Brother, sister, let me serve you

Brother, sister, let me serve you. Richard Gillard* (1953-). Written in 1976/7 by New Zealand author and composer Richard Gillard when he was a member of St Paul’s Church, Auckland, and known as ‘The Servant Song’, this hymn began as a verse (now the third verse) and a tune jotted down in 1976, then further developed in 1977. The author says, In the back of my mind was the passage in John’s Gospel [John 13: 2-9] where Jesus washes the disciples’ feet, and the re-enactments of that moment I had witnessed and experienced in the Maundy Thursday services at St Paul’s. Also influential were sermons and discussions I heard at St Paul’s on the subject of Christian service and servant-hood. It...