Publié en ligne: 30 avr. 2025
Pages: 2 - 19
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/holiness-2025-00004
Mots clés
© 2025 Roger L. Walton et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Hymnody was an essential element in the birth and growth of Methodism. All the movement’s convictions and core theology were passed on through song, and those who sang the words were shaped into the people called Methodist. It is surprising then that the notion of social justice, a value that most modern-day Methodists (and many outside the denomination) associate with Methodism, is almost absent from its earliest hymns. 2
The word justice does appear in several of the hymnbooks of the Wesleys, but it rarely has the meaning now most commonly linked with the term. Picking up Micah 6.8, Charles Wesley wrote:
The early Methodists would have sung this as they sang their faith. However, the idea of pursuing justice in line three, which at first sight looks like a call to live justly and/or to make a just society, is not developed. Rather Charles, who has faithfully followed the unfolding of the Micah text in this verse, moves in the following verses to prompt the singer to acknowledge that past or present action are not to be trusted for salvation. The human condition is wholly depraved and without hope except in Jesus, the crucified.
In other words, though we are charged by the prophet to live justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God, we need to recognise, first and foremost, that our own sinful nature is without redemption save in Christ. This radical focus on and trust in Christ is the central message not only of this hymn but of the whole corpus.
The 1780 collection, the defining hymnbook of the early Methodist movement, is structured around the idea of personal salvation and offers hymns for stages on the journey of faith. It begins with an exhortation to return to God, then moves through conviction of sin, repentance, new birth, the trials and challenges of life and growth as a believer; what one person called the Pilgrim‘s Progress of the 18th century.4 Although the word justice appears in this hymnbook, it usually refers to God’s divine law or final judgement. The word righteousness, a recurring theme in Charles’ hymns, which is strongly linked with the notion of justice, tends to mean God’s gracious putting right of our individual wrongdoings, another term for personal salvation. Likewise, images of bondage are usually metaphors for individual sin rather than systemic injustice. Social justice is not a salient feature of these hymns.
Whilst the 1780 hymnbook represents the Wesleys’ distillation of their hymn collecting and writing,5 several other collections preceded it, beginning with the 1737 hymnbook produced in Georgia. The search for expressions of social justice in these publications proves equally unsuccessful. The emphasis throughout is on articulating a theological understanding of Christian faith and experience. The classical doctrines of God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, creation, the human condition, incarnation, salvation, are seen through the lens of personal encounter with the divine, leading to a call to grow in holiness.
John Wesley wanted hymnody to pervade everyday life, offering hymns to be sung at work, as well as hymns for grace before meals, at meals and after meals, for occasions in civic life and in troubled times, yet in none of these is the idea of creating a socially just society. He would not have understood the concept in a way that is comparable to contemporary thought. Equally, it is possible to identify in Charles’ bible-soaked hymns the texts which liberation theologians often highlight, e.g. The Magnificat (Luke 2.46-55), the Nazareth announcement (Luke 4.16-21), Micah 6.8, Isaiah 58, but always the emphasis in these hymns is on the nature of God’s saving grace and not on the actions of those who respond to God’s love. The key and only human response is to find salvation in Christ and to grow in holiness.
Likewise, hymn collections on Christian doctrine and worship such as
This is not to suggest that the hymns lacked compassion for those in need. There is an awareness of ills of the world and the vulnerability of groups of people. For example, hymn 482 (1780), ‘Come let us arise’, says in stanza three:
We need to note, however, that this hymn falls in the section entitled ‘For the Society’. The society here is the members of the Methodist community where the commitment of each member is towards fellow members. Several other hymns in the section speak of bearing one another’s burdens and helping each other on the journey of faith.6While this doesn’t mean that the sentiments might not provoke compassion to any in these dire circumstances, its main concern is with building up the faithful and aiding their growth in faith.
Likewise, in the section on ‘Believers interceding for the world’ these words express a caring compassion:
Nevertheless, most of the hymns in this section do not focus of the plight of needy. Rather they see the fundamental problem as the world caught in the grip of evil and sin, and pray that God will come to enlighten, that sinners will hear the call of grace, that the remnant may be a pure witness, and that specific groups, e.g. the Jews, will be converted.
Whilst hymn 512, carries the claim that the Christian singers are to serve all, the way of service is seen primarily in prayer and witness to Jesus Christ.
Overall, the flow of compassion is directed either towards the brothers and sisters of the Society or towards the world, in offering prayers for its salvation and witnessing to the truth.
