BLEST BE THE TIE THAT BINDS

(F) Blest be the (C7) tie that (F) binds
Our (Bb) hearts in Chris(F)tian (C) love;
The (C7) fellow(F)ship of (C7) kindred (F) minds
(Bb) Is (F) like (Bb) to (F) that (C7) ab(F)ove.

Before our Father's throne
We pour our ardent prayers;
Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one
Our comforts and our cares.

We share each other's woes,
Our mutual burdens bear;
And often for each other flows
The sympathizing tear.

When we asunder part,
It gives us inward pain;
But we shall still be joined in heart,
And hope to meet again.

Words: John Fawcett, 1782
Music: Johann G. Nägeli; arranged by Lowell Mason, 1845

John Fawcett was a Baptist pastor who lived around the turn of the 19th century. He spent most of his ministry years serving a small, struggling congregation in Wainsgate, England. He turned down opportunities for more lucrative and prestigious churches in London and Bristol. He was where God wanted him to be, among people whom he dearly loved. In the course of his pastorate in that small church, he wrote these words that are still sung in fellowships around the world two hundred years later:

"Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love. The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above."