The Church's One Foundation

Switzerland 08-14-2003

One of my favorite songs to sing at church!

I  like how this hymn establishes who the Church's One foundation is -Christ!
Then it continues "Her charter of salvation One Lord, one faith, one birth; One holy Name she blesses," which so distinctly reminds me of the Part in Ephesians, "There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— ⁵  one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶  one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."

The Church's One Foundation

The church's one Foundation
Is Jesus Christ her Lord;
She is his new creation
By water and the Word:
From heav'n he came and sought her
To be his holy bride;
With his own blood he bought her,
And for her life he died.

Elect from ev'ry nation,
Yet one o'er all the earth,
Her charter of salvation
One Lord, one faith, one birth;
One holy Name she blesses,
Partakes one holy food.
And to one hope she presses,
With ev'ry grace endued.

Though with a scornful wonder
Men see her sore oppressed,
By schisms rent asunder,
By heresies distressed,
Yet saints their watch are keeping,
Their cry goes up, "How long?"
And soon the night of weeping
Shall be the morn of song.

The church shall never perish!
Her dear Lord to defend,
To guide, sustain and cherish
Is with her to the end;
Though there be those that hate her,
And false sons in her pale,
Against or foe or traitor
She ever shall prevail.

'Mid toil and tribulation,
And tumult of her war,
She waits the consummation
Of peace for evermore;
Till with the vision glorious
Her longing eyes are blest,
And the great church victorious
Shall be the church at rest.

Yet she on earth hath union
With the God the Three in One,
And mystic sweet communion
With those whose rest is won:
O happy ones and holy!
Lord, give us grace that we,
Like them, the meek and lowly,
On high may dwell with thee.

-Samuel J. Stone (1866) 

 

 As I was vacuuming the living room, I was thinking over what I liked in this song (I do most of my deep and contemplative thinking while I'm vacuuming, supposed to be drifting asleep, and showering), I marveled at how comforting it was to know,
"The church shall never perish! Her dear Lord to defend,".
 I just started reading through a new history book, "2,000 Years of Christ's Power", and it was talking about the beginning of the persecution from the Roman Emperors -okay, okay, it was Nero and Domitian, to all you history geeks- and after describing some of the torments the Christians went under, it said how the church grew in numbers and in unity, more than ever before.
Lastly, these lyrics came to mind I was looking over this song just now: 

" And the wicked roam the cities and the streets tonight
But when the God of love and thunder speaks tonight
Oh, I believe You will come
Your justice be done, but how long?

How long? How long?
How long until this curtain is lifted?
How long is this the song that we sing?
How long until the reckoning?"

Love,
           Caro :)

  
                            

 

Hymn of the Month--March

The church's one foundation

is Jesus Christ her Lord;

she is his new creation by water and the Word.

From heaven he came and sought her

to be his holy bride;

with his own blood he bought her,

and for her life he died.

Elect from every nation, yet one o'er all the earth;

her charter of salvation,

one Lord, one faith, one birth;

one holy name she blesses, partakes one holy food,

and to one hope she presses,

with every grace endued.

Though with a scornful wonder

we see her sore oppressed,

by schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed,

yet saints their watch are keeping;

their cry goes up, "How long?"

And soon the night of weeping

shall be the morn of song.

Mid toil and tribulation, and tumult of her war,

she waits the consummation of peace forevermore;

till, with the vision glorious,

her longing eyes are blest,

and the great church victorious

shall be the church at rest.

Yet she on earth hath union

with God the Three in One,

and mystic sweet communion

with those whose rest is won.

O happy ones and holy!

Lord, give us grace that we

like them, the meek and lowly,

on high may dwell with thee.

The Church's One Foundation is a Christian hymn written in the 1860s by Samuel John Stone.
Samuel John Stone lived from April 1839 until November 1900. He was an ordained minister in the Church of England and is mostly remember for this hymn. He attended Pembroke College, Oxford and gained his BA in 1862 and later, was awarded his MA in 1872. He served as a curacy at two churches before he became minister of Haggerston.

The hymn was written as a direct response to some teaching, considered unorthodox at the time, by John William Colenso, first Bishop of Natal, which created schism within the church in South Africa.

In Christ,

Micaela