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PARTICIPANTS IN TODAY’S SERVICE
LITURGIST & COMMUNION ELEMENT BEARERS
Rev. Tracee Hackel Sandy Roorda & Pam McGee
DIRECTORS
David McArthur, Music Ministry Director
INSTRUMENTALISTS & VOCALISTS
Alaina Bongers, Harp Jeanette Carver, Oboe
King James, Soloist Tamra Keller, Clarinet
Javi Lopez, Timpani & Percussion David McArthur, Piano
Dave Mills, Flute Mira Mintcheva, Organ & Piano
Pete Toews, Trumpet Westminster Choir
SOUND, VIDEO, & SCREEN
Jim Doser Bink Smith Christy Smith
Westminster Choir Anthem on July 5, 2026
“Our Heritage of Faith”
By Joseph M. Martin
In celebration of our country’s 250th anniversary of its founding, Westminster Choir sings a medley of three familiar songs, all arranged by Joseph Martin in a choral anthem entitled “Our Heritage of Faith.” The three songs--“God of Our Fathers,” “Faith of Our Fathers,” and “Onward Christian Soldiers”—remind us to give thanks for the blessings of the godly heritage we share.
“God of Our Fathers,” with its trumpet-like opening fanfare, was written in 1876 by a rector in Brandon, Vermont, Daniel Crane Roberts, for the 100th anniversary of American Independence. While the song was originally sung to the tune of the “Russian Hymn,” a noted Episcopal organist named George William Warren composed the “National Hymn” music in 1892 that we have come to know today as the melody of “God of Our Fathers.”
The song’s first verse acknowledges God’s mighty hand bringing forth creation and our gratitude for the splendor and beauty of his creation:
God of our fathers, whose almighty hand
Leads forth in beauty all the starry band
Of shining worlds in splendor through the skies,
Our grateful songs before thy throne arise.
The second verse acknowledges God’s loving providence in guiding our land in the past and implores him to be our ruler and guide in the future:
Thy love divine has led us in the past.
In this free land by thee our lot is cast.
Be thou our ruler, guardian, guide and stay.
Thy word our law, thy paths our chosen way.
The lyrics of the second song in the medley “Faith of Our Fathers” were written in 1849 by English Catholic theologian Frederick William Faber, commemorating fathers of the Catholic faith who were martyred during the English Reformation. In 1864 English organist Henri F. Hemy wrote the melody known as “St Catherine” to accompany the lyrics In 1874 English-born hymn arranger James G Walton added a refrain to the song. The words “Faith of our Fathers” remind us of the martyrs in every age who paid with their very lives to uphold the faith and reminds us of the cost:
Faith of our fathers, living still
In spite of dungeon, fire, and sword…
We will be true to Thee till death.
The third song of the medley takes the tune of “Onward Christian Soldiers” and sets it to new words:
Forward through the ages, in unbroken line,
Move the saints of freedom at the call divine.
As we listen to this anthem of faith and gratitude for blessings of the past, may we re-dedicate ourselves today to God, our good ruler and only sure guide.