1416 in Songs of Fellowship; a song by Reuben Morgan


LET THE WEAK SAY I AM STRONG,
Let the poor say I am rich,
Let the blind say I can see,
It’s what the Lord has done in me.
(Repeat)

Hosanna, hosanna
To the Lamb that was slain;
Hosanna, hosanna,
Jesus died and rose again.

Into the river I will wade,
There my sins are washed away;
From the heavens mercy streams
Of the Saviour’s love for me.

I will rise from waters deep
Into the saving arms of God;
I will sing salvation songs:
Jesus Christ has set me free.

'Shall we gather at the river?' (or shall we reconvene at another church with its own baptistery? Optional second verse)

'River wash over me'

'I've come to wash my soul in the living water' (G Kendrick - no it's ok, despite the recent Daily Mail rant against anything post-1897 written by people with beards!! You may not agree with all his use of metaphor, but it's a lyric that uses lots of different Biblical images and spins them together thematically. Some congregations may also struggle with the fact that it's not a 3 chord bash. But a well-brought up one like Dibley's shouldn't bat an eyelid)

If you ran out of steam after getting as far as the waters, you probably still need to get a more powerful heating element...

Here's my offering, for what it's worth.

Jesus calls us to the waters;
here we gather at his call,
humbly follow his example,
Servant Saviour, sent for all.
Here we come to wash our bodies,
outward sign of cleansing grace;
rise to follow him with purpose,
strengthened now to run the race.

ACJ, 2008 (but feel free to adjust it if necessary)

I'm well impressed - will wait for the new Andy Jones collection to be added to Hymnquest....

Yes, I'd spotted the Kendrick song, but don't know it so decided to stick with what is known for once.

My dunkee has chosen 'I cannot tell why he, whom angels worship' which I'm sure is because it needs a step ladder to reach the top notes.

So here's my attempt at your alternative of shall we gather...

Shall we reconvene at D+1
Where there's a dodgy baptistery
That gets filled ice cold water
That flows in(and then leaks out)?

Yes, we'll reconvene at D+1
With the baptist'ry heater from D+6
To raise the temperature of the water
So we don't all die of shock!

It so happens that several years ago I was challenged that maybe a new hymn on baptism might be needed, and it also so happens that on holiday this summer I drafted one. It's only draft so may need some amendments, but I offer it as an idea ...

This is the sign revealing God’s intention:
here is the timeless offer of the Lord.
This water speaks of hope, of birth, of washing,
of God’s desire for hearts and lives restored;
mark God’s command, his solemn invitation:
for those who come, a welcome is assured.

Here we declare our hope in God’s good promise –
the call to faith is answered deep within.
We are forgiven! Our guilty past is pardoned!
With conscience cleansed, we turn away from sin;
as we embrace Christ’s death and resurrection,
God’s Spirit causes new life to begin.

So here we welcome those the Lord has summoned,
for none can walk the Christian way alone:
it is among the saints, God’s pilgrim people,
the Spirit’s gifts of life and joy are known;
and all who share God’s call and faith’s confession
belong to Christ: we hail them as our own.

(Suggested tune: Finlandia)

Thanks Martin, that's exactly the kind of thing I was looking for and failing to find. With your permission, I'd like to use it - vaguely fitting to trial it so close to your ancestral home!

I'm more than happy for you to use this and glad it is the kind of thing you were looking for. Two questions:

1 Did you have reservations about any of the text?
2 When do you need a "definitive" version? (I'd like to take a day or two to review this again, having not looked at it since I filed the first draft in August, and may want to make minor changes ...)

If you would rather continue the conversation offline, let me know ...

(By the way, it's hardly the ancestral home in D+n; the ancestors came from Derbyshire (f) and Wuppertal, Germany (m) ... )

Hi Martin,
to answer your questions in reverse order - the Baptism is 26th October and I am printing service sheets no later than the preceding Thursday. I am happy to use the existing version but if you would prefer a few 'tweeks' that's fine too.

In terms of the text, I am very happy with how it works - connecting individual response in faith to communal discipleship, and a theology of Baptism that feels 'healthy.'

From a practical point, and this may reflect my muddled ancestry, a couple of things when I tried to sing it:

verse 2, line 3, seems to need me to sing "forgiv'n" rather than 'forgive-en', but this may be a reflection of my colloquialisms

verse 3 line 3, didn't quite seem to match the stresses of the tune. Whether that's iambic or trochaic or something else I have not a clue, but each time I tried, I had to have a couple of goes to get it to fit.

Otherwise, I really look forward to singing it in a week or so's time.

Catriona,

Thanks for the critique - that was very useful. I have altered the lines in question, plus a little punctuation, and am now reasonably happy with the results:


This water
------------

This is the sign revealing God’s intention:
here is the timeless offer of the Lord.
This water speaks of hope, of birth, of washing,
of God’s desire for hearts and lives restored;
mark God’s command, his solemn invitation:
for those who come, a welcome is assured.

Here we declare our hope in God’s good promise –
the call to faith is answered deep within.
We are set free, our guilty past forgiven!
With conscience cleansed, we turn away from sin;
as we embrace Christ’s death and resurrection,
God’s Spirit causes new life to begin.

So here we welcome those the Lord has summoned,
for none can walk the Christian way alone.
The Spirit moves among God’s pilgrim people;
his gifts of life and joy are here made known;
and all who share God’s call and faith’s confession
belong to Christ: we hail them as our own.


John 3:5, 6:37, Acts 2:38-39, 17:30, I Peter 3:21, Romans 6:2-4, I Corinthians 12:7,12-13
Suggested tune: Finlandia

(c) Martin E Leckebusch


You are of course more than welcome to use this for your baptismal service - I'm honoured to be able to offer the hymn. If you do use it and find anything else which does not work in "real" life, please let me know, and I'll have another look at it; remember, this will be the first time the text has been used by a congregation.

Hope the service goes well!

Thank you Martin, it will be a special day I am sure, and an honour for us to use a brand new hymn.