As We Walk Along beside You

As we walk along beside you

Author: Michael A. Perry (1981)
Tune: BURNING HEART
Published in 1 hymnal

Audio files: MIDI

Full Text

1 Alleluia, alleluia!
As we walk along beside you,
and we hear you speak of mercy,
then it seems our hearts are burning,
for we find you in the sharing of the word.

2 As we ask that you stay with us,
and we watch what you are doing,
then our eyes begin to open,
for we see you in the breaking of the bread.

3 As we reach for you believing,
and we go to love and serve you,
then our lives will be proclaiming
that we know you in your rising from the dead.
Lord, alleluia!

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Author: Michael A. Perry

Michael Arnold Perry (1942-1996) was one of the UK's leading hymnwriters of the 20th century. He was closely associated with Jubilate Hymns. Michael Perry was born in Beckenham, Kent on 8 March 1942. He was educated at Dulwich College and went on to study at University College London; Oak Hill Theological College, London; Ridley Hall, Cambridge; and University of Southampton. It was during his student days at Oak Hill in 1964 that he wrote his best-known hymn, the Calypso Carol, the first line of which is "See him lying on a bed of straw". He wrote this for a college concert, and it only became famous by accident when Cliff Richard substituted it for a missing recording in a radio show. After ordination in the Church of England Dio… Go to person page >

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Text Information

First Line: As we walk along beside you
Title: As We Walk Along beside You
Author: Michael A. Perry (1981)
Meter: 8.8.8.11 with alleluias
Language: English
Copyright: Text and music © 1982, Hope Publishing Co. All rights reserved. Used by permission
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Notes

Michael A. Perry's text draws from the Emmaus story in Luke 24:13-35. As we sing it, we experience the journey to Emmaus and discover Christ in the Word (st. 1), in the breaking of bread (st. 2), and in our service to him (st. 3). The Easter "alleluias" framing this hymn were not part of the original text, which Perry (b. Beckenham, Kent, England, 1942; d. England, 1996) wrote in 1981 in Southampton, England.

Initially studying mathematics and physics at Dulwich College, Perry was headed for a career in the sciences. However, after one year of study in physics at the University of London, he transferred to Oak Hill College to study theology. He also studied at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, and received a M.Phil. from the University of Southhampton in 1973. Ordained a priest in the Church of England in 1966, Perry served the parish of St. Helen's in Liverpool as a youth worker and evangelist. From 1972 to 1981 he was the vicar of Bitterne in Southhampton and from 1981 to 1989, rector of Eversley in Hampshire and chaplain at the Police Staff College. He then became vicar of Tonbridge in Kent, where he remained until his death from a brain tumor in 1996. Perry published widely in the areas of Bible study and worship. He edited Jubilate publications such as Hymns far Today's Church (1982), Carols far Today (1986), Come Rejoice! (1989), and Psalms for Today (1990). Composer of the musical drama Coming Home (1987), he also wrote more than two hundred hymns and Bible versifications.

Liturgical Use:
Lord's Supper, especially at Easter or at any time in conjunction with the Emmaus reading.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook
--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

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Tune

BURNING HEART

Norman L. Warren (PHH 15) wrote BURNING HEART for Perry's text in 1981 and added the "alleluia" frame. Both text and tune were first published in the British Hymns for Today's Church (19 2). The tune title derives from Luke 24:32: "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the…

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Instances

Instances (1)TextImageAudioScore
Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #299TextImageAudio
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