Ian White, our preacher last Sunday, based his service on the hymns of Fred Pratt Green. Many are included in our the new Methodist hymn book, Singing the Faith. Our first hymn declared “God is here.” After prayers of dedication and The Lord’s Prayer Guy read Psalm 95 and Rosalind read from Matthew 6 – we are urged not to worry about our physical needs. Concentrate on God and he will provide.
Ian posed the question: is it possible to write a hymn for every occasion? Charles Wesley wrote a great many wonderful hymns but they are less accessible to a modern ear. Fred Pratt Green’s hymns have great clarity of expression. Both writers were theologists but had different aims. A look at our hymn book, Hymns and Psalms, reveals how many of Pratt Green’s are familiar. He did indeed cover every occasion.
We sang The church of God in every age, the last verse of which summarises the Christian life. In prayers for the afflicted we responded with “put a song of joy into their hearts.” Our final hymn, Christ is the world’s light, was the first of Pratt Green’s to be published. We praised God for hymns, prayers and words that help us to know more of him and Ian gave a blessing.