God Is Here

Full Text

1 God is here! As we your people
meet to offer praise and prayer,
may we find in fuller measure
what it is in Christ we share.
Here, as in the world around us,
all our varied skills and arts
wait the coming of your Spirit
into open minds and hearts.

2 Here are symbols to remind us
of our lifelong need of grace;
here are table, font, and pulpit,
here the Word has central place.
Here in honesty of preaching,
here in silence as in speech,
here in newness and renewal
God the Spirit comes to each.

3 Here our children find a welcome
in the Shepherd's flock and fold;
here, as bread and wine are taken,
Christ sustains us as of old.
Here the servants of the Servant
seek in worship to explore
what it means in daily living
to believe and to adore.

4 Lord of all, of church and kingdom,
in an age of change and doubt,
keep us faithful to the gospel,
help us work your purpose out.
Here, in this day's celebration,
all we have to give, receive;
we who cannot live without you,
we adore you! We believe!

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Author: Fred Pratt Green

The Reverend Fred Pratt Green (2 September 1903 – 22 October 2000) CBE was a British Methodist minister and hymnwriter. Born in Roby, Lancashire, England, he began his ministry in the Filey circuit. He was ordained as a Methodist minister in 1928 and served circuits in the north and south of England until 1969. During his career as a minister he wrote numerous plays and hymns. It was not until he retired, however, that he began writing prolifically. His hymns reflect his rejection of fundamentalism and show his concern with social issues. They include many that were written to supply obvious liturgical needs of the modern church, speaking to topics or appropriate for events for which there were few traditional hymns available. His… Go to person page >

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Related Texts

First Line:	God is here! As we your people
Title:	God Is Here
Author:	Fred Pratt Green (1977)
Meter:	8.7.8.7 D
Copyright:	© 1979, Hope Publishing Co.

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Notes

Scripture References:
st. 1 = 1 Cor. 12:27-31
st. 2 = 2 Cor. 4:5
st. 3 = 2 Thess. 2:15
st. 4 = Titus 2:14

Fred Pratt Green (PHH 455) wrote this text early in 1978 in Norwich, England. Russell Schulz-Widmar had requested that Pratt Green write a hymn text to be sung at the closing service of an eight-month festival on worship, music, and the arts, held at the University United Methodist Church in Austin, Texas. In that service on April 30, 1978, the church dedicated its new chancel furniture (thus st. 2), and the people rededicated themselves to God. The text was first published in the British/Methodist supplementary volume Partners in Praise (1979).

"God Is Here" helps us celebrate what it means to be a church: to offer praise and prayer to God with "all our varied skills and arts" (st. 1), to preach the Word and participate in the sacraments (st. 2), to foster faith and service (st. 3), and to live lives ill "church and kingdom" that bring glory to our Lord (st. 4). This text presents a catalog of the central tasks of the church (see also 515) and emphasizes the relationship between Sunday worship and daily living.

Liturgical Use:
Regular Sunday worship; festivals, dedications, anniversaries of the church; worship conferences and missions.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

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Tune

ABBOT'S LEIGH

Cyril V. Taylor (PHH 286) composed ABBOT'S LEIGH in May of 1941 when he was working for the Religious Broadcasting Department of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The BBC had received complaints about the use of AUSTRIA (tune for the Austrian national hymn) during this time of war, a tune…

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Timeline

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Arrangements

Piano/Organ As Though the Whole Creation Cried - 50 Hymn Harmonizations for Organ - Volume 1 Two English Hymn Tune Settings Eight Improv. on 20th Cent. Hymn Tunes, Set 1 More Piano/Organ >
Choral GOD IS HERE! GOD IS HERE! God of Life - (Choral Score) More Choral >
Instrumental Abbot's Leigh (Festive Hymn Setting) BRASS ACCOMPANIMENTS FOR HYMNSINGING ABBOT'S LEIGH More Instrumental >
Handbells ABBOT'S LEIGH More Handbells >

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Media

Scores
Audio

The United Methodist Hymnal #660

Bulletin Score (melody only) (PDF, SIB, Scorch)
Bulletin Score (PDF, SIB, Scorch)
Full Score (PDF, SIB, Scorch)

Worship and Rejoice #1

Bulletin Score (PDF, SIB, Scorch, XML)
Full Score (PDF, SIB, Scorch, XML)
Bulletin Score (melody only) (PDF, SIB, Scorch, XML)

MIDI file from Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #516
MIDI file from The United Methodist Hymnal #660
MIDI file from Worship and Rejoice #1

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Page Scans

Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), p.788

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Instances

Scripture	First Line	Instances (4)	Text Title	Authors	Composers	Meter	Tune Title	Tune Key	Languages	Publication Date
Exodus 33:14; 1 Corinthians 12:27-31; 2 Corinthians 4:5; 2 Thessalonians 2:15; Titus 2:14	God is here! As we your people	Lift Up Your Hearts: psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs #246	God Is Here	Henrietta Ten Harmsel; Fred Pratt Green		8.7.8.7 D	NETTLETON	D Major		2013
Matthew 2:6; Philippians 2:2; John 10:11; Isaiah 53:11; 1 Corinthians 11:24-25; Luke 24:36; Psalm 46:10; Acts 17:28; Mark 10:45; Hebrews 13:20; Psalm 23:1; John 10:16; Matthew 18:20; Philippians 2:7; Exodus 33:14; John 10:14	God is here! As we your people	Worship and Rejoice #1	God Is Here!	Fred Pratt Green, 1903-2000	Cyril V. Taylor, 1907-1991	8.7.8.7 D	ABBOT'S LEIGH	C Major		2001
1 Corinthians 12:27-33; 2 Corinthians 4:5; 2 Thessalonians 2:15; Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 2:9-10	God is here! As we his people	Gather Comprehensive #741	God Is Here! As We His People	Fred Pratt Green, b. 1903	Cyril V. Taylor, 1907-1991	8.7.8.7 D	ABBOT'S LEIGH	C Major	English	1994
Philippians 2; Acts 17:28; Philippians 2:2; Philippians 2:7; Exodus 33:14; Matthew 18:20	God is here! As we his people meet	The Worshiping Church #701	God Is Here!	Fred Pratt Green	John Zundel	8.7.8.7 D	BEECHER	A Major	English	1990