Mission Yearbook: New hymn celebrates blessing children in Jesus’ name

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The Rev. Carolyn Winfrey Gillette enjoys time with her granddaughter. (Contributed photo)

Presbyterian pastor and hymn writer the Rev. Carolyn Winfrey Gillette has a new hymn, “Jesus, You Once Blessed the Children,” set to NETTLETON, the tune for “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing.”

“This new hymn celebrates Jesus blessing the children,” she said in a statement. “It is a prayer that we, as followers of Jesus, will bless them, too, in his name— as we teach them the faith; as we protect them from gun violence; and as we create a cleaner, more just world for them to grow up in.”

“As the old children’s song goes, ‘They are precious in his sight,’ and since children are precious to Jesus, then he calls us to do everything we can to make the world a more loving, faithful, safe, and sustainable place for them to grow up. What are the ways we are willing to change, to be a blessing to them?”

She grants permission for free use of this hymn, including online, for local churches.

Jesus, You Once Blessed the Children

NETTLETON 8.7.8.7 D (“Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing”)

Jesus, you once blessed the children who were often pushed aside.

“God has given them the kingdom,” you proclaimed, arms open wide.

You call people to protect them and to make sure they’re all right.

May we bless the world of children who are precious in your sight.

May we share with them the gospel: In your love, you make us new!

May we help them to be faithful; may they turn in trust to you.

May we teach them love of neighbors in this world’s diversity.

May our love toward friends and strangers be examples that they see.

When our children ask for safety, may we give them what is good.

God, may weapons never hurt them in their homes or neighborhoods.

May we learn that second graders in their classrooms matter more

than the guns we fill our land with — that our nation clamors for.

May we work to stop pollution, may we counter climate change.

For the love of growing children, God, what will we rearrange?

Will we change our laws to save them?  Will we try a whole new way?

May our actions bless the children as we build a better day.

Biblical references: Leviticus 19:34; Matthew 18:5-6; Matthew 19:13–15, Matthew 25:31-46; Mark 10:13–16 and Luke 18:15–17; Hebrews 13:2.

Tune: John Wyeth’s “Repository of Sacred Music,” 1813

Alternate tune:  HOLY MANNA (“Brethren, We Have Met to Worship”)
Text: Copyright © 2025 by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette. All rights reserved.

Email: carolynshymns@gmail.com. New hymns are found here.

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Angielee Acevedo, Lead Housekeeper, Stony Point Center
Rhea Adams, Service Desk Technician, Information Technology Infrastructure, Administrative Services Group 

Let us pray:

God of all peoples, help us to trust that you will bring to completion by the day of Jesus Christ the good work you have begun. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: New hymn supports free expression

As part of National Library Week April 6–12, Presbyterian pastor and hymn writer the Rev. Carolyn Winfrey Gillette published the hymn “What a Joy! We Love Our Reading” to the tune of “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing.”

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Photo by Guzel Maksutova via Unsplash

In notes on her new hymn, Winfrey Gillette says that during the 1980s, it was forbidden in some places in Central America to read Mary’s Magnificat in public “because the powerful people feared that the people who were poor might actually believe Mary’s words.”

“Libraries are not just buildings filled with books — they are vibrant centers of life,” Winfrey Gillette wrote. “They serve as social hubs educational lifelines and safe havens.”

She quoted Jane L. Rosen’s essay “Why Libraries are So Important — and Life-Changing” in the book “The Library Made Me Do It: Writers Reflect on Their First Love”: “Walk into any library on any given day, and you’ll see it: life happening. Children gathered for story time, job seekers refining their résumés, teens collaborating on school projects, seniors learning new technology skills. Libraries provide free internet access, educational programs, and, perhaps most importantly, a place to simply be — without the expectation of spending money.”

What a Joy!  We Love Our Reading

NETTLETON 8.7.8.7 D (“Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing”)
What a joy! We love our reading — books on health and history.
We love novels, science fiction and great works of poetry.
We read prayers and meditations; we read books for work and play.
God, we’re grateful for the reading we’re invited to each day.

On the Sabbath, Jesus worshiped, and he read there, from the scroll:
Your own Spirit was upon him to make wounded people whole.
Reading scripture from Isaiah, Jesus made his mission clear.
May we read your word, discerning what your call is for us here.

There are powers that would stop it: “Take those books right off the shelves!”
“Stop the power of education!” — stop our thinking for ourselves.
Yet the poor will keep on reading; they’ll find hope in Mary’s song:
“God will cast down all the mighty, and will lift the poor up, strong!”

Bless the writers and the dreamers and the people who can see:
There is truth out there for reading, and the truth will set us free.
Bless the teachers sharing stories; bless the bookstore workers, too.
Bless librarians and their vision as they share books, old and new.

Jesus taught us how to love you — using heart, soul, strength and mind.
May our reading be a blessing that we never leave behind.
May we let ourselves be challenged, may we read to understand,
may our reading be transforming for ourselves, our church, our land.

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The Rev. Carolyn Winfrey Gillette reads to her grandchildren. (Contributed photo)

 

Biblical References: Luke 4:16–21; 1:46–55; John 8:32; Matthew 22:37–40

Tune: John Wyeth’s “Repository of Sacred Music,” 1813

Text: Copyright © 2025 by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette. All rights reserved.

Carolyn Winfrey Gillette is a pastor in rural New York state and author of more than 500 hymns that are sung widely throughout the United States and overseas. Her hymns are in more than two dozen books and thousands of websites, including her website that has all of her hymn texts.

Feature stories about her work on faith and life have been in The New Yorker, NPR, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer and other news outlets. She met her husband in a seminary library, lives one block from her community’s public library and loves to read to her grandchildren.

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service, Interim Unified Agency (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Lawrence Robertson, Administrative Assistant, Compassion, Peace & Justice, Interim Unified Agency
Monique Robinson, Manager, Central Receiving & Purchasing, Administrative Services Group (A Corp) 

Let us pray:

Lord, teach us to break bread with our newest neighbors. Teach us to share with and receive from our neighbors. Teach us to be open to differences, to tolerate new behaviors and to meet you in the people you give to us. Amen.