God, With Joy We Look Around Us

Words by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, 2000
Music: REGENT SQUARE, Henry Thomas Smart, 1867

Carolyn Winfrey Gillette says of this hymn:
"A seminary classmate, Richard Lanford, was serving as the pastor at St. Peter's United Church of Christ in Skokie, Illinois, when the Ku Klux Klan announced they were going to have a rally in front of a Cook County Courthouse a few days before Christmas. Richard asked that a new hymn be written that the churches in the community could sing to counter the hate group's rally. The hymn tune is a traditional Christmas tune, reflecting the season of year when it was first sung. The hymn has since been used by many churches as part of their annual celebrations of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday."

God, With Joy We Look Around Us (pdf)