This paper seeks to examine the tension between the present predominance of social justice narratives, especially in viewing the practice of the Wesleys, and its relative absence in the hymnodic work of the movement’s pioneers. This paper will first explore engagements between the Wesley brothers and the notion of justice, before moving on to examine a range of Methodist hymns and hymn books to chart the evolution of this term over time. Ultimately, we offer the view that the time is ripe for a new canon on this theme to emerge and encourage those amongst us toward it vigorously.
It would be grossly unfair to suggest that the Wesleys were not concerned about social justice in their own time. As David Field has argued, the triad of ‘Justice, Mercy and Truth’ was for John a regular way of speaking about outward holiness or love as action in the world. Their concern for the poor was not confined to relieving immediate needs. John was prepared to criticise the rich for lack of engagement with the poor, and the brewers for the exploitation of the poor when the wheat harvest failed, as they bought up the limited resources to make gin, thus robbing the poor of bread. He was also critical of the courts and several times lamented that when compared to other (non-Christian) nations, England came up short in in terms of justice, mercy and truth. These critiques of societal structures represent a commitment to seeking social justice. Similarly, his opposition to slavery, included calls for social, political and economic reform. As Field puts it:
Wesley’s active engagement against slavery is an example of how works of mercy also go beyond personal charity and diaconal service to include action for social, political and economic transformation.7
We need to remember that John Wesley also describes the purpose of Methodism as ‘reforming the nation’ as well as ‘spreading scriptural holiness’.8 It is all the more surprising, then, that these notions do not find a place in the early hymnody. There are, we suggest, several reasons for this.
First, the purpose of hymns was to aid the worship of God. As John Wesley writes in his preface to the 1780 Collection, they are ‘a means of raising or quickening the spirit of devotion, of confirming his faith, of enlivening his hope, and of kindling or increasing his love to God and man’. Whilst it is true that John Wesley opposed social ills such as slavery and the exploitation of the poor by the distillers and set up structures to enable those trapped in poverty to escape their circumstances, his primary emphasis was on salvation in Christ.9 He proclaimed an experiential faith that would warm the heart and change a person’s life. Ethics and lifestyle flowed from this experience as disciples continued the journey towards holiness (sanctification). On this journey, it was vital that believers kept their focus on God. As the Preface to the 1739,
Second, Wesley’s ethics, sometimes called ‘agapism’11 were largely taken from the New Testament. Loving God and loving neighbour, together with the command to love one another, were the bedrock of his approach to all Christian living. Much of the radical compassion of Jesus’ teaching and action influenced Wesley directly in his own pattern of life and those he sought help in the Christian way. He personally visited and collected funds for those who lived in poverty and encouraged his societies to give away their weekly collection to alleviate those in need. He lived by and preached that money was a snare and that a healthy lifestyle was to earn, save and give all one could. These practices he took directly from the New Testament as a pattern of discipleship for all Christians. The New Testament does not, however, contain much by way of the prophetic call to justice that punctuates the Hebrew Scriptures. Indeed, in the very different context of new, small, widely dispersed Christian communities of the first century, with next to no political power or influential, the focus is on individual rather than structural responses to the evils of the day. Individuals were to live out their faith as a witness to the crucified and risen Christ rather than rise up against oppressive forces. Moreover, where the prophetic calls for justice are found in the Hebrew Scriptures, they are not calls for structural change but for the indifferent rich and wicked exploiters to repent and change their ways. On the part of the believers holy living and faithfulness are called for, and so it is no surprise that these virtues dominate the words of Methodist hymns. They broadly reflect a Biblical outlook in which personal renewal transforms the wider world. Marquardt puts it as follows: “In Wesley’s eyes, the most important and most effective means of renewing society was the individual’s moral transformation.12”
Third, the concept of social justice, as a social, political and economic theory, did not begin to appear until the next century. The notion was outlined by the 19th century Jesuit philosopher, Luigi Taparelli d’Azeglio. Taparelli’s view of social justice was primarily about the ordering of society, which he believed was divinely decreed. Social justice defended the hierarchical order of the aristocracy and the papacy, but Taparelli also believed that intervention on behalf of the poor was necessary when external economic forces threatened to crush them. This action was necessary to maintain the existing order. It is his view of interventionist economics that has become more strongly attached to the meaning of social justice, rather that his advocacy of the divine ordering of society. This aspect of his writings was later taken up and advocated by various Popes, resulting in Taparelli being counted among the leading thinkers of Catholic Social Teaching.13 Whether Wesley would have adopted theory of social justice as it later developed is a moot point. Politically, he was a high church Tory and, like Taparelli, broadly content with the existing ordering of society. Where he took issue was over those actions and practices that degraded and dehumanized those He did not advocate nor use the Methodist societies as a campaigning tool, nor did he assume they would have a political role. They were for a different purpose. Though hymns were sometimes used to combat Calvinism, they did not carry calls to social activism.
