional Latvian Melody
A commentary on the text and tune (with an out of date biography) can be found here.
Category: music
The Song of the Sea – a hymn related to Global Warming – reposting
The Song of the Sea – a hymn related to Global Warming
I usually post a hymn on a Monday or Tuesday each week. On Monday morning 11th August, the Today Programme on radio 4 announced that The UK's seas have had their warmest start to the year since records began, helping to drive some dramatic changes in marine life and for its fishing communities. Read more…
In 2021 Dr Tim Gordon Marine Biologist, Exeter University spoke to Bramhall Methodist Church about the death of coral reefs around Australia. Again, today there are reports of the deterioration of the Great Barrier Reef. During his seminar, in response, I wrote these words…
The song of the sea, once melodious, is dying,
that song is essential, the calling of home;
Great God, we lament, yet the sound of our crying
is quieter than breakers, the wash of the foam.
What work must we do to restore what is broken,
how can we encourage the choir of the sea?
The spirit is moving, the waters are wounded,
the oceans are anguished for life to be free.
You enter our suffering and love in our grieving,
you join us in weakness, when frailty is near,
God holds us, enfold us when hell overcomes us,
stand near to the tomb of our folly and fear.
You promise a covenant, both gift and promise.
Creation is groaning, still coming to birth.
Bring newness, renewal, a hope that is living,
from suffering bring joy for the whole of the earth.
We treasure the symphony, yet we are grieving,
we long for the chorus, the song of the sea,
bring light in the darkness and sound in the silence,
Great God, co-creator, let all life be free.
Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2021 Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England copyright@stainer.co.uk . Please include any reproduction for local church use on your CCL Licence returns. All wider and any commercial use requires prior application to Stainer & Bell Ltd
Metre: 12 11 12 11
Tune: STREETS OF LAREDO
You can read more about this at Tim Gordon
Hear this sung by Gareth Moore here
If love could be the centre of the lives we seek to live – a hymn inspired by Luke 11: 4 (The Lord’s Prayer)
If love could be the centre of the lives we seek to live – inspired by Luke 11: 4 (The Lord’s Prayer) - 'forgive us our debts' Lectionary 26-7-2025
1 If love could be the centre of
the lives we seek to live,
if we could learn to measure wealth
by debts that we forgive;
then Christ would be incarnate in
all love that we could give
2 Our lives would then be measured by
our depth of love and grace,
the way in which we looked on Christ
in one another’s face.
Then Love would come to live again
within this time and place.
Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2014 Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England copyright@stainer.co.uk . Please include any reproduction for local church use on your CCL Licence returns. All wider and any commercial use requires prior application to Stainer & Bell Ltd.
Metre: 8 6 8 6 8 6
Tune: SHELTERED DALE (used in the Methodist Hymn Book[1933] to set 'Awake, awake to love and work')
Hymn Society, US and Canada – Conference
February 28, 2025
WE BELIEVE: THE HYMN SOCIETY TO GATHER IN DETROIT
The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada invites all who love congregational song to its Annual Conference, taking place July 13-16, 2025, on the campus of Wayne State University in Detroit. With the theme “We Believe: Faith, Community, and the Holy Act of Singing,” this year’s gathering will explore how singing together shapes faith and strengthens community, especially in times of change and challenge.
As churches navigate new realities, the conference will reflect on the 1,700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed, asking: How do we sing our faith today? Through vibrant worship, rich learning opportunities, and powerful communal singing, participants will celebrate the transformative role of song in healing brokenness and renewing peace.
Each evening, participants will experience a dynamic hymn festival led by renowned musicians and scholars, including Jan Kraybill, FHS, Mary Louise Bringle, FHS, Robert Batastini, FHS, Phillip Morgan, and C. Michael Hawn, FHS. A special highlight will be the joint hymn festival on Monday, July 14, at historic Hartford Memorial Baptist Church, presented in partnership with the National Association of Negro Musicians, which will also be gathering in Detroit.
The conference will feature engaging plenary speakers, including:
• Margaret Aymer – Professor of New Testament Studies, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
• Jennaya Robison – Artistic Director, National Lutheran Choir
• Peter Marty – Publisher and Editor, The Christian Century
Attendees will also have access to dozens of sectional presentations, the Emerging Scholars Forum, a hymnal showcase, interactive connection zones, and an Organ Institute on leading congregational song, led by Nicole Keller (University of Michigan).
Whether you are a church musician, scholar, poet, composer, worship leader, clergy member, educator, or simply someone who loves to sing, this conference is for you!
Register today at www.thehymnsociety.org. Early-bird rates are available through March 15, and advance rates through June 15.
About The Hymn Society
Founded in 1922, The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada is an ecumenical community dedicated to the transformative power of congregational song. Our members include scholars, musicians, poets, composers, clergy, worship planners, educators, and passionate singers. We believe that the holy act of singing together shapes faith, heals brokenness, transforms lives, and renews peace.
For more information, contact:
J. Michael McMahon, Executive Director
The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada
5 Thomas Circle, NW, 4th Floor, Washington, DC 20005-4153
📧 mike@thehymnsociety.org | 📞 800-843-8966
Andrew Donaldson from Toronto, has agreed to my sharing his hymn ‘How Can We Sing, Our Souls Aghast and Shaken?’ – appropriate at this time…
Thank you to Andrew Donaldson from Toronto, a Fellow of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada, who has agreed to my sharing his hymn 'How Can We Sing, Our Souls Aghast and Shaken?' here. It is particularly appropriate at this time, I feel.
1. How can we sing? – our souls aghast and shaken?
Sing, when our hope has broken like a bone?
Long-whispered schemes now rise up, proud and open.
Tyrants and kings, tyrants and kings
Now rule us from a throne.
2. How can we sing? What good will come with praises?
Songs fill the air; they soar, then soon are gone.
Hordes overturn our safe and sacred places,
Leave not a trace, leave not a trace,
Nor stone upon a stone.
3. How can we sing? – for who will hear our voices?
Why does a lie sound wiser than a psalm?
Shrewd powers lead from crisis into crisis;
None care to hear, none care to hear
Your shepherd’s voice of calm.
4. How can we sing, yet how can we stand silent?
Long-silent tongues have sung us to this day:
Saints voiced a hope both holy and defiant.
Breathe through our song, breathe through our song,
O Holy One, we pray.
Words: Andrew Donaldson
© 2025 GIA Publications, Inc. # U01906T
Please include any reproduction for local church use on your Copyright Licence returns. All wider and any commercial use requires prior application to GIA Publications, Inc.
Andrew suggests the following tune COMMENT VOULOIR QU’UNE PERSONNE CHANTE
French Troubadour melody
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifxGjuldIko
Andrew also notes that the words fit to GENEVAN 12, but only if you don't repeat the phrase in the fourth line of text.
hymnsandbooks 