A Request from PWV Peacemaking Team and SCMT

A Request from the Presbytery of West Virginia Peacemaking Team and the Stewardship of Creation Ministry Team

Please consider using the following hymn in your congregation, to encourage your church’s work for peace, justice and creation care.

This Hymn text is posted online:

http://www.carolynshymns.com/a_prophet_has_a_lonely_task.html

A Prophet Has a Lonely Task

WAREHAM LM (“The Church of Christ in Every Age”)

A prophet has a lonely task—
To help the world to see anew,
To name injustice, then to ask
What God is calling us to do.

On city streets among the poor,
In places spoiled for oil or coal,
At yet another time of war,
A prophet seeks the nation’s soul.

O Lord, you taught us: Hear their shout!
Receive their call to turn from sin!
When others seek to shut them out,
The church must welcome prophets in.

For in our welcome, Lord, we’ll find
A living faith, a new world-view,
A life more peaceful, just and kind,
A church that gladly welcomes you.

Biblical Reference: Matthew 10:40-42
Tune: William Knapp, 1738.
Alternate Tune: CANONBURY LM ("Lord, Speak to Me, That I May Speak")
Text: Copyright © 2011 by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette. All rights reserved.
Email: bcgillette@comcast.net Web site: www.carolynshymns.com

Here is what Clifton Kirckpatrick former of the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) had to say about Carolyn's hymns and her new book of hymns,
Songs of Grace: New Hymns for God and Neighbor:

"Whenever there is an important season in the life of the Church, a major step forward in Christian unity, or a human or natural disaster that calls for lament and consolation, I have come to expect a new hymn from Carolyn Winfrey Gillette that lifts up in song our deepest yearnings to God. And what a gift those hymns have been! Many of those songs, along with others, have now found their way into a new book of hymns and meditations by Carolyn, Songs of Grace: New Hymns for God and Neighbor. This book is a tremendous gift to all the people of God to renew our worship and connect it in powerful ways to the mission and unity of the Church. It is also a rich resource for our prayer life and a strong reminder of God's call to us all to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly (Micah 6: 8). I recommend it with great enthusiasm to all who seek songs of grace that lead us to serve God and neighbor more faithfully!"

—The Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick, President of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, Visiting Professor of Ecumenical Studies and Global Ministries at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and former Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)