Psalter Hymnal (Gray) ‎#238

238. We Come, O Christ, to You

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Text Information

• First Line: We come, O Christ, to you
• Title: We Come, O Christ, to You
• Author: Margaret Clarkson (1946, rev. 1984)
• Meter: 66 66 88
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1987
• Scripture:
  John 10:10
  ;
  John 14:6
  ;
  Acts 17:28
  ;
  Colossians 1:17
  ;
  1 Peter 1:18-19
  ;
  1 Peter 1:19
  ;
  Acts 17
  ;
  Colossians 1
• Topic: King, God/Christ as; Love: God's Love to Us; Opening of Worship; Creation; Redemption; Wisdom
• Copyright: © 1957, 1985, InterVarsity Press. Assigned 1987 to Hope Publishing Co. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
• ONE LICENSE: 16830

Tune Information

• Name: EASTVIEW
• Composer: James V. Lee
• Meter: 66 66 88
• Key: G Major
• Copyright: © 1959, United Reformed Church

Text Information:

Scripture References:
st.1= Acts 17:28, Col. 1:16,
st.2-4 = John 14:6,
st.4 = John 10:10

Full of biblical phrases from the New Testament, 'We Come, O Christ, to You" is a hymn of praise to Christ, who is the source of our 1ife (st. 1), the Way (st. 2), the Truth (st. 3), the Life (st. 4), and the one we worship as Savior and King (st. 5).

E. Margaret Clarkson (b. Melville, Saskatchewan, Canada, 1915) wrote the text during the summer and fall of 1946 at the request of Stacey Woods, general director of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF) in Canada and the United States, who wanted a theme hymn for the scattered student groups of the still-young IVCF organization. The song was first sung at IVCF's first Missionary Convention (December 1946, Toronto; precursor of the IVCF Urbana conferences) and first published in IVCF's Hymns (2nd printing, 1947).
'We Come, O Christ" is undoubtedly the best known of Clarkson's hymns; it appears in many modern hymnals and has been translated into other languages. Clarkson herself revised the text to the modern second-person singular ("you") in 1984.

In 1919 Margaret Clarkson moved to Toronto, where she has lived for much of her life. Educated at Toronto Teachers' College, she taught elementary school in Barwick, Ontario (1935-37), and was supervisor of public school music in Kirkland Lake, Ontario (1937-42). From 1942 to 1973 she taught in various elementary schools in Toronto. Clarkson has published seventeen books, including The Creative Classroom (1958), Rivers Among the Rocks (1967), Destined for Glory: the Meaning of Suffering (1983), and All Nature Sings (1986). Her hymns were published in A Singing Heart: The Collected Hymns of Margaret Clarkson (1987). She has been a strong supporter of IVCF and wrote a number of the theme hymns for their Urbana Mission Conferences. In 1993 Clarkson Was honored as a Fellow of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada.

Liturgical Use:
Beginning of worship; after assurance of pardon; before proclamation of the Word; also as a wedding processional

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

Tune Information:

James Vernon Lee (b. Hove, Sussex, England, 1892; d. Southampton, England, 1959) originally composed EASTVIEW for the text "Rejoice, the Lord Is King" for his mother's eightieth birthday. Lee was an officer in the Brighton Battalion of the Boys' Brigade from 1910 to 1914. After service in the British armed forces during World War I he was the bursar at Caterham College (1919-1939). He also worked as a professional magician, earning the Gold Star of the Magic Circle in 1940. Lee served as organist in several churches and composed a number of hymn tunes as well as Masonic graces.

The British hymnal Congregational Praise first published EASTVIEW in 1951. Sing it in three long phrases, and use solid organ accompaniment.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook