hope – hymnsandbooks

Historic creativity – a hymn

Historic creativity – a hymn with allusions to Genesis 1 and Matthew 21:43

1         Historic creativity
           has brought us to this day,
           the ground of all we have or are
           has set our present way.

2         When cosmic forces from the past
           flung stars out into space,
           the scene was set for human life
           and super-human grace.

3         The lives we live within this frame
           give challenge, hope and choice,
           and how we walk upon this earth
           will shape the love we voice.

4         God, come and strengthen our intent
           to work with all our heart
           in co-creative acts of love.
           Now is the time to start.

Andrew E Pratt (born 1948) © 2015 Stainer and Bell Ltd. 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
Tune: WESTMINSTER NEW
Created by HymnQuest.com

And there was light © Andrew Pratt 2026 (iPad art)

With daring we enter the future that beckons – a hymn for new beginnings (Matthew 28: 16-20)

With daring we enter the future that beckons – 
a hymn for new beginnings (Matthew 28: 16-20)

With daring we enter the future that beckons,
our feelings in tension - excitement and fear.
Wherever we're walking we know God walks with us,
before and behind, God's protection is near.

Alone in the desert God's people felt empty,
the land that was promised of honey and milk
seemed distant, reality made hope distorted,
clothed them with despairing, more sackcloth than silk.

And sometimes the way that we find in the present
has troubles and heartaches enough of its own;
but still God walks with us through valleys of darkness,
encompassed with loving, we're never alone.

So welcome the future and enter it boldly,
look back, God was with you wherever you trod.
This God is your lover through life and forever,
take hold of the certainty: this is your God.

Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2006 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
Tunes: WAS LEBET, WAS SCHWEBET
Created by HymnQuest.com

Beyond the crime of crippled conversation…in spite of degradation

Beyond the crime of crippled conversation

1	Beyond the crime of crippled conversation, 
	that thunders when diplomacy is dead, 
	a still small voice will whisper in the darkness 
	dispelling what was once a living dread.

2	Here love, like feathers, scatters in a moment, 
	the breeze of war is reaching hatred’s height, 
	yet love is not forgotten or extinguished, 
	still bids us walk within the dying light.

3	And dawn will come again, another morning, 
	to shed its colours on a new found way, 
	and hope will rise in spite of degradation, 
	and still our praise will wake this dancing day.

Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
© 2016 Stainer and Bell Ltd., London, England, www.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.

Watercolour © Andrew Pratt

Hope is built in present moments – hymn inspired by Isaiah 65: 17 – 25 (now with tune)

Hope is built in present moments – hymn with tune - inspired by Isaiah 65: 17 – 25 

1	Hope is built in present moments, 
	times of visions, times of dreams, 
	times when love transcends the present, 
	long outlasting human schemes.
	
2	Hope will open gates of promise, 
	herald dawns of glorious light, 
	help us live within this moment, 
	lead us onward from the night.
	
3	Hope is more than mists of fortune, 
	hope is more than fear or fate, 
	here through faith's imagination, 
	love transforms our present state.
	
4	We will find a new beginning 
	built on truths instead of lies, 
	built on love of every neighbour,
	love that will confound the 'wise'.

Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2013 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
Tunes: LAUS DEO; ST OSWALD

New tune written by Frances S. Drake reproduced with permission -

Enquiries for use of music to Hymncat@gmail.com

Lament: When anger is our highest creed

Our news invariably seems to have images of war. For those who grieve, on whatever ‘side’, Psalm 137 may give them, or us, voice. It is often missing from our worship. Some may remember ‘By the rivers of Babylon’ by Boney M. Halfway through the song they change to Psalm 19: ‘May he words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight…’. Perhaps Psalm 137 is seen as too violent, not Christian. But when we have suffered at the hands of others, when we grieve, lament is legitimate. Then it is understandable to use Psalm 137 in its entirety. And so I want to sing in solidarity with people in places of war and degradation…these words were inspired by the spirit of that Psalm.

1 When anger is our highest creed,
revenge the motivating force;
God, understand our depth of hurt,
our need for action, not just thought.

2 Ejected from what makes us safe,
familiar ground and well-known names,
we sicken for the things we've seen,
all sense of hope and courage drains.

3 We cannot celebrate our faith,
and faith lacks meaning, all is lost;
for nothing is as it once was,
we cannot ever bear the cost.

4 So, God, what should we do or say?
What is there left of love or life?
What mitigating cause or plea
will rid us of this pain of strife?

5 Amid our sense of grief and loss
where nothing now can be the same,
stand in the midst of shattered faith;
rebuild, renew, and raise again.

Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
© 2001 Stainer & Bell Ltd
Words © 2001 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: LM
Tune: PLAISTOW