Rain on the earth by heaven's blessing

Rain is resented in the city, accepted in the country, and welcomed with joy in Tanzania. This at least is the broad impression gained by the author after much experience of the first, some of the second, and a small sample of the third. Christopher Idle conceived the need of a ‘rain’ hymn while watching a sudden spectacular downpour over Lake Tanganyika from its Kigoma (eastern) shore, in June 1991 with sons Timothy (then working in W Tanzania) and Jonathan; a delayed home-bound plane at Bujumbura in Burundi gave an opportunity to get some lines on paper while he and Jon waited. 2 Chronicles 6, which he was then reading, has the phrase ‘rain on the land’, which prompted a draft opening and a rhythm. More work was done on the flight to Brussels (next changeover) and at home in Suffolk. He wrote later, ‘There is probably more of Africa, and (I hope) Scripture, in the hymn than Britain.’ John V Taylor says in The Primal Vision (1963) that to one southern African tribe, ‘the ultimate good is rain.’

At that time Mervyn Horder regularly asked for new words for which to compose music; cf 621. He wrote LUDHAM, named after the Norfolk village NE of Norwich, within two hours of receiving the text. 6 months later the combined work appeared in Hymns and Congregational Songs Vol 3 N0.2 (Dec 1991, Stainer and Bell). When the composer visited the author in Suffolk, the hymn was sung at the parish church of Thrandeston on 5 Sept 1993, with its composer at the recently-installed organ.

b Bromley, Kent 1938. Eltham Coll, St Peter’s Coll Oxford (BA, English), Clifton Theol Coll Bristol; ordained in 1965 to a Barrow-in-Furness curacy. He spent 30 years in CofE parish ministry, some in rural Suffolk, mainly in inner London (Peckham, Poplar and Limehouse). Author of over 300 hymn texts, mainly Scripture based, collected in Light upon the River (1998) and Walking by the River (2008), Trees along the River (2018), and now appearing in some 300 books and other publications; see also the dedication of EP1 (p3) to his late wife Marjorie. He served on 5 editorial groups from Psalm Praise (1973) to Praise!; his writing includes ‘Grove’ booklets Hymns in Today’s Language (1982) and Real Hymns, Real Hymn Books (2000), and The Word we preach, the words we sing (Reform, 1998). He edited the quarterly News of Hymnody for 10 years, and briefly the Bulletin of the Hymn Society, on whose committee he served at various times between 1984 and 2006; and addressed British and American Hymn Socs. Until 1996 he often exchanged draft texts with Michael Perry (qv) for mutual criticism and encouragement. From 1995 he was engaged in educational work and writing from home in Peckham, SE London, until retirement in 2003; following his return to Bromley after a gap of 40 years, he has attended Holy Trinity Ch Bromley Common and Hayes Lane Baptist Ch. Owing much to the Proclamation Trust, he also belongs to the Anglican societies Crosslinks and Reform, together with CND and the Christian pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation. A former governor of 4 primary schools, he has also written songs for school assemblies set to familiar tunes, and (in 2004) Grandpa’s Amazing Poems and Awful Pictures. His bungalow is smoke-free, alcohol-free, car-free, gun-free and TV-free. Nos.13, 18, 21, 23A, 24B, 27B, 28, 31, 35, 36, 37, 48, 50, 68, 78, 79, 80, 81, 83, 85, 89, 92, 95, 102, 108, 109, 114, 118, 119A, 121A, 125, 128, 131, 145B, 157, 176, 177, 193*, 313*, 333, 339, 388, 392, 420, 428, 450, 451, 463, 478, 506, 514, 537, 548, 551, 572, 594, 597, 620, 621, 622, 636, 668, 669, 693, 747, 763, 819, 914, 917, 920, 945, 954, 956, 968, 976, 1003, 1012, 1084, 1098, 1138, 1151, 1158, 1159, 1178, 1179, 1181, 1201, 1203, 1204, 1205, 1209, 1210, 1211, 1212, 1221, 1227, 1236, 1237, 1244, 1247, 5017, 5018, 5019, 5020.