Methodism grew rapidly in the 19th century, despite (or perhaps because of) its several divisions. By the 1851 religious census, over 2 million registered as worshipping in a Methodist church. By the late 1880s some even expected that Wesleyan Methodist Church would overtake the Church of England as the largest Christian body in England. With this significant growth came a higher status in society, and a growing sense of civic responsibility. However, the hymn books were slow to reflect this.
The Wesleyan Methodists continued to use the 1780 book throughout the 19th century. It was reissued with supplements in 1831 and 1876 but not replaced until 1904, when the experiential structure was changed to a thematic one. Whilst the other strands of divided Methodism in the 19th century each produced their own hymnbooks, the template set by the 1780 collection influenced the structure of the collections and thus all retained a central emphasis on the Christian experience both individual and collective. It is these we will turn to now.
was acclaimed by the MNC minutes as follows:
“a Collection of Hymns from various Authors, arranged under proper heads, intended as an Appendix to the Large Hymn Book,’’ with this footnote, “In this small volume will be found a variety of Hymns, immediately adapted to the different parts of Public Worship - a deficiency in the large Hymn Book which has been often lamented - several of the most popular Hymns are also inserted.”14
The deficiencies cited in the quotation do not refer to the absence of social justice but a lack of thematic ordering and non-inclusion of hymns for Holy Communion and seasons of the Christian year, as the 1834 version of the combined Large Hymn Book and supplement shows. Here the structure adopted begins with a section on the Existence, Attributes and Works of God, follow by a section on the Incarnation and then The Character and Influences of the Holy Spirit. However, the largest collection in one section is under the heading Particular Classes of Persons. This comprises 214 (33%) of the 660 hymns indicating various states of human response to God such as “Sinners”, “Penitents”, “Backsliders” and the “Lukewarm” followed by the familiar stages of the Christian journey.
This hymnbook of 1024 hymns divides into two major sections. The first section consisting of 332 hymns, is focused on the worship, works and attributes of God; the second and larger of the two, consisting of 692 hymns, focuses on the journey of faith, echoing the categories used in the 1780 collection. The presence of compassion for those outside the life of the church appears to be a little stronger than in the 1780 collection. A subdivision of ‘The Christian Life’ entitled ‘Brotherly Kindness and Charity’ (821-825) precedes ‘For Believers interceding’ and displays compassion for others in need. The hymn ‘Father of mercies’ (825) includes this verse:
The hymnbook also included a section for ‘national solemnities’ (992-100) recognising major events and catastrophes, but these are principally a call on the nation(s) to turn to God.
Sections include a small one on ‘Man’ (his condition, redemption and warnings) and by far the largest one – Christian Life. This takes us through the experience of becoming a Christian and growing in faith, its privileges, and its duties (work, trust, ‘contentment and resignation’, prayer, mutual love and forbearance).
This is typical of the style of the era:
However, it is not clear what is meant by the captive and the bound – given the context of a robust hymn exhorting Christians to go forth as ‘confessors and martyrs’ and ‘preach the blood of sprinkling and live and die for Christ’. They are perhaps most likely references to the bondages of individual sin rather than any explicit reference to more collective, systemic experiences of suffering. In this sense, it is not dissimilar to the line in ‘God is working his purpose out’15 that reads ‘Fight we the fight with sorrow and sin, to set their captives free’.
A benign portrayal of the establishment of God’s justice is found in ‘Gird on thy conquering sword’, which contains the lines:
Charles Wesley’s hymn about the ‘year of Jubilee is come!’ is largely spiritual in its tenor:
In general, the focus of the coming kingdom is more about personal redemption that the new order which Jesus introduces. One of Isaac Watts’s hymns is a noteworthy exception with its connection between justice and the poor:
It is possible to bring other examples from the various hymnbooks of 19th century Methodism, but it would not alter the fundamental picture. Methodists, whatever their label, remained committed to a core of hymns which explored and expressed personal experience of God’s saving grace. We can see incremental changes in the structure of hymnbooks, with a movement towards a thematic structure and a small increase in number of hymns that feature compassion towards the needy and even a hint of a desire for social justice. However, as in the hymn last cited, the emphasis remains on the action of God rather than human action or even a human partnership with God in opposing injustice or creating a just society.
