Psalter Hymnal (Gray) ‎#319

319. Savior, Again to Your Dear Name We Raise

1 Savior, again to your dear name we raise
with one accord our parting hymn of praise.
We give you thanks before our worship cease,
and now departing, wait your word of peace.

2 Grant us your peace upon our homeward way;
with you began, with you shall end the day.
Guard now the lips from sin, the hearts from shame,
that in this house have called upon your name.

3 Grant us your peace, Lord, through the coming night;
turn all our darkness to your perfect light.
Then, while we sleep, our hope and strength renew,
for dark and light are both alike to you.

4 Grant us your peace throughout our earthly life:
comfort in sorrow, courage in the strife.
Then, when your voice shall make our conflict cease,
call us, O Lord, to your eternal peace.

Text Information

• First Line: Savior, again to your dear name we raise
• Title: Savior, Again to Your Dear Name We Raise
• Author: John Ellerton (1866, alt.)
• Meter: 10 10 10 10
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1987
• Scripture:
  Psalm 139:12
  ;
  John 14:27
  ;
  Philippians 4:7
  ;
  Philippians 4
• Topic: Close of Worship; Evening; Peace; Pilgrimage & Conflct

Tune Information

• Name: ELLERS
• Composer: Edward J. Hopkins (1869)
• Meter: 10 10 10 10
• Key: G Major

Text Information:

John Ellerton (PHH 318) wrote this hymn in 1866 as a concluding hymn for the festival of the Malpas, Middlewich, and Nantwich Choral Association. Ellerton revised the text and reduced it from six to four stanzas for the Appendix to the original edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern (1868).

The text is a prayer for peace: peace at the conclusion of worship (st. 1), when homeward bound (st. 2), during the night (st. 3), and throughout our lives (st. 4).

This hymn differs from Ellerton's other evening hymn, 'The Day You Gave Us, Lord, Is Ended" (318) in that its focus is peace rather than missions.

Liturgical Use:
Dismissal hymn sung prior to the spoken benediction, especially in evening worship; stanzas 1 and 4 could be sung at a similar place in morning worship; stanza 4 alone is appropriate at a funeral service (it was sung at Ellerton's funeral on June 20, 1893).

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

Tune Information:

Composed by Edward J. Hopkins (b. Westminster, London, England, 1818; d. St. Pancras, London, 1901) as a unison melody with varied organ accompaniments, ELLERS has been traditionally associated with this text. The tune was published in 1869 in Brown-Borthwick's The Supplemental Hymn and Tune Book. The harmony, slightly revised, is from Hopkin's four-part arrangement for singers, taken from his first stanza organ part. It was published in the Appendix to the Bradford Tune Book (1872).

The tune has a wave motion, rising to its climax at midpoint and then descending to end on a D. Since the hymn is a prayer, use clear but light organ registration.

Hopkins began his musical career as a chorister at the Chapel Royal and at St. Paul's Cathedral while also developing his skill at the organ. At the age of sixteen he received his first organist position–at the Mitcham Church in Surrey. In 1843 he was appointed organist and choirmaster at the Temple Church, London, where he remained for fifty-five years. During that time the men and boys choir achieved great fame for its out¬standing services. Also active in other musical areas, Hopkins founded (with others) the Royal College of Organists, founded and edited the periodical The Organist and Choirmaster, and with E. F. Rimbault coauthored a standard text, The Organ: Its History and Construction (1855). He composed a large number of anthems, liturgical music, and hymn tunes. Some of his tunes were published in the Cathedral Psalter (1855) and The Temple Choral Service Book (1867). Hopkins also served as music editor for various hymnals produced in England, Scotland, and Canada

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook