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Hymns of Hope and Healing

Ref: B954 ISBN: 9780852499542 Categories: , By: ,

£12.50

Words and music to refresh the church’s ministry of healing

Edited by Jan Berry and Andrew Pratt with Janet Eldred and Anne Sardeson
Pages: 152
Format: Paperback

The outcome of a fruitful collaboration of theologians, writers and musicians working at the retreat and therapeutic centre of Holy Rood House in Yorkshire, this new collection articulates the needs of a contemporary ministry of healing through the agency of hymns, the church’s most resonant and expressive form of worship.

Acknowledging the impact of medical science in vastly expanding the range of the possible in every aspect of our living and dying, eighty-three texts tackle a rich diversity of themes: infant death, illness and suffering, ageing and dementia, the genome, mortality and bereavement, grief and lament, pain and despair – including pain and despair from the failure of healing – but also wisdom and resilience, healing as part of a spiritual holism of mind and body, and as a metaphor for social and political justice and care for the environment. The wealth of music includes new tunes and familiar ones, and the anthology concludes with a section of twelve short or repetitive texts to be used in conjunction with prayer.

Hymns of Hope and Healing is the product of many voices, from those of widely experienced authors to others taking their promising early steps in the form. It will provide a vehicle for worship and reflection for those involved in chaplaincy, in therapies and counselling, and all in the wider church with an interest in this ancient ministry. Witnessed through the life, death and resurrection of Christ, it is refreshed and re-imagined here for a time both of breathtaking scientific advance, and of an urgent need to affirm our wholeness and faith while embracing the momentous challenges to our traditional understanding of health and healing.

1 HEALING IN OUR LIVES

1 We reach for a welcome that beckons us homeward Jan Berry
2 When the future’s all uncertain Anne Mott
3 Sometimes our grasp of life is frail Andrew Pratt
4 From the depths my voice had echoed Andrew Pratt
5 God, hold us, enfold us, through desolate loss Marjorie Dobson
6 When the body’s strength is failing Jan Berry
7 When days are filled with pain Jean Bright
8 We owe our lives to those who care Andrew Pratt
9 Through this day of quiet and calm Marjorie Dobson
10 Delight in what I give Anne Sardeson
11 We are who we are, the tears and the laughter Anne Sardeson
12 Looking at life: connecting with passion Anne Sardeson
13 Travel with us at a pace that you’re ready for Janet Wootton
14 I promise you, my Christa, that I will always be Jan Berry
15 Jesus is healing care Sara Iles
16 O Gracious God, your love for us is yearning Ruth Dillon
17 God, who has made us both body and soul Sue Gilmurray
18 In brokenness we bring to you Carolyn Sanderson
19 When the body’s racked with pain Stephen Linstead
20 When frustration feeds our anger Andrew Pratt
21 When loneliness oppresses me Marjorie Dobson
22 Our lives are finite yet we strive Andrew Pratt
23 Touch, without words, a silent understanding Andrew Pratt
24 Each hour marks a mighty resurrection Andrew Pratt

2 HEALING IN TODAY’S WORLD

25 God who drives our exploration Janet Wootton
26 Give thanks to God for miracles of birth Jean Wiggins
27 Virtual God, I am surfing Diane Coleman
28 Give praise for the wonder encoded in genes Jan Berry
29 Creative wisdom of our God Janet Wootton
30 Take up your cross and follow me! Graham Adams
31 There is no place in God’s household Janet Wootton
32 With bodies for sale as they numb up the mind Damian Boddy
33 When law and trust break down Jan Berry
34 Where is God when lives seem aimless Graham Adams
35 We sit with bruised and broken souls Anna Jarvis
36 The process of remaking June Boyce-Tillman
37 Compassion flows and warms in our hearts June Boyce-Tillman
38 We dream of a church that will live as a movement Graham Adams
39 Within the pulsing universe God’s Spirit gently flows June Boyce-Tillman
40 When earthquakes strike, and shake our sense of safety Graham Adams
41 Tectonic plates beneath the ocean’s surface Andrew Pratt
42 The earth calls out in hunger Anna Jarvis
43 We listen with joy to the song of the morning Jan Berry

3 CHRIST THE HEALER

44 We wait in darkness for the dawn Jan Berry
45 See, she comes in expectation June Boyce-Tillman
46 If the Word becomes flesh then our life is worth living Anne Sardeson
47 Young Mary, survivor, alone in the world Andrew Pratt
48 O troubled town of Bethlehem Graham Adams
49 God, bless us as we celebrate this strange but hopeful feast Graham Adams
50 O Jesus, calm me as you calmed the storm Anne Sardeson
51 We turn from those who fill us with disgust Marjorie Dobson
52 The touch was so light that it passed by unnoticed Marjorie Dobson
53 Walking through the town that day Janet Eldred
54 When exhausted by the crowds Graham Adams
55 Weeping woman, widowed, wailing Marjorie Dobson
56 We follow Christ, who leads the way Graham Adams
57 A towel and a basin? Marjorie Dobson
58 In the home that makes us welcome, with a door that opens wide Jan Berry
59 Holy, holy, holy God Jan Berry
60 As we gather round this table Ruth Dillon
61 Shattered people round a table Andrew Pratt
62 In the depth of human suffering Jan Berry
63 Bye, bye, bye, bye! I hear you cry June Boyce-Tillman
64 When earth is cold, and frosty ground lies sleeping Jan Berry

4 HEALING IN LIFE’S TRANSITIONS

65 We cradled you with blessing Craig Muir
66 In trust receiving all that hope offers Jan Berry
67 O God, whose tenderness shines bright Jan Berry
68 Can the parents’ tender care June Boyce-Tillman
69 When we see love contorted and embattled June Boyce-Tillman
70 We offer thanks for all life’s gifts Jan Berry
71 You have opened up for me a space Jan Berry
72 In our searching for a harbour Jan Berry
73 Articulated bony joints and flexing muscle strength June Boyce-Tillman
74 One step enough? We question what we know Andrew Pratt
75 For all we’ve known, we offer up our praise Jan Berry
76 In all the memories that our life has brought us Jan Berry
77 When we’re losing movement, sight Jan Berry
78 When our caring love wears thin Marjorie Dobson
79 With thoughts that wander, minds feel frail Andrew Pratt
80 We greet each death in peace or apprehension Andrew Pratt
81 At one with God, at one with all creation Andrew Pratt
82 We bring our gratitude to you June Boyce-Tillman
83 The lives we mourn have known their share of heartache Andrew Pratt

5 SINGING OUR PRAYERS

84 Listen, Lord, and hear our song Valerie Ruddle
85 Jesus is calling, ‘Come to me and I will give you rest.’ Valerie Ruddle
86 Touch me, Lord, with your healing hands Valerie Ruddle
87 God who will release me Damian Boddy
88 In my darkness I need you, Lord Pat Jones
89 My God is my hope and my help Damian Boddy
90 Autumn falls, but why should you mourn? Myrna Michell
91 River of healing Jean Silvan Evans
92 Balancing life in the storms that surround us with hope, not fear L. J. Counsell
93 God of the cosmos, we live within you June Boyce-Tillman
94 Blessing be yours Ruth Dillon
95 Bring wholeness, God, to those in pain Ruth Dillon

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