1-2 September 13

Fred Pratt Green (1903-2000) was born on 2 September. His hymn texts hit many wonderful themes, but I love particularly those challenging the church to become deeply entangled in social issues. Here is the first verse of "When the Church of Jesus Shuts Its Outer Door":

When the church of Jesus shuts its outer door,
lest the roar of traffic drown the voice of prayer,
may our prayers, Lord, make us ten times more aware
that the world we banish is our Christian care.

(United Methodist Hymnal, 592)

See also "The Church of Christ, in Every Age" (United Methodist Hymnal, 589; Presbyterian Hymnal, 421), and "When in Our Music God is Glorified" (UMH, 68; PH 264).