Our festivals feature hymns for the 21st Century church presented in a way that makes new hymns readily accessible to the folks in the pews, most of whom do not read music. The key is in the pairing of modern texts with familiar tunes. Here’s an example.
Try singing this discipleship hymn by Canadian hymn writer, Sylvia Dunstan, the tune for the hymn, “The Church’s One Foundation.” Even if you can’t sing the melody in your head, read these words and experience the way one modern poet unfolds the story of Jesus calling his first disciples, and how, with a\the challenge of the gospel, he continues to call us.
You walk along our shoreline,
Where land meets unknown sea.
We hear your voice of power,
“Now come and follow me.
And if you still will follow
Through storm and wave and shoal,
Then I will make you fishers,
But of the human soul.”
You call us, Christ, to gather
the peoples of the earth.
We cannot fish for only,
Those lives we think have worth.
We spread your net of gospel
Across the water’s face,
Our boat a common shelter
For all found by your grace.
We cast our net, O Jesus;
We cry the kingdom’s name;
We work for love and justice;
We learn to hope through pain.
You call us, Lord, to gather
God’s daughters and God’s sons,
To let your judgment heal us,
So that all may be one.
Sylvia Dunstan, 1955–1993, © 1991, GIA Publications, Inc