This hymn text written by Rosanna McFadden, originally for an Annual Conference statement of a decade ago, was sung during the consecration service for the compelling vision. Congregations have permission to use the hymn. McFadden notes that the text may be sung to any hymn tune using 87.87D meter, including the tunes of “Come Thou Fount” and “Brethren, We Have Met to Worship.”
Brethren, come and claim a vision
Text by Rosanna Eller McFadden
87.87D. Tune possibilities: NETTLETON “Come, thou fount” HWB 521, or HOLY MANNA “Brethren, we have met” HWB 8
Brethren, come and claim a vision and give witness in this place;
joined in faith by our decision to embody lives of grace.
Jesus’ followers, telling, giving, until all have seen and heard
by the manner of our living we are grounded in God’s Word.
In a world of fear and danger, our anxieties release;
May we meet both friend and stranger with a ministry of peace.
To the Spirit we surrender, put our trust in God alone;
and our ego and agenda in humility lay down.
When we recognize God’s glory shining in diversity,
we will see that each one’s story shapes our whole identity.
Love, in ever-widening circles, knows not gender, creed, or race;
but it holds us—brothers, sisters—like a father’s warm embrace.
Praise and thanks to our Creator for the goodness of the earth:
air and water, field and flower, all the creatures and their worth.
In your vineyard let us nourish, tend the good gifts in our care.
Let the fruit of justice flourish for our neighbors everywhere!
— Rosanna Eller McFadden is pastor of Creekside Church of the Brethren in Elkhart, Ind.