Despite the growth of Methodism in the 19th century and its more significant place in English society, hymns remained largely apolitical. Ironically, during this period Methodists were often at the forefront of social change, pioneering trade unions and identifying political reform. Despite this they sang the same pietistic, grace proclaiming hymns. Perhaps in a subliminal way the words of these hymns may have helped to inspire their vision, to fuel their hopes for a better world and to provide courage to take action. The Wesleys’ emphasis on grace and thus dignity for all was founded in the Arminian theology encapsulated in Charles’ hymns, pregnant with social implications. However, the hymns remained focused on the nature and action of God, whatever good they may have birthed.
Thompson has argued that the shift towards an emphasis on social justice in American Methodism in the nineteenth century was the result of several factors. A combination of Enlightenment thought, biblical criticism and evolutionary science brought about a shift away from the ‘rehabilitation of soul’, as emphasised by Wesley, and towards the notion of a rational soul with moral choices and responsibilities. This combined with the explosive growth of Methodism in North America making Methodism a subculture of American society rather than the counterculture of early Methodism. “Increasingly, the locus of Christian activity became centred not in the
A similar pattern was no doubt at work in 19th century British Methodism, but its hymns did not reflect this. It is only in the mid-twentieth century that this feature begins to emerge.
Some of its hymns speak of justice in a legal sense, of divine Law, e.g.,
Or:
Related sections are those on Service [of God] and Influence (572-605) and ones on Citizenship and Service (890-900), World Peace and Brotherhood (901-912) and Hospitals and Philanthropy (918923).
883, ‘Judge eternal, throned in splendour’ by Henry Scott Holland is a notable inclusion, first published in a Christian Socialist magazine at the turn of the century. It has the feel of a prayer to bring judgement and to cleanse our world of its ‘bitter things’ yet retaining its distinctive Victorian heritage, in language almost reminiscent of William Blake:
Washington Gladden’s hymn ‘O Master, let me walk with thee’ (MHB600) features in the Service & Influence section. He was a prominent member of the Social Gospel movement in the USA in the early part of the twentieth century, although this hymn is pietistic in tone.
The hymn ‘From thee all skill and science flow, all pity, care and love’ ends with this plea:
Justice here is about tranquillity, concord, clarity and harmony. No mention here of justice ending hunger, or poverty, or the pain that comes from other than disease, nor the struggle for justice.
William Walsham How’s hymn ‘We give to Thee but Thine own’19 does speak of the ongoing ministry of Christ through his people, of ministering to the lost, providing solace and comfort, including the orphaned and abandoned. It contains the themes of the ending of want and discord, arrival of peace and brotherhood, of standing fast to truth, of fulfilling duty, of trusting in God to bring about one day the glorious kingdom. MHB909 – ‘When wilt Thou save the people?’ mentions the clear sense of injustice felt by some, but it is not clear whether God’s salvation is invocated to bring about justice that ends the consequences of social evils, or removes the evils themselves:
There is more than a touch of misty-eyed wishful thinking in ‘These things shall be: a loftier race’ which looks forward to the paradise of God’s future in which all enmity shall be absent:
This is also reflected in ‘Turn back, O man, forswear thy foolish ways’ (MHB 912) with the line that ‘Earth shall be fair, and all her folk be one’.
Andrew Pratt’s work on the 1933 Hymnbook contains a short section on ‘Mission and the World’. He recognises that 1924 Report to the (Wesleyan) Conference, ‘Christian Politics, Economics and Citizenship’ was regarded by F.W. Dillistone as a possible blueprint for the welfare state. Yet this is not reflected to any great extent in the Hymnbook. Pratt concludes: ‘Closer examination reveals that the section [on Service and Influence] relies heavily on texts that speak of the service of God, rather than the service of society, and many are written in tones that encourage oppression, with the acceptance of task and class as foreordained by God’.20
There is a clear disjunct between this book and the ones that preceded it, which is not surprising given the seismic changes in society during the intervening decades. This book contains many hymns highly conscious of humanity’s capacity for creating suffering, of hubris, of human stubbornness and reluctance to address the problems of the age. In particular, there were significant contributions by Fred Pratt Green and Sydney Carter, whose attention to matters of human welfare and justice were prominent. The tone of this volume is more collectively contrite: there is less individual confession but rather an awareness of the
New hymns that became very popular include not only the one above but ‘God is love, let heaven adore him’ which speaks of sorrow’s ‘iron rod’ and God’s sharing in our pain, and ‘Lord, thy Church on earth is seeking’ (42) which spoke of ‘Freedom […] to those in bondage’ and although the language is slightly more modern than that of the MHB, one could argue that its sentiments are largely about release from personal sin rather than systemic change in our society or world.
