Come and join the celebration

Come and join the celebration. Valerie Collison* (1933- )  According to the Companion to HP (1988), p. 89, this cheerful song first appeared in Carols for Children (1972), but we have been unable to verify this. It was published in the Baptist supplement Praise for Today (1974), and in Songs of Worship (ScriptureUnion, 1980) before making its way into mainstream books such as HP, ICH5 and Complete Mission Praise (both 2000), and the Scottish CH4, followed by the Methodist book, Singing the Faith (2011). It has three stanzas, beginning and ending with the refrain: ‘Come and join the celebration, it’s a very special day;/ Come and share our jubilation, there’s a new King born today!’ It is...