O Christ of all the ages, come!

Michael Perry wrote this hymn in 1978 for the opening of a new year; his notes (in Singing to God, 1995) do not make clear whether it was early Jan or late Dec, for 1979. But it would equally suit section 1f of the present book, and ‘anticipates Lent, Passiontide and Easter’. The notes confess to his occasional ‘mystical mood’ from which, he says, he had ‘to be hauled out by my Jubilate friends!’ He is referring less to a theological stance than to the verbal patterns of his internal rhymes, as here for instance in the 2nd and 3rd lines of each stz; ‘fear/near’, ‘match/watch’ etc. And ‘typical periods of time are placed strategically throughout the stanzas [in order]: ages, months, years, moments, hours, days, morning, years, ages, days, months, years, eternity’—5 of these in the concluding stz. The hymn was written while the author was Vicar of Bitterne, Southampton, and published first in HTC. The biblical references he points to concern creation and redemption: Genesis 1:14, Isaiah 53:12, 1 Peter 2:24. The trust expressed in these words, ultimately far more vital than the writing skills they show, was to be fiercely tested and finally vindicated in the last year of the author’s life.

The tune named here as an alternative, GONFALON ROYAL (687), was Michael Perry’s first choice. MAINZER, named after its composer Joseph Mainzer and newly-arranged here, was set to a version of Psalm 107 in Mainzer’s Choruses of 1841, and of Psalm 102 in his 1845 book Standard Psalmody of Scotland. It has been used with several other texts, notably (since 1951) 544.

b Beckenham, Kent 1942, d Tonbridge, Kent 1996. Dulwich Coll, Oak Hill and Ridley Hall Theological Colls, London and Southampton Univs (BD, MTh). Ordained (CofE) 1965; after curacies at St Helen’s, Lancs and Bitterne, Southampton, he became incumbent of Bitterne (1972), Eversley, Hants (1981), where Charles Kingsley was a predecessor, and finally Tonbridge from 1989. A contributor to Youth Praise 2 in 1969, he was then an editorial team member for Psalm Praise (1973) and Hymns for Today’s Church (1982, 1987), Canon of Rochester, member of General Synod, Chairman of Church Pastoral Aid Society and (from 1982) succeeding Jim Seddon as Hon Sec of Jubilate Hymns. Under Jubilate auspices he edited a stream of hymn, song, carol and Psalm and prayer books, in collaboration with David Iliff, David Peacock, Noël Tredinnick, Norman Warren and others. He edited The Dramatized Bible (1989), compiled the reference-handbook Preparing for Worship (1995), and wrote and spoke widely on many aspects of worship, in the UK and on visits to W Africa and N America. Over all, he possessed the gift of being able to handle vast amounts of work with a light touch and ready (but never unkind) humour. His 183 texts were collected in Singing to God: Hymns and Songs 1965–1995, a slightly Americanised volume, in the year before his early death from a brain tumour. His first published song (words and music) was ‘The Calypso Carol’ in 1963; see no.374, note. Including paraphrases, 40 of his texts are in HTC (1987 edn), 8 in Baptist Praise and Worship (1991), 18 in Sing Glory (1999), 8 in the N American Worship and Rejoice (2001), 15 in Carols for Today (2005) and 27 in Carol Praise (2006), not counting several versions attributed to ‘Word and Music’ which are predominantly his. For some 20 years he and Christopher Idle would exchange friendly mutual criticism of each other’s texts. MAP believed that ‘Our preparation for worship can only go so far. It is doomed if the Spirit of the Lord is not in it. On the other hand, God is sovereign; he can “take over” any kind of worship, provided that those who lead and those who participate are open to his grace’. He also consistently urged that ‘to be obscure is an indulgence we cannot allow ourselves’.
Michael is published by Praise! numbers 49, 75, 82, 88, 137, 128, 148, 153, 172, 187, 211, 213, 277, 323, 332, 373, 374, 382, 481, 624, 694, 872, 929, 947 and by Praise! online at numbers 1082, 1132.