We are therefore delighted that Sheena Evans and Simon Hancock have written two new hymns that perfectly embody God's heart for the poor and marginalised and our calling to respond in love.
We are called to welcome strangers was composed in 2021. Care for the Hidden has been written especially for The Clewer Initiative's new Lent resource, Children in the Shadows.
The choir at St Martin-in-the-Fields in central London has recorded the hymns to help us learn them.
We are called to welcome strangers, offer shelter, food and rest;
heal the wounds of mind and body, showing love with true respect.
Those who flee from war-torn homelands or fear death for their beliefs,
those who run from flood or famine: will we meet them in their grief?
Here we see our brothers, sisters, each the image of our God.
If we turn our faces from them, we deny his living word.
He would have us feed the hungry, free the captive, tend the weak,
care for all who now are helpless, offer respite to the meek.
If we fail to challenge falsehood, if we bow to unjust laws,
then the stranger’s eyes will show us God’s own eyes which weep for us.
Let us pray as Jesus taught us, “Father, let your kingdom come,”
and with Christ-like loving kindness, we will welcome strangers home.
Words: Sheena Evans; Music: Simon Hancock
The author and composer give full permission for these hymns to be used in church services.
Each one of us is neighbour to all of humankind,
To friend and foe and stranger – to none can we be blind.
Our loving Father calls us to make a world that’s fair
By seeking out the captives, and showing them his care.
We are all God’s children, all in his image made,
In every place we see his face, and wonder at his grace.
The signs are there around us, where people fear to speak,
With faces pale and shadowed, and bodies thin and weak.
In overcrowded shelters, in life that is no life,
Abuse and lies deprive them of all that made them thrive.
We are all God’s children, all in his image made,
In every place we see his face, and wonder at his grace.
God mourns for these his children, now made to serve as slaves,
And we who are Christ’s body must love them as they crave:
Bring light to darkest places, expose this evil trade,
And, guided by his Spirit, give hope to the betrayed.
We are all God’s children, all in his image made,
In every place we see his face, and wonder at his grace.
Words: Sheena Evans; Music: Simon Hancock
The author and composer give full permission for these hymns to be used in church services.
