“We Come to You as Prodigals”
This month we continue our Hymn of the Month series in which one or more hymns drawn from collections published by The Leupold Foundation will be posted on the website for consideration by pastors and musicians who may wish to introduce the hymn to their congregations the following month, perhaps by having the choir introduce the hymn on the first Sunday of the month or season and then inviting the congregation to join with the choir in singing the hymn on each remaining Sunday. Additional hymns will occasionally be suggested for a particular Sunday or festival in the church year; such hymns may only be appropriate on the designated day, or they might be used as a Hymn of the Month in anticipation of or in response to the particular day on the church calendar.
Hymn of the Month for March 2025:
Text: “We Come to You as Prodigals,” Edith Sinclair Downing, For Us God’s People Now, p. 47 Tune: GIFT OF GRACE, Marlene Phillips, For Us God’s People Now, p. 94
The Hymn of the Month for March 2025 might more aptly be considered a Hymn of the Season for Lent, the fifth Sunday of which is in April this year. The hymn for Lent in 2024 is “We Come to You as Prodigals”, a text by Edith Sinclair Downing (1922–2016), set to the tune, GIFT OF GRACE, by Marlene Phillips (b. 1933). While the text, which is based on the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15.11-24), is most appropriate for Lent 4C when that scripture passage serves as the Gospel reading in the Revised Common Lectionary, the hymn could certainly be introduced by the choir or a soloist on the First Sunday in Lent and sung by the congregation on the four subsequent Sundays, thus providing a core theme throughout the entire season of Lent. It is particularly noteworthy that Downing concludes the first line of each stanza with the word “prodigal/prodigals,” a noun referring to us as humans in the first four stanzas, but an adjective describing God’s love as “lavish, (even) prodigal” in the final stanza: the prodigal son becomes the prodigal God! (Now that could preach, pastors!) The tune, which Downing has described as “a perfect match for this text,” should be very accessible for most congregations, though the familiar nineteenth-century American folk tune, BOURBON, works equally well for those who may wish to use the hymn only on Lent 4.
Edith Sinclair Downing was a remarkable woman, holding degrees in cello performance, religious education, and theological studies with a concentration on worship. She began writing hymns in her late sixties and ultimately completed four collections of hymn texts, three of which are in the catalog of The Leupold Foundation. Unfortunately, there is scant biographical information available online about the British composer, Marlene Phillips.
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