For the faithful who have answered
when they heard your call to serve,
for the many ways you led them,
testing will and stretching nerve,
for their work and for their witness
as they strove againts the odds,
for their courage and obedience
we give thanks and praise, O God.
Many eyes have glimpsed the promise
many hearts have yearned to see.
Many ears have heard you calling
us to greater liberty.
Some have fallen in the struggle,
others still are fighting on.
You are not ashamed to own us.
We give thanks and praise, O God.
For this cloud of faithful witness,
for the common life we share,
for the work of peace and justice,
for the gospel that we bear,
for the vision that our homeland
is your love-- deep, high, and broad--
for the different roads we travel
we give thanks and praise, O God.
