1. Christ is gone up; yet ere He passed
From earth, in Heav’n to reign,
He formed one holy Church to last
Till He should come again.
2. His twelve Apostles first He made
His ministers of grace;
And they their hands on others laid,
To fill in turn their place.
3. So age by age, and year by year,
His grace was handed on;
And still the holy Church is here,
Although her Lord is gone.
4. Let those find pardon, Lord, from Thee,
Whose love to her is cold:
Bring wanderers in, and let there be
One Shepherd and one fold.
5. And now we haste with thankful feet
To seek our Savior’s face;
And in the holy Church to meet,
His chosen dwelling place.
Source: The Cyber Hymnal #864
John M. Neale's life is a study in contrasts: born into an evangelical home, he had sympathies toward Rome; in perpetual ill health, he was incredibly productive; of scholarly temperament, he devoted much time to improving social conditions in his area; often ignored or despised by his contemporaries, he is lauded today for his contributions to the church and hymnody. Neale's gifts came to expression early–he won the Seatonian prize for religious poetry eleven times while a student at Trinity College, Cambridge, England. He was ordained in the Church of England in 1842, but ill health and his strong support of the Oxford Movement kept him from ordinary parish ministry. So Neale spent the years between 1846 and 1866 as a warden of Sackvi… Go to person page >
My Starred Hymns
My FlexScores
My Hymnals
My Purchased Files