Father, we thank you

Father, we thank you. (Thomas) Caryl Micklem* (1925-2003). This hymn was written for a competition organised by Southern Television in 1974 to find ‘A Hymn for Children’. It was published in New Church Praise (1975), the first hymn publication of the newly formed United Reformed Church, with a tune written by Micklem himself, ALL KINDS OF LIGHT. The tune name refers to the theme of the hymn, in which different kinds of ‘light’ are described. It was printed in MHfT (1980) and thus in A&MNS, and also in HP and RS. It was written in an unusual metre, 5.8.85.5, in language that children and young people can easily understand, giving thanks for light and the sky (stanza 1), for human skill...