A hymn that the Company has used from time to time at the Annual Service is known, colloquially, as the “Engineers Hymn!” It was, in fact, written by Richard Jones and appeared in some church hymn books from the 1970’s onwards. I’d never heard it before I joined the Company as Chaplain, but our decorator in the village said “Oh yes, we used to sing that a lot in the village church in the 1970’s and 1980’s!”

Several of you have remarked that it needs updating to reflect “Engineering Today!” and I would agree with that.
So I’m inviting you to write an extra verse, or two, and let me have them.

For the musical afficionados amongst you, you might also like to have a go at a suitable tune. The tune in the book is Minterne by Cyril Taylor but I’ve never heard it; my predecessor, Revd. Michael West, used to use the tune ‘Dix’ (“As with gladness men of old…”) and recently we have used the tune ‘England’s Lane’(“For the beauty of the earth…”). None seem totally appropriate, so again, please feel free to make suggestions. Here is the music for Minterne.

Here are the words from the hymn book: –

God of concrete, God of steel,
God of piston and of wheel,
God of pylon, God of steam,
God of girder and of beam,
God of atom, God of mine:
all the world of power is thine.

Lord of cable, Lord of rail,
Lord of freeway and of mail,
Lord of rocket and of flight,
Lord of soaring satellite,
Lord of lightning’s flashing line:
all the world of speed is thine.

Lord of science, Lord of art,
Lord of map and graph and chart,
Lord of physics and research,
Word of Bible, Faith of church,
Lord of sequence and design:
all the world of truth is thine.

God whose glory fills the earth,
gave the universe its birth,
loosed the Christ with Easter’s might,
saves the world from evil’s blight,
claims us all by grace divine:
all the world of love is thine.

GOOD LUCK! I look forward to receiving your creative thoughts!

Revd. Peter Hartley, Hon. Chaplain
Email:- petermhartley@btinternet.com