Faith the Gift of God

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Hail, Alpha and Omega, hail! Thou Author of our faith

Author: John Cennick
Tune: EMMANUEL (Beethoven)
Published in 25 hymnals

Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

1 Hail, Alpha and Omega, hail,
O Author of our faith,
the Finisher of all our hopes,
the Truth, the Life, the Path.

2 Hail, First and Last, the great I Am,
in whom we live and move;
increase our little spark of faith,
and fill our hearts with love.

3 O let that faith which you have taught
be treasured in our breast,
the evidence of unseen joys,
the substance of our rest.

4 Then shall we go from strength to strength,
from grace to greater grace,
from each degree of faith to more,
till we behold your face.

Source: Moravian Book of Worship #703

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Author: John Cennick

John Cennick was born at Reading, Berkshire, in the year 1717. He became acquainted with Wesley and Whitefield, and preached in the Methodist connection. On the separation of Wesley and Whitefield he joined the latter. In 1745, he attached himself to the Moravians, and made a tour in Germany to fully acquaint himself with the Moravian doctrines. He afterwards ministered in Dublin, and in the north of Ireland. He died in London, in 1755, and was buried in the Moravian Cemetery, Chelsea. He was the author of many hymns, some of which are to be found in every collection. --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A. 1872.… Go to person page >

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First Line:	Hail, Alpha and Omega, hail! Thou Author of our faith
Title:	Faith the Gift of God
Author:	John Cennick
Meter:	8.6.8.6
Source:	Wesley's Coll.
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

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Notes

Hail! Alpha and Omega, hail. J. Cennick. [Faith desired.] Published in his Sacred Hymns for the Children of God, &c, 1741, No. 82, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines, and entitled," A Prayer for Faith." In 1774 it was given in R. Conyers's Collection; No. 78, stanza 3 being omitted. This arrangement has generally been followed by later editors, as in the Moravian Hymn Book, 1849, and others. In Kennedy, 1863, it reads: "Great Alpha and Omega, hail” In the Moravian Hymn Book, 1886, it begins with stanza ii., “Hail, First and Last," &c.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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