Go forth and tell! O church of God, awake

James Seddon’s concern for the church’s global mission led him both to serve for many years in Morocco, and while there and on his return to write hymns which express that commitment. This has been among those in most demand since 1964, when it was written, and 1966 when it appeared in the first Youth Praise collection together with others by him. The author was then serving as Home Secretary of the Bible Churchmen’s Missionary Society (now Crosslinks) and it was sung widely at mission meetings and rallies long before reaching a main hymnal. More than two dozen other collections have featured it since then; not long before his death, the author adjusted some lines in stzs 3 and 4 to make them more inclusive. He attributed this demand partly to ‘its specific call to action, and I think the idea of sharing the gospel with all people.’

YP effectively launched the hymn to Michael Baughen’s GO FORTH, not then named but used there also for 628. HTC then set it to John Barnard’s YANWORTH, while the present book prefers WOODLANDS, the tune soon most widely adopted for Tell out my soul. For notes on this tune by Walter Greatorex, see 628.

b Lancs 1915; d London 1983. Tyndale Hall, Bristol 1936; Univ of Durham (LTh 1939). Ordained in 1939, he was curate of parishes in Everton, Toxteth and Southport, Lancs 1939–45. From 1945 to 1955 he served with the Bible Churchmen’s Missionary Soc (BCMS, now Crosslinks) in Tangier and Demnat Marakesh, Morocco, becoming fluent in Arabic and French; here his first hymns were written for Arabicspeaking congregations. Then he returned to be Home Sec for BCMS to 1967; in preaching widely throughout UK, he felt increasingly the questionable features of the missionary hymns often chosen: ‘romantic and outdated language tending to unreal pictures and understanding of todays missionary task’—JES, 1983. So the first of several new texts were nos.616 and 866 in Praise! With 5 others, they appeared in a typewritten BCMS booklet A Collection of Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs. Some are included in Youth Praise (1966); Jim went on to serve on the editorial team for Psalm Praise, Keswick Praise and HTC (1973, 1975, 1982) and was for a time Sec (and senior member) of the fledgling Jubilate Hymns. 3 of his hymns feature in GH and 7 in the 2004 CH, overlapping with 7 in Praise! There are 8 in Keswick Praise and the same number in Baptist Praise and Worship (1991) and Sing Glory (1999). Until retirement he was Rector of Hawkwell, nr Southend, Essex 1967–74, then incumbent of the parishes of Peldon and Gt and Little Wigborough, nr Colchester, Essex. Nos.133A, 528, 568, 574, 616, 627, 866, 1043.