926

God of Grace and God of Glory

Full Text

1 God of grace and God of glory,
on your people pour your power;
crown your ancient church's story,
bring its bud to glorious flower.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage
for the facing of this hour,
for the facing of this hour.

2 Lo! the hosts of evil round us
scorn the Christ, assail his ways!
From the fears that long have bound us
free our hearts to faith and praise.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage
for the living of these days,
for the living of these days.

3 Cure your children's warring madness;
bend our pride to your control;
shame our wanton, selfish gladness,
rich in things and poor in soul.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
lest we miss your kingdom's goal,
lest we miss your kingdom's goal.

4 Save us from weak resignation
to the evils we deplore;
let the gift of your salvation
be our glory evermore.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
serving you whom we adore,
serving you whom we adore.

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Scripture References

Confessions and Statements of Faith References

Further Reflections on Confessions and Statements of Faith References

According to the confessions, Christian worshipers are called to continue in service. Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 12, Question and Answer 32 instructs us to think of ourselves as “a member of Christ…[who] share in his anointing.” So we profess “I am anointed to confess his name, to present myself to him as a living sacrifice of thanks, to strive with a free conscience against sin and the devil in this life, and afterward to reign with Christ over all creation for eternity.” We serve him with good works, “…so that with our whole lives we may show that we are thankful to God for his benefits, so that he may be praised through us, so that we may be assured of our faith by its fruits, and so that by our godly living our neighbors may be won over to Christ” (Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 32, Question and Answer 86). And so we are moved to “…embrace God’s mission in [our] neighborhoods and in the world...” (Our World Belongs to God, paragraph 41). Christians, therefore, leave worship believing that “to follow this Lord is to serve him wherever we are without fitting in, light in darkness, salt in a spoiling world” (Our World Belongs to God paragraph 43).

926

God of Grace and God of Glory

Tune Information

Name
CWM RHONDDA
Key
F Major
Meter
8.7.8.7.8.7.7

Recordings

926

God of Grace and God of Glory

Hymn Story/Background

Committed to the social gospel, Harry E. Fosdick wrote this text as an “urgent personal prayer” for wisdom and courage to be used for the dedication of Riverside Church at the edge of Harlem in New York City in February 1931. He had chosen the tune REGENT SQUARE, and did not welcome the setting to CWM RHONDDA in the 1935 Methodist Hymnal, though that became the enduring match of text and tune ever since. His text and this great tune were enduringly united in the Methodist Hymnal (1935). 
— Bert Polman

Author Information

Harry Emerson Fosdick (b. Buffalo, New York, May 24, 1878; d. Bronxville, New York, October 5, 1969) was one of the most influential American preachers and writers in the first half of the 20th century. He studied at Colgate University (BA 1900), Union Theological Seminary (BD, 1904), Columbia University (MA, 1908). He was pastor of First Baptist Church in Montclair, NJ, and after serving as a chaplain during World War I, became pastor at First Presbyterian Church in New York City from 1919-1926, but then was asked to resign over his increasingly liberal views. He became a key spokesperson during the heated debates of the time between fundamentalists and the modernists with respect to interpretation of scripture. John D. Rockefeller then asked him to serve at Park Avenue Baptist Church in New York City which was rebuilt into what became Riverside Church. Fosdick agreed on the conditions that the only requirement for membership would be affirmation of faith in Christ, that it be interdenominational, and have a vibrant ministry in the area, which was between the Hudson River and Harlem and the home of several universities and seminaries. He served as pastor at Park Avenue and Riverside from 1926-1946. His sermons were widely heard on the radio; he taught homiletics at Union Seminary; and published more than thirty books. 
— Emily Brink

Composer Information

CWM RHONDDA was composed in 1905 by John Hughes (b. Dowlais, Glamorganshire, Wales, 1873; d. Llantwit Fardre, Wales, 1932) during a church service for a Baptist Cymanfa Ganu (song festival) in Capel Rhondda, Pontypridd, Wales. Hughes received little formal education; at age twelve he was already working as a doorboy at a local mining company in Llantwit Fardre. He eventually became an official in the traffic department of the Great Western Railway. Much of his energy was devoted to the Salem Baptist Church in Pontypridd, where he served as both deacon and precentor. Hughes composed two anthems, a number of Sunday school marches, and a few hymn tunes, of which CWM RHONDDA is universally known.
— Bert Polman
Henry V. Gerike, with an undergraduate degree from Concordia College (University), St. Paul, MN, and a Master’s Degree in Church Music from Concordia College (University), River Forest, IL, served as a teacher for 15 years in Lutheran elementary schools in Missouri and Illinois, before entering Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO, and received a Master of Divinity degree. Since his student days, he has conducted the Concordia Seminary Chorus. His other duties include being an editor and writer for Concordia Publishing House and Kantor at Church of the Reformation—Lutheran, Affton, MO. Most recently he completed a book of devotions for church choirs, Christ in Our Hearts—Christ on Our Lips, published by Concordia.
— Concordia Publishing House (https://www.cph.org/m-83-henry-v-gerike.aspx)

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