Michael Arnold Perry (8 March 1942 – 9 December 1996) was a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

clergyman and one of the leading

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

hymnodist A hymnwriter (or hymn writer, hymnist, hymnodist, hymnographer, etc.) is someone who writes the text, music, or both of hymns. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the composition of hymns dates back to before the time of David, who composed many of ...

s of the 20th century.The nation's favourite carols
BBC, 2005 He was closely associated with Jubilate Hymns.

Early life

Michael Perry was born in

Beckenham Beckenham () is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley, in Greater London. Until 1965 it was part of the historic county of Kent. It is located south-east of Charing Cross, situated north of Elmers End and E ...

, Kent on 8 March 1942. He was educated at

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 independent, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

and went on to study at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

;

Oak Hill Theological College Oak Hill College is a conservative evangelical theological college located on Chase Side in Southgate, London, England. Its aim is to prepare men and women from the Church of England and Independent churches for ministry in the real world. Over ...

, London;

Ridley Hall, Cambridge Ridley Hall is a theological college located on the corner of Sidgwick Avenue and Ridley Hall Road in Cambridge (United Kingdom), which trains men and women intending to take Holy Orders as deacon or priest of the Church of England, and member ...

; and

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

.Michael Perry
at Jubilate Group website It was during his student days at Oak Hill in 1964 that Perry wrote his best-known hymn, the Calypso Carol, the first line of which is "See him lying on a bed of straw".Obituary
, The Hymn Society He wrote this for a college concert, and it only became famous by accident when

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

substituted it for a missing recording in a radio show.

Ministry

After

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorization, authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominational ...

in the

Diocese of Liverpool The Diocese of Liverpool is a Church of England diocese based in Liverpool, covering Merseyside north of the River Mersey, part of West Lancashire, part of Wigan in Greater Manchester, Widnes and part of Warrington and in Cheshire (it was origi ...

, Perry ministered at

St Helens, Merseyside St Helens () is a town in Merseyside, England, with a population of 102,629. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, which had a population of 176,843 at the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census. St Helens i ...

. He moved to

Bitterne Bitterne is an eastern suburb and ward of Southampton, England. Bitterne derives its name not from the similarly named bird, the bittern, but probably from the bend in the River Itchen; the Old English words ''byht'' and ''ærn'' together mean ...

, Southampton, Hampshire, where he was curate and then vicar. During his time at Bitterne he was on the committees that produced the popular hymn books ''Psalm Praise'' (1973) and ''Hymns for Today's Church'' (1982). From 1981 to 1989 Perry served as Rector of

Eversley Eversley is a village and civil parish in the Hart district of Hampshire, England. The village is located around northeast of Basingstoke and around west of Yateley. The River Blackwater, and the border with Berkshire, form the northern bo ...

, Hampshire. In 1982 he became Secretary of Jubilate Hymns, and was involved in editing most of their books. In addition, he worked as Chaplain and lecturer at the National

Police Staff College, Bramshill The Police Staff College, Bramshill, Bramshill House, Bramshill, (near Hook) Hampshire, England, was until 2015 the principal police staff training establishment in England and Wales. History The need for a training college for the police w ...

. He was also elected to the Church of England's

General Synod The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations. Anglican Communion The General Synod of the Church of England, which was established in 1970 replacing the Church Assembly (Church of England), Church Assembly, is t ...

in 1985. Perry's last posting was as Vicar of

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated population ...

in his native

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

from 1989 until 1996. He was appointed Chairman of the

Church Pastoral Aid Society The Church Pastoral Aid Society (CPAS) is an Anglican evangelical mission agency. It was founded in 1836. History of the Society The CPAS was founded in 1836 in the midst of the social upheaval of the Industrial Revolution to take 'the gospel t ...

in 1993, and again to the General Synod in 1994.

Personal life

Perry married Beatrice Mary at St Helens Parish Church in 1967. They had two children, Helen and Simon. From early 1996 Perry was increasingly disabled by an inoperable brain tumour. He died at home on 9 December 1996.

Legacy

His contemporary, hymn-writer Christopher Idle, paid tribute to Perry's compositions, his constructive criticism of others' works, and his business acumen in "sorting out what had been a

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

jungle" (referring to critics who expected songwriters to make no charge since their work was "for the Lord"). He concluded that few people matched Perry's influence on

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

praise Praise as a form of social interaction expresses recognition, reassurance or admiration. Praise is expressed verbally as well as by body language (facial expression and gestures). Verbal praise consists of a positive evaluations of another's a ...

and

worship Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. It may involve one or more of activities such as veneration, adoration, praise, and praying. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recognition ...

over the 1970s to '90s. Christopher Idle, "Not just a calypso", obituary of Michael Perry in ''

Evangelicals Now ''Evangelicals Now'' is a monthly evangelical Christian newspaper based in Surrey, England. The newspaper was started in 1986 by Bob Horn (with the support of Sir Fred Catherwood) and the current editor is David Baker, who is also the Rector of E ...

'', February 1997

Selected works

Perry wrote over 300 hymns. The following works are a selection. ;Hymns *"See him lying on a bed of straw" ( Calypso Carol) *"O God Beyond All Praising" (to

Holst Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite ''The Planets'', he composed many other works across a range ...

's melody

Thaxted Thaxted is a town and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of north-west Essex, England. The town is in the valley of the River Chelmer, not far from its source in the nearby village of Debden, and is 97 metres (318 feet) above sea level (whe ...

) *"Bring to the Lord a Glad New Song" (to

Hubert Parry Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet (27 February 18487 October 1918) was an English composer, teacher and historian of music. Born in Richmond Hill in Bournemouth, Parry's first major works appeared in 1880. As a composer he is b ...

's tune

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

) *"When the angel came to Mary" (to the

Sans Day Carol The "Sans Day Carol", also known as "St. Day Carol" and "The Holly Bears a Berry", is a traditional Cornish Christmas carol named after the Cornish village of St Day, where it was found around the turn of the twentieth century. The song, which is ...

) *''Fling wide the gates, unbar the ancient doors'' (chorus line) (based on Psalm 24) ;Books *''The Dramatised Bible'' *''Preparing for Worship'', Zondervan 1995, *''Singing to God'', Hope Publications, 1995. . His own collected hymns

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Michael 1942 births 1996 deaths Christian hymnwriters English hymnwriters People educated at Dulwich College Alumni of Ridley Hall, Cambridge Alumni of Oak Hill College Alumni of University College London Alumni of the University of Southampton 20th-century English musicians