“I Was Never Moses”
Additional Hymn for All Saints’ Sunday (2 November 2025): Text: “I Was Never Moses” John Core, Through the Rushes, p. 24. Tune: ALL SAINTS, Iteke Prins, Wonders in Your Word, p. 36 Alternate Familiar Tune: KING’S WESTON
Looking ahead to the All Saints’ Sunday, observed by many congregations on the first Sunday in November, an exceptional John Core (1951-2017) hymn that is perfect for the day is “I Was Never Moses”. While the text mentions a host of well-known biblical saints from both the Old and New Testaments, it alludes to those saints in contrast to the unsung saint who, as a humble believer, has “moved through history, lived in every age, not a mover, shaker, prophet, nor a sage,” but “simply, in fame’s shadow,” has “made (the) choice” to answer “God’s ancient call,” while “hearing and responding to God’s timeless voice.” The endearing Iteke Prins (b. 1937) tune named ALL SAINTS and composed for this text might appropriately be introduced by children singing the first stanza, with the congregation joining in for the remaining three stanzas. The alternate familiar tune, KING’S WESTON, lends a more serious tone to the text.
John Core was born at Camp (now Fort) Rucker, Alabama, and earned a BA in Speech Communication from West Virginia University in Morgantown, where he served as a Library Associate cataloging music from 1975 until his death in 2017. Core was a member of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada and published four collections of texts with The Leupold Foundation. Iteke Prins was born in Holland and immigrated to the United States in 1949. After achieving her career goal as a registered nurse, Prins later served as organist and music director for Blooming Grove Reformed Church in Rensselaer, New York, from 1969 until 2005. Prins has published eleven volumes of hymn tunes with The Leupold Foundation.
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