'Belfry Praise' (hymn tune)

Hymns Ancient & Modern, 496

Tune: John H Matthews

Unchanging God, who livest

Enthroned in realms on high,

To men the power thou givest

Thy name to magnify.

We raise the bells for ringing

With ready mind and will,

And come before thee, bringing

Our hearts, our strength, our skill.

We call, from tower and steeple,

Upon the day of days,

All faithful Christian people

To worship, prayer and praise;

We ring with joyous gladness

When man and wife are blessed;

We peal in muffled sadness

For loved ones laid to rest.

By union free and willing

The work of God is done;

Our Master’s prayer fulfilling,

We would in him be one:

One, as the Church our Mother

Would have her children stand,

Befriending one another,

A strong and steadfast band.

Our lives, like bells, while changing,

An ordered course pursue;

Through joys and sorrows ranging,

May all those lives ring true.

May we, through Christ forgiven,

Our faults and failures past,

Attain our place in heaven,

Called home to rest at last.

Henry Charles Wilder, 1904