Pastor crafts hymn using voter guidelines

Christian Century, Nov 16, 2004

Dozens of groups from left, right and center proposed election-year criteria that voters should have considered before November 2. But only one set of guidelines, apparently was put to music.

Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, a Presbyterian pastor and contemporary hymn writer, took the "Christian Principles in an Election Year" produced by the National Council of Churches and set them to music.

The guidelines emphasize foreign policy reforms, care for the poor, racial equality, environmental stewardship, immigration reform, affordable health care, and opposition to war and violence, among other things.

The result is "In Times of Great Decision," sung to the tune of "The Church's One Foundation."

Gillette said her minister-husband, Bruce Gillette, found the principles on the Internet and thought they would make a good hymn. The Gillettes are copastors of Limestone Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, Delaware.

"Some people say we should separate the 'political' and 'religious' sides of life, but I believe we are supposed to carry our faith convictions into the wav we vote and the way we choose our leaders," she said.

Gillette also penned a hymn, "O God, Our Words Cannot Express," that was widely used after the September 11 terrorist attacks, and "God, Whose Love Is Always Stronger." used before the U.S.-led war against Iraq. "To me, a hymn is always a prayer," she said.

The last stanza of Gillette's hymn goes this way:

   You call on every nation to put aside
      all greed
   To care for your creation, and for
      your ones in need
   To care for those in prison, for children,
      for the ill
   In times of great decision, may we
      choose leaders well.

--RNS