We Come, O Christ, to You

Representative Text

1 We come, O Christ, to you,
true Son of God and man,
by whom all things consist,
in whom all life began.
In you alone we live and move
and have our being in your love.

2 You are the way to God,
your blood our ransom paid;
in you we face our Judge
and Maker unafraid.
Before the throne absolved we stand;
your love has met your law's demand.

3 You are the living truth;
all wisdom dwells in you,
the source of every skill,
the one eternal True!
O great I AM! in you we rest,
sure answer to our every quest.

4 You only are true life
to know you is to live
the more abundant life
that earth can never give.
O risen Lord! we live in you:
in us each day your life renew!

5 We worship you, Lord Christ,
our Savior and our King;
to you our youth and strength
adoringly we bring:
so fill our hearts that all may view
your life in us and turn to you!

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Author: Edith Margaret Clarkson

(no biographical information available about Edith Margaret Clarkson.) Go to person page >

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First Line:	We come, O Christ, to You
Title:	We Come, O Christ, to You
Author:	Edith Margaret Clarkson (1946, rev. 1984)
Meter:	6.6.6.6.8.8
Language:	English
Copyright:	© 1957, 1985, InterVarsity Press. Assigned 1987 to Hope Publishing Co. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

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Notes

Scripture References:
st.1= Acts 17:28, Col. 1:16,
st.2-4 = John 14:6,
st.4 = John 10:10

Full of biblical phrases from the New Testament, 'We Come, O Christ, to You" is a hymn of praise to Christ, who is the source of our 1ife (st. 1), the Way (st. 2), the Truth (st. 3), the Life (st. 4), and the one we worship as Savior and King (st. 5).

E. Margaret Clarkson (b. Melville, Saskatchewan, Canada, 1915) wrote the text during the summer and fall of 1946 at the request of Stacey Woods, general director of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF) in Canada and the United States, who wanted a theme hymn for the scattered student groups of the still-young IVCF organization. The song was first sung at IVCF's first Missionary Convention (December 1946, Toronto; precursor of the IVCF Urbana conferences) and first published in IVCF's Hymns (2nd printing, 1947).
'We Come, O Christ" is undoubtedly the best known of Clarkson's hymns; it appears in many modern hymnals and has been translated into other languages. Clarkson herself revised the text to the modern second-person singular ("you") in 1984.

In 1919 Margaret Clarkson moved to Toronto, where she has lived for much of her life. Educated at Toronto Teachers' College, she taught elementary school in Barwick, Ontario (1935-37), and was supervisor of public school music in Kirkland Lake, Ontario (1937-42). From 1942 to 1973 she taught in various elementary schools in Toronto. Clarkson has published seventeen books, including The Creative Classroom (1958), Rivers Among the Rocks (1967), Destined for Glory: the Meaning of Suffering (1983), and All Nature Sings (1986). Her hymns were published in A Singing Heart: The Collected Hymns of Margaret Clarkson (1987). She has been a strong supporter of IVCF and wrote a number of the theme hymns for their Urbana Mission Conferences. In 1993 Clarkson Was honored as a Fellow of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada.

Liturgical Use:
Beginning of worship; after assurance of pardon; before proclamation of the Word; also as a wedding processional

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

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Tune

DARWALL

Composed by John Darwall (b. Haughton, Staffordshire, England, 1731; d. Walsall, Staffordshire, England, 1789), DARWALL'S 148TH was first published as a setting for Psalm 148 in Aaron William's New Universal Psalmodist (1770) with only soprano and bass parts. The harmonization dates from the ninete…

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EASTVIEW (Lee)

The British hymnal Congregational Praise first published EASTVIEW in 1951. Sing it in three long phrases, and use solid organ accompaniment. --Psalter Hymnal Handbook

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Timeline

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Arrangements

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