Diocese of Southwark ~ Centenary Hymn People – Places – Prayer

Special Occasions

Diocese of Southwark ~ Centenary Hymn People – Places – Prayer

Lord, you meet us from the future:
All our past by love made new;
Present doubts and faltering footsteps
Strengthened by this larger view:
People, places, held together
By the power of God in prayer.
What we offer, risk and promise,
Take, O Lord, into your care.

Town and country, city’s suburbs –
Form the place of holy light:
God in Jesus lives amongst us,
Builds a world beyond our sight.
Here the Kingdom claims all people,
Loved by Christ, whoe’er we be;
Complex problems, pressing issues,
Lit by God’s humility.

Years and seasons shape our living –
Changing lives beyond our power.
In this process God is present,
Jesus shares each passing hour.
Spirit, fill us: make us thankful
For the past’s rich gifts today.
God works in us, through our frailty,
Raising dust and lives of clay!

Lord, we strive to live your justice:
In our age, to Christ be true.
Help us share the pains of Calvary
In the cries of lost and few.
In a world obsessed by money,
Power and status, free us all.
Touch our lives with love’s forgiveness,
Faithful to our Saviour’s call.

Gatwick’s planes and London’s river –
Borders of a see of praise:
Southwark’s people blest and needy –
Energised by Spirit’s blaze!
So we fly and flow as pilgrims
Called by Christ to run love’s race:
God transcends our human difference
By the power of Jesus’ grace!

© Neil Thompson 2005