A big thank-you to Mrs Margaret Waddell for her great work on this newsletter. Margaret has kept us informed of important events, church life, given us lovely poetry, stories and much more over the last 15 years. Enjoy your retirement! A JOB WELL DONE- THANK YOU!
The internet is a great thing. I was looking for‘ divine inspiration’ to find something different to put into the newsletter and came across a web page that gave the stories behind some great hymns. I’ d like to share this one with you …… more to follow
GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS
Thomas Obadiah Chisolm( 1866-1960) had a difficult early adult life. His health was so fragile that there were periods of time when he was confined to bed, unable to work. Between bouts of illness he would have to push himself to put in extra hours at various jobs in order to make ends meet. After coming to Christ at age 27, Thomas found great comfort in the Scriptures, and in the fact that God was faithful to be his strength in time of illness and weakness, and to provide his needs. Lamentations 3:22-23 was one of his favourite scriptures:“ It is of the Lord ' s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.” While away from home on a missions trip, Thomas often wrote to one of his good friends, William Runyan, a relatively unknown musician. Several poems were exchanged in these letters. Runyan found one of Williams ' poems so moving that he decided to compose a musical score to accompany the lyrics. Great is Thy Faithfulness was published in 1923. It was not until 1945 when George Beverly Shea began to sing“ Great is Thy Faithfulness” at the Billy Graham evangelistic crusades, that the hymn was heard around the world