Above:  A World Map from 1570

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1928) by Frank Mason North (1850-1935)

Hymn Source = The Methodist Hymnal (1935), Methodist Episcopal Church; Methodist Episcopal Church, South; and Methodist Protestant Church

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O Master of the waking world,

Who hast the nations in Thy heart–

The heart that bled and broke to send

God’s love to earth’s remotest part:

Show us anew in Calvary

The wondrous power that makes men free.

+++++

On every side the walls are down,

The gates swing wide to every land,

The restless tribes and races feel

The pressure of Thy pierced hand;

The way is in the sea and air,

Thy world is open everywhere.

+++++

We hear the throb of surging life,

The clank of chains, the curse of greed,

The moan of pain, the futile cries

Of superstition’s cruel creed;

The peoples hunger for Thee, Lord,

The isles are waiting for Thy word.

+++++

Thy witness in the souls of men,

Thy Spirit’s ceaseless, brooding power,

In lands where shadows hide the light,

Await a new creative hour:

O mighty God, set us aflame

To show the glory of Thy Name.

Above:  Riverside Church and Grant’s Tomb, New York, New York

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn (1930) by Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969), for the opening of the Riverside Church, New York, New York, in 1930

Hymn Sources = The Hymnal (1941), Evangelical and Reformed Church; Hymnal and Liturgies of the Moravian Church (1969), Moravian Church in America

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God of grace and God of glory,

On Thy people pour Thy power;

Crown Thine ancient church’s story;

Bring her bud to glorious flower.

Grant us wisdom, Grant us courage,

For the facing of this hour,

For the facing of this hour.

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Lo! the hosts of evil round us

Scorn Thy Christ, assail his ways!

From the fears that long have bound us

Free our hearts to faith and praise:

Grant us wisdom, Grant us courage,

For the living of these days,

For the living of these days.

+++++

Cure Thy children’s warring madness,

Bend our pride to Thy control;

Shame our wanton, selfish gladness,

Rich in things and poor in soul.

Grant us wisdom, Grant us courage,

Lest we miss Thy kingdom’s goal,

Lest we miss Thy kingdom’s goal.

+++++

Set our feet on lofty places;

Gird our lives that they may be

Armored with all Christlike graces

In the fight to set men free.

Grant us wisdom, Grant us courage,

That we fail not man nor Thee!

That we fail not man nor Thee!

+++++

Save us from weak resignation

To the evils we deplore;

Let the search for Thy salvation

Be our glory evermore.

Grant us wisdom, Grant us courage

Serving Thee Whom we adore,

Serving Thee Whom we adore.

Above:  Apotheosis of War, by Vasily Vereshchagin

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source = The Hymnbook of the Anglican Church of Canada and the United Church of Canada (1971)

Text (1937, 1939) by Robert Balgarnie Young (R. B. Y.) Scott (1899-1987)

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O day of God, draw nigh

in beauty and in power;

come with thy timeless judgement

now to match our present hour.

+++++

Bring to our troubled minds,

uncertain and afraid,

the quiet of a steadfast faith,

calm of a call obeyed.

+++++

Bring justice to our land,

that all may dwell secure,

and finely build for days to come

foundations that endure.

+++++

Bring to our world of strife

thy sovereign word of peace,

that war may haunt the earth no more

and desolation cease.

+++++

O day of God, draw nigh,

as at creation’s birth;

let there be light again, and set

thy judgements in the earth.

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Above:  The Departure of the Israelites from Egypt, By David Roberts

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1913) by Walter Russell Bowie (1882-1969)

Hymn Source = American Hymns Old and New (1980)

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God of the nations, who, from dawn of days

Hast led thy people in their widening ways,

Through whose deep purpose stranger thousands stand

Here in the borders of our promised land.

+++++

Thine ancient might rebuked the Pharaoh’s boast,

Thou wast the the shield for Israel’s marching host,

And all the ages through, past crumbling throne

And broken fetter, thou has brought thine own.

+++++

Thy hand has led across the angry sea

The eager peoples flocking to be free,

And from the breeds of earth, thy silent sway

Fashions the nations of the broadening day.

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Then, for thy grace to grow in brotherhood,

For hearts aflame to serve thy destined good,

For faith and will to win what faith shall see,

God of thy people, hear us cry to thee.

Above:  The New Jerusalem and the River of Life

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1910) by Walter Russell Bowie (1882-1969), for Hymns for the Kingdom of God (1910), edited by Henry Sloane Coffin (1877-1954)

Hymn Source = American Hymns Old and New (1980)

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O Holy City seen of John,

Where Christ the Lamb doth reign,

Within whose foursquare walls shall come

No night, nor need, nor pain,

And where the tears are wiped from eyes

That shall not weep again.

+++++

Hark, how from men whose lives are held

More cheap than merchandise,

From women struggling sore for bread,

From little children’s cries,

There swells the sobbing human plaint

That bids thy walls arise.

+++++

O shame to us who rest content

While lust and greed for gain

In street and shop and tenement

Wring gold from human pain,

And bitter lips in blind despair

Cry, “Christ hath died in vain!”

+++++

Give us, O God, the strength to build

The City that hath stood

Too long a dread, whose laws are love,

Whose ways are brotherhood,

And where the sun that shineth is

God’s grace for human good.

Above:  The World, 1945

Image Source = Post World War II Atlas Supplement to Hammond’s New Era Atlas of the World (1945)

Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor

Hymn Source = New Worship and Song (1942), Congregational Christian Churches (U.S.A.)

Words by Oscar Edward Maurer (1878-1950) and Marion Elizabeth Spencer Maurer

Oscar Edward Maurer (1878-1950), ordained a Congregationalist minister in 1906, married Marion Elizabeth Spencer the previous year.  Oscar was active in foreign missions and served as the Moderator of the Congregational Christian Churches.

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The Son of God, the Prince of Peace,

Seeks all the world to gain

For brotherhood and common good;

Who follows in his train?

Who first can curb his own desire,

And selfish pride restrain;

Who quenches hate’s unholy fire,

He follows in his train.

+++++

All fearless souls who love their land,

But claim no better birth

Than that which makes humanity

Akin through all the earth;

Who will not seek by pow’r nor might

Another’s land to chain;

Who lose themselves to win the right:

These follow in his train.

+++++

Make firm our courage, Prince of Peace,

Unite our will as one,

That we from striving may not cease

Until thy peace by won.

Give us thy strength to bear thy cross,

Be true, in spite of pain;

O Christ, to us may grace be given

To follow in thy train!

Above:  Hills in Summer

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1929) by Ferdinand Quincy Blanchard (1876-1966)

Hymn Source = New Worship and Song with Worship Services and Source Materials (1942), General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches in the United States

I found a reference to this hymn and its source at hymnary.org.  I read the text today, after my copy of New Worship and Song arrived.

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Clear o’er the hills ring out the glad hosannas,

Bright shines the sunlight on the pilgrim throng,

Onward he rides to bear his wondrous message.

Seeking its truth the world has waited long.

+++++

Will they accept him, finding God his Father;

Loving with strength and heart and soul and mind;

Will they accept and walk his way of service

Leading to wider joy for all mankind?

+++++

So through all ages still he comes appealing,

Calling the sons of men from self to God,

Quickening the love that binds man to his neighbor,

Showing the path redeeming love has trod.

+++++

Grant us, O God, the heart of full allegiance,

Teach us the secret of his gain through loss,

Fit us to build the Kingdom of thy purpose,

So to fulfill the triumph of his cross.