Category: The Midweek Hymn

BY request of TCW reader ‘Starshiptrooper’, today’s hymn is O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing. This is one of the 8,989 hymns written by Charles Wesley. He lived to … Continue readingO For a Thousand Tongues to Sing

THIS hymn, like many others, was written by an Anglican clergyman, but there cannot be many priests with a background like that of John Newton. He was born in Wapping, … Continue readingGlorious Things of Thee are Spoken

IN recent decades the wonderful hymn Onward, Christian Soldiers has come under attack from the PC brigade, who (wrongly) perceive it as militaristic. Most attempts to drop it from hymn … Continue readingOnward, Christian Soldiers

BEFORE I started writing this series, I didn’t realise that there is a sort of hymn snobbery. Growing up in an evangelical C of E church (Christ Church, Beckenham, Kent) … Continue readingWhat a Friend We Have in Jesus

AFTER I wrote about O Love That Will Not Let Me Go last week, reader Roy Davey-Jenkins commented that ‘Great declarations and heart-stirring hymns often come out of deep trauma’, … Continue readingIt Is Well With My Soul

IF ever a work resulted from divine inspiration, it is the hymn O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go, requested by TCW reader ‘Starshiptrooper’. It was written by George Matheson, … Continue readingO Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go

PROBABLY not many hymns derive from a poem about making and taking drugs, but that is the unusual background to Dear Lord and Father of Mankind. The poem, The Brewing … Continue readingDear Lord and Father of Mankind

THANKS for the welcome you gave this new series, and for your recommendations. Please keep them coming. As most people know, the words of The Lord’s My Shepherd are closely … Continue readingThe Lord’s My Shepherd

AFTER A Carol a Day in the run-up to Christmas, we are starting the New Year with a new series, The Midweek Hymn.My opening choice is To Be a Pilgrim, … Continue readingTo Be a Pilgrim