Church History
For Some Church History’s Full of Grace

Tune:  HERONSWAY 88.88
Traditional English Melody
Arr. Barry Brinson

 

1. For some Church history’s full of grace

    And holds the truth that Jesus taught; 

    For others it’s a sad disgrace

    And not the tale the pious sought.

 

2. Which view is true and which is false

    The question simmers in our mind?

    But each is right and each is wrong,

    Each holds a truth we need to find.

 

3. Before attempting to discern

    The truth behind historic tales

    We need to ask who wrote them down,

    The women or were they all males?

 

4. The sexes each have different styles

    And sieve the facts in different ways.

    While men record the kings and wars

    The women note their nursing days.

 

5. The monks who wrote the history down

    Sometimes put glosses on it all.

    Internal struggles disappeared

    Behind the Church’s solid wall.

 

6. Church history’s sacred and profane,

    Behind the beauty lies the guile,

    But at its best the church is love

    Which shapes its purpose and its style.

 

7. So be aware how pow’r corrupts

    The sacred in each holy place

    And measure praise and sermons’ worth

    Against Christ’s loving words and grace.

 

8. There’s nothing fixed for ever more,

    Earth’s life evolves in times of stress.

    Don’t say the church should never change

    It’s only pilgrims life will bless.

 

        Text © William Livingstone Wallace

        Arrangement © Barry Brinson

 

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Click Here for Full Index to William L. Wallace’s Series Hymns “Cosmic Mystery”

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William (Bill) Livingstone Wallace is a retired New Zealand Methodist Minister and one of our most prolific contributors. Bill says that his work springs from communicating with the fire in his gut and his observation of both the internal and external aspects of the Cosmos. Since an early age, he has been both sympathetic to and critical of the church, announcing at the age of 13 his belief in evolution. In his youth, he struggled with the disconnection between art and spirituality in his own and other denominations and with the way in which all of the liturgies prior to the sermon were regarded as preliminaries and longer sermons were viewed as superior to more concise ones.

He holds a B.A. in philosophy and a Dip. Ed. and is the author of nine published collections of his hymns as well as other resources on our website. His aim is to help people be empowered by the divine within them and the Cosmos and to work to overthrow the forces of personal and institutional greed which destroy both the ecosystem and human society.

Click Here for a Full Biography of William L. Wallace

Click here for a complete list of his work on ProgressiveChristianity.org