Jesus, with thy Church abide,
Be her Savior, Lord, and Guide,
While on earth her faith is tried:

Keep her life and doctrine pure,
Help her, patient to endure,
Trusting in thy promise sure:

430
May her voice be ever clear,
Warning of a judgment near,
Telling of a Savior dear:

All her fettered powers release,
Bid our strife and envy cease,
Grant the heavenly gift of peace:

May she one in doctrine be,
One in truth and charity,
Winning all to faith in thee:

May she guide the poor and blind,
Seek the lost until she find,
And the broken-hearted bind:

Save her love from growing cold,
Make her watchmen strong and bold,
Fence her round, thy peaceful fold:

May her priests thy people feed,
Shepherds of the flock indeed,
Ready, where thou call'st, to lead:

Judge her not for work undone,
Judge her not for fields unwon,
Bless her works in thee begun:

All that she has lost, restore,
May her strength and zeal be more
Than in brightest days of yore:

431
Raise her to her calling high,
Let the nations far and nigh
Hear thy heralds' warning cry:

May her lamp of truth be bright,
Bid her bear aloft its light
Through the realms of heathen night:

May her scattered children be
From reproach of evil free,
Blameless witnesses for thee:

May she holy triumphs win,
Overthrow the hosts of sin,
Gather all the nations in:

May she soon all glorious be,
Spotless and from wrinkle free,
Pure, and bright, and worthy thee.

We beseech thee, hear us.

Amen.

John Julian explains that the author of this text, Thomas B. Pollock (b. Strathallan, Isle of Man, England, 1836; d. Birmingham, England, 1896), was a most successful writer of metrical litanies. Many of them were published in Pollock's Metrical Litanies for Special Services and General Use (1870) and appeared in a variety of mainly Anglican hymnals. Originally written for a prayer day organized by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, this text was published in eighteen stanzas in Pollock's 1871 Appendix to his Metrical Litanies and was revised for the 1875 edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern. Like other modern hymnals, the Psalter Hymnal provides various parts of these different versions in a five-stanza text.

A litany is a form of prayer that has a number of petitions but usually only one response or refrain (see Ps. 136 for this structure). This text, Pollock's "Litany of the Church," has that pattern: the stanzas offer various prayers for the church, its members, and its ministries. Each prayer concludes with the response "Lord, our Savior, hear us" (originally, 'We beseech thee, hear us").

Educated at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, Pollock first studied medicine, but he changed his studies to theology and was ordained in the Church of England in 1861. In 1865, after serving several parishes, Pollock took the position of curate at St. Alban Mission Church in Birmingham, where his brother had the higher position of vicar.

Remaining curate for thirty years, Pollock became vicar after his brother’s death but died a year later. Although he had many opportunities to serve in more prestigious positions, he chose to work among the poor of Birmingham. He was a member of the committee that compiled the 1861 edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern.

Liturgical Use:
As a part of the main prayers of a worship service; church meetings and mission services, especially when sung in true litany fashion.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook