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We all are one in mission
- Jonah 3:1-3
- Matthew 28:19
- Mark 16:15
- Luke 24:46-48
- Acts 1:8
- Acts 10:36-42
- Romans 10:12-13
- Romans 12:4-6
- 1 Corinthians 12:12
- 1 Corinthians 12:4-7
- Ephesians 4:4-8
- Colossians 1:18
- 1 Peter 4:10
- 630
We all are one in mission;
we all are one in call.
Our varied gifts united
by Christ, the Lord of all.
A single, great commission
compels us from above
to plan and work together
that all may know Christ’s love.
2. We all are called for service
to witness in God’s name.
Our ministries are different;
our purpose is the same;
to touch the lives of others
by God’s surprising grace,
so every folk and nation
may feel God’s warm embrace.
3. Now let us be united
and let our song be heard.
Now let us be a vessel
for God’s redeeming word.
We all are one in mission;
we all are one in call,
our varied gifts united
by Christ, the Lord of all.
© 1986 Hope Publishing Company
Rusty Edwards
The Church - Evangelism and Mission
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The story behind the hymn
In the Rusty (Howard Milton) Edwards collection of 36 texts and tunes The Yes of the Heart, published by Hope (USA) in 1993, this is one of his two hymns on mission. It was written in Aug 1985, the year of his ordination beginning a 6-year ministry at Trinity Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Moline, Illinois. It has been sung widely in N America; this is its first appearance in a British hymnal. The words are written in the spirit of the author’s 1993 ‘Acknowledgements’, the first of which is ‘To God, for loving me unconditionally, and for allowing me the privilege of sharing news of faith, hope and love through song.’
At first the text was matched with LANCASHIRE, and published in 4 hymnals before ‘it had its own tune’, Dale Wood’s ACCORD (1992) as featured in that booklet. However, in Hope Publishing’s major 2001 collection Worship and Rejoice, where it is one of 3 hymns by this author, the chosen tune is AURELIA, as used here. For notes on this tune, see 577, where it is set in the key of D; in both cases the emphasized 4th note of the first line falls on the key word ‘one’.
A look at the author
Edwards, Howard M III (Rusty)
b Dixon, Illinois, USA 1955. Interlochen Arts Academy and Univ of Nebraska. Teacher at St Boniface, Elgin, Nebraska. Luther Northwestern Seminary (MDiv); Graduate Theological Foundation, Notre Dame, Indiana (PhD in creative ministry). Ordained in the Lutheran Church in 1985; served at Trinity Lutheran Ch (ELCA) in Moline, Illinois 1985–91, before moving to Rockford, Illinois, as senior pastor at the Lutheran ch and pastoral advisor for the Lutheran High sch. He writes texts and tunes, and plays drums; his compositions have appeared in several N American collections from 1989 onwards, including The Yes of the Heart (1992) comprising 36 items involving his own work. In A Panorama of Christian Hymnody (2005 edn) Paul A Richardson chooses 2 of these for their ‘evocative metaphors for faith’ and ‘intimate conversation with God’; 3 are included in the N American Worship and Rejoice (2001), while he is represented by 5 items (words and/or music) in Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006). No.630.