How Lovely is Your Church, O Lord!

Representative Text

How lovely is your church, O Lord,
Where we can sing and pray;
One day within your courts is more
Than thousands far away.

Within these walls we come to know
Your grace, so undeserved!
For at the table Christ knelt low
To be the one who served.

You give your Spirit’s blessings here
Then send us from this place
To challenge hatred, greed, and fear
With gifts of love and grace.

At times we’re filled with troubling doubt:
“I’m old!” “I’m young!” “I’m weak!”
Yet you who sent the prophets out
Will give us words to speak.

How lovely is your church, O Lord,
When we are serving you!
For when we serve the lost and poor,
Your love is shining through.

Source: Songs of Grace: new hymns for God and neighbor #52

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Author: Carolyn Winfrey Gillette

Carolyn Winfrey Gillette has been a pastor in rural, small town, suburban, and city churches; she has also served as a hospice chaplain, a hospital chaplain, and a school bus aide helping children with special needs. She and her husband Bruce are pastors of the First Presbyterian Union Church in Owego, NY. Carolyn is a gifted hymn writer who has written over 400 hymns. These hymns have been sung by congregations throughout the United States and around the world — from the Washington National Cathedral to St. Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland to St. George's Cathedral in Cape Town, South Africa to small town churches and small household congregations; they have also been sung at national church and international ecumenical meetin… Go to person page >

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First Line:	How lovely is your church, O Lord
Title:	How Lovely is Your Church, O Lord!
Original Language:	English
Author:	Carolyn Winfrey Gillette (2005)
Meter:	8.6.8.6
Language:	English
Publication Date:	2005
Copyright:	Copyright © 2005 by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette. All rights reserved

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Tune

ST. ANNE

Though no firm documentation exists, ST. ANNE was probably composed by William Croft (PHH 149), possibly when he was organist from 1700-1711 at St. Anne's Church in Soho, London, England. (According to tradition, St. Anne was the mother of the Virgin Mary.) The tune was first published in A Suppleme…

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Arrangements

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