We gather here to bid farewell

We gather here to bid farewell.  Margaret Clarkson* (1915-2008). This hymn, dated 1987, is the only hymn by Clarkson in VU (the British book, Praise! (2000), prints thirteen of them, but not this one). It is an unassuming but effective hymn, which can be used for different occasions: the phrase in stanza 1 about ‘those who leave for other parts’ could be used at a service to bid farewell to missionaries, or it can be useful just as a ‘goodbye’ hymn, sung to friends. Given Clarkson’s long association with the Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship, it is also a hymn that can be sung as young people leave home and security on an occasion that sends them out to a ‘wider sphere’. It also celebrates...