In Christ There Is No East or West

In Christ there is no east or west (Perry)

Author: Michael A. Perry (1982)
Tune: MCKEE
Published in 3 hymnals

Printable scores: PDF, Sibelius
Audio files: MIDI

Piano/Organ

The Essential Dale Wood

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: In Christ there is no east or west (Perry)
Title: In Christ There Is No East or West
Author: Michael A. Perry (1982)
Meter: 8.6.8.6
Source: John Oxenham, 1905, after a line by; The Book of Common Prayer
Language: English
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Notes

Scripture References:
st. 1 = Isa. 49:12, Luke 13:29, Acts 17:26, Col. 3:11, Gal. 3:28
st. 2 = 2 Cor. 5:18-19

Many hymnals contain William A. Dunkerley's "In Christ There Is No East or West," a hymn text written in 1908 by Dunkerley under the pseudonym of John Oxenham. However, it is ironic that this text about the worldwide church has been considered by many in the twentieth century to have an exclusively male emphasis. Consequently, various recent hymnal editors have altered the text. Michael A. Perry (PHH 299) concluded that the revision needed to be so radical that an entirely new text would be a better choice. Thus Perry kept only Dunkerley's opening line and wrote a new text on the same theme. Perry's text was published in Hymns for Today's Church in 1982.

Based on New Testament passages such as Galatians 3:28 and 1 John 4:7-12, this text describes certain ideal characteristics of the church: its comprehensiveness (st. 1), unity (st. 2, 5), love (st. 3), and holiness (st. 4), ideals for which we must continually work and pray. Perry says of his text, "The spirit of reconciliation was invoked from the Pauline Epistles, and the spirit of fellowship from the Johanine."

Liturgical Use:
For Worldwide Communion, All Nations Sunday, All Saints Day, and other church festivals such as Pentecost; splendid for ecumenical services.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

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Tune

MCKEE

MC KEE has an interesting history. According to a letter from Charles V. Stanford (PHH 512) to Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (who arranged the tune for piano in his Twenty-Four Negro Melodies, 1905), MC KEE was originally an Irish tune taken to the United States and adapted by African American slaves. It…

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Timeline

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Media

Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #540
Worship and Rejoice #600
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Instances

Instances (3)TextImageAudioScore
Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #540TextImageAudioScore
The Worshiping Church #695TextImage
Worship and Rejoice #600TextImageAudioScore
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