This book contained 15 hymns in the section ‘Justice and Peace’ under the theme of God’s World rather than God’s People. (As we shall see later,
Aside from the dubious issue of the delineation between ‘just and unjust’, he does equate the pursuit of justice with the removal of want.
One of the clearest expressions of the desire for just relations is found in Fred Kaan’s hymn:
Justice is here understood as right and proper distribution of the gifts God has given. It goes on to add:
Several points are worth noting here. The ‘common quest’ for justice articulates an important theological tenet – that this is not an optional aspect of Christian living but an essential component, and that the nature of this quest is similar to all those who follow Christ. It does not suggest that we all speak or think the same, but it does imply that broadly speaking there is a shared understanding of what justice means.
Furthermore, the search for justice is a means of affording honour, respect and dignity to the life God has given every human being.
Some hymns are clear in their view that it is we (the singers) who are at least partly responsible for the injustice of others’ suffering, though not so complicit about violence or oppression:
One theme that emerges in
In this hymn we find the line that ‘in charity and justice God is shown’ (
‘The right hand of God’ (H&P 408) is a rare inclusion from the World Church. We are reminded that ‘Our pride and deeds unjust are destroyed by the right hand of God’, which also restores, plants and heals.
The hymn that most clearly contains the injunction from Micah 6 – H&P 703414 - is forthright in its breadth of scope in justice. This not only embraces fair government and the delivery of justice seen as protection of the people against ‘crime and cruelty’ (verse 2) but also words which reveal a certain suspicion of economic gain at the expense of others:
Alan Gaunt’s hymn ‘We pray for peace’ (H&P413) cleverly articulates the nature of Christian peace, one that is based on the truth of God and challenges suffering, warns against complacency and most of all is found in God through Jesus Christ. It is a peace that embraces justice, truth and fraternity rather than the evil that defends unjust laws and fosters prejudice.
Two further hymns deserve a mention. Caryl Micklem’s hymn ‘Give to me, Lord, a thankful heart’ is one of quiet devotion and firm resolve in the cause of God’s kingdom, ever conscious of our own failings yet full of trust and hope.
Fred Pratt Green’s hymn ‘The Church of Christ in every age…’ describes the challenge facing God’s people and the denial of life to many:
With imagination and skill, he combines the Church’s ministry of sharing material resources with that of nurturing both ourselves and others in faith:
Singing the Faith is an eclectic compilation of hymns and songs. In by far the largest of its three sections – God’s Enduring Purposes – we find 30 hymns on the theme of Justice and Peace (StF 693-723). It is preceded by the section, ‘Life and Unity in the Church’ and followed by ‘The Wholeness of Creation’.
Graham Kendrick’s song ‘Beauty for brokenness’ (StF 693) reveals a sense that the congregation are those who are not poor but know God is of the poor: “give us compassion we pray, melt our cold hearts”. The justice spoken of in this hymn is clearly linked to the fulfilment of God’s salvation, but the implication is that God’s kingdom stands in opposition to the fragility of life for many people, unemployment, land and workers’ rights.
In StF 700 by Shirley Erena Murray, ‘God weeps’ (and bleeds, cries) in the face of human cruelty, neglect and suffering. A similar theme is found in StF 714 ‘The God who sings’ by Douglas Galbraith. It contains the lines:
God is not the distant, regal figure of some of the older hymns. Here God is described as standing beside those experiencing injustice and whose emotions are more evident as sharing in those of suffering humanity. We find a rather different tone in StF 702 – “I will speak out for those who have no voices”, which is not entirely untypical of other songs coming from a more conservative evangelical position that embrace a profound concern for the poor:
At first sight, this is a moving, insightful song committed to remedying poverty, exclusion and misery. The language is, however, revealing: the song is not so much about the poor at all, rather the desire to follow Christ and make his presence explicit. Moreover, the emphasis is more on the individual than those experiencing injustice, or Christ. As such it can appear arrogant or naïve, not least in the standing up for the rights of
By contrast, Martin Leckebusch’s hymn ‘Show me how to stand for justice’ (StF 713) is almost the opposite. It seeks the guidance of God to ‘work for what is right’, eschews self-satisfaction or pride and asks for a closer walk with God, in tones reminiscent (again) of Gladden’s hymn. His other hymn in this section is StF 703 ‘In an age of twisted values’, which not every congregation can sing with sincerity:
Yet the hymn’s virtue is its stark description of the way our societies are broken, and our need of grace and renewal.
