God's Surprise

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Author: John L. Bell

John Bell (b. 1949) was born in the Scottish town of Kilmarnock in Ayrshire, intending to be a music teacher when he felt the call to the ministry. But in frustration with his classes, he did volunteer work in a deprived neighborhood in London for a time and also served for two years as an associate pastor at the English Reformed Church in Amsterdam. After graduating he worked for five years as a youth pastor for the Church of Scotland, serving a large region that included about 500 churches. He then took a similar position with the Iona Community, and with his colleague Graham Maule, began to broaden the youth ministry to focus on renewal of the church’s worship. His approach soon turned to composing songs within the identifiable traditi… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: Who would think that what was needed
Title: God's Surprise
Author: John L. Bell
Meter: 8.7.8.7 D
Refrain First Line: God surprises earth with heaven
Copyright: © 1987, Iona Community, GIA Publications, Inc. agent

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REX GLORIAE (Smart)

Henry T. Smart (PHH 233) composed REX GLORIAE for this text; the hymn was published in the 1868 Appendix to Hymns Ancient and Modern. Stanley L. Osborne (PHH 395) suggests that Smart initially intended REX GLORIAE as a tune for children. Derived from the topic of Wordsworth's text, the tune's name m…

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Instances

Instances (1 - 11 of 11)

Ancient and Modern #90

Anglican Hymns Old and New (Rev. and Enl.) #832

Church Hymnary (4th ed.) #295

Page Scan

Common Praise #78

Complete Anglican Hymns Old and New #750

Gather Comprehensive #350

Text InfoFlexScoreAudio

Glory to God #138

Hymns of Glory, Songs of Praise #295

Hymns Old and New #558

Singing the Faith #222

The New Century Hymnal #153

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