Spirit of holiness, wisdom and faithfulness

It was the Spirit-breath-wind association in Scripture which suggested to Christopher Idle the possibility of words on this theme to fit the folk-tune BLOW THE WIND SOUTHERLY. The music was made nationally famous by an unaccompanied solo record featuring the distinctive voice of contralto Kathleen Ferrier (1912–1953), much broadcast in the 1950s. The author was also responding to a plea from Michael Baughen for fresh hymns, not simply praying ‘Come, Holy Spirit’ but giving thanks for his arrival. It seemed helpful, too, in days of current charismatic claims, to include the Spirit’s fruit (Galatians 5) alongside the gifts (1 Corinthians 12 etc), as well as noting Christ’s promises in John 14–16, Luke 24 and Acts 1. The words took shape in Poplar, E London, in Spring 1975, and their original version was sung at the Whitsunday evening Communion service at St Matthias’ Church on 8 May that year. It was included in the All Souls’ [Langham Place, London] Supplementary Hymn Book in 1980 and used at Ealing Abbey that year, when Michael Saward (who introduced it) gently commented on its length. When first published in HTC it had lost the final stz which had been its raison d’être. Some other books are content with two; the full text is included here, with 3.2 emended. The hymn has featured in hymnals in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland and the USA, even edging into the ‘Spring Harvest’ repertoire.

The tune is usually identified as a ‘Northumbrian folk melody’; an arrangement by Lionel Dakers features in Common Praise (2000), while the one used here is John Barnard’s version made for HTC. Some N American books (preparing to claim ownership?) call it BLOW THE WIND WESTERLY. Margaret Clarkson (see 538, note) has also written for this tune; her God of the covenant given to Abraham (1984) is the same length in total, but without a repeated refrain. More recently, John Forster has written Lord God, you come to us: holy and Trinity, 3 stzs with refrain, strong on the Spirit of God.

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.