StF 722 ‘When mountains that we thought secure’ (Gareth Hill) speaks of the pain and anguish resulting from human actions. It makes a plea for God’s people to have faith that despite what has happened, justice will increase. It is significant that the primary call here is for justice. Not primarily for peace, or God’s kingdom, or salvation, or healing. It reflects the contemporary domination of this theme. In former decades, it would have been peace. It contrasts with StF697, a song from the apartheid days in South Africa, ‘O freedom (justice, Jesus) is coming’ with its confident, almost strident tone.
This leads us to surmise that one contemporary purpose of singing such hymns or songs is to help position ourselves alongside movements striving for justice, and to explore imaginatively the nature of the struggle.
Another of the relatively few items in StF from the World Church is a song of commitment from Central America:
It expresses the recognition that divine action alone will not bring out the desired change in society, but requires the partnership of men and women to enable God’s kingdom – of love, justice and peace - to enter.
Hymn StF 681 ‘Community of Christ’, another hymn by Shirley Erena Murray, invites the Church to look beyond its own communal life to the people that are fractured and in need both locally and on a global scale. The third verse reads:
And finally, a hymn that puts our attempts at seeking justice into the proper perspective of God’s coming judgment with humility and hope:
It is clear that, prior to 1969’s
Although a theory of social justice was evolving in the late 19th century, the theological landscape prior to the twentieth century was largely ignorant of structural causes of poverty and misery that now underpin much of our global consciousness. There was generally a lack of awareness of the plight of others,21 but more significantly a lack of insight to perceive how change could occur. The sad history of slavery and its eventual overthrow, as well as the accompanying legacy of a colonial paradigm, reveals psychological and philosophical obstacles in addition to political or economic ones. Once the structural dimensions of trade, credit, underdevelopment and dependency, of the military-industrial complexes and of poverty, began to be appreciated there manifested a confidence that they could be changed for the betterment of humanity. Where change had not been conceivable, it could not be seen as unjust – but in this new understanding the failure to challenge systems that impaired the lives of millions could no longer be regarded as outside the moral realm. Allied to the increased awareness came new philosophies and resources that enabled many Christians, in all circumstances, to believe that with sufficient inspiration and resolve, change could and should be affected. A response that is collective as well as individual underscores much of late twentieth and twenty-first century hymnody, also reflects Niebuhr’s famous comment that “justice is the public face of love”.
Through the 20th century, we see a growth in concern with the human condition - particularly needless suffering and justice is less irrevocably linked with the end of all things in the hymns selected for Methodist Hymn books. Following
There can be little doubt that the heightened consciousness of suffering and oppression in the postwar period had some influence on both hymn writers and selectors in the second half of the 20th century, with rapid media developments accelerating awareness. At the same time, the emphasis on God participating in our suffering, expressed in the writings of Moltmann and others, reopens a theological seam that helps create new streams of creativity in poems and hymns. Additionally, the diverse theologies of the last 50 years (e.g. feminist, liberation, black, womanist, queer) often begin from a starting point of pain, oppression or injustices and carry within their theological contributions a desire for justice. These perspectives are reflected in these emerging hymns. In this sense, Methodists hymns are mirroring our changing understanding of the world and the nature of God.
The selection of hymns in “175. Justice is about ‘being with’ people rather than ‘working for’ people. ‘Being with’ means our relationships are characterised by friendship, respect and a willingness to give time to listening. We practise justice in ways that involve communities in making decisions together, people experiencing injustice having agency and dignity, and people standing and working in solidarity together”.
Other hymns stress a sense of partnership, solidarity, and address the causes of suffering, including our own role in them. Some hymns from the World Church speak in the first person of the need and hope for justice. As always, the careful choosing of appropriate hymns is key.
Hymnbooks, intended to last for perhaps 30 years, always reflect the previous period and are limited in their ability to garner the best new material after publication, though
Our sense is that more hymns on the theme of justice need to be found or created to help feed a justice-seeking church. Such material will, we trust, reflect not only the reality of human experience and hope, and the nature of God in Jesus Christ, but will embody the openness of heart and mind that seeks to partner and learn from the other (person or community) and so to be changed, and to grow in holiness and love.