Come to us, creative Spirit

Come to us, creative Spirit. David Mowbray* (1938- ). This hymn, entitled ‘Creative Spirit’, is the author’s most commonly requested text to date, having been drafted in 1977 and amended after correspondence with Fred Pratt Green*. Mowbray was then the incumbent of Broxbourne, Herts; after appearing there in his privately printed collection Kingdom Come, it was published in Partners in Praise (1979). HFTC introduced some small agreed changes: ‘and to all artistic viCsion / add integrity’ (stanza 3) became ‘and in all artistic vision / give integrity' (since that component is not an afterthought); and the final line was changed from ‘towards the best’ to ‘for the best’, for ease of singing...