"The Summons", also called "Will You Come and Follow Me", is a Scottish Christian hymn. It was written by

John L. Bell John Lamberton Bell (born 1949) is a Scottish hymn-writer and Church of Scotland minister. He is a member of the Iona Community, a broadcaster, and former student activist. He works throughout the world, lecturing in theological colleges in the ...

in 1987.

History

Bell composed "The Summons" after being accepted into the Iona Community in 1980. It was first included in the Iona Community's ''Heaven Shall Not Wait: Songs of Creation, the Incarnation, and the Life of Jesus'', published by their Wild Goose Resource Group in 1987. "The Summons" has been published in many hymn books beyond the Iona Community and the United Kingdom, including those by the

United Church of Canada The United Church of Canada (french: link=no, Église unie du Canada) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholi ...

and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). It also appears in “Wonder, Love, and Praise,” the addendum hymnal of the

Episcopal Church (United States) The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine provinces. The presiding bishop o ...

and "The Faith We Sing", a supplemental hymnal of the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelical ...

Composition and usage

"The Summons" is set to the tune of Kelvingrove, a traditional Scottish melody. Its text contains thirteen questions asked by Jesus in the first person. The initial four stanzas with the questions are in Jesus' voice, and the fifth stanza is the singer's response to them. The hymn is based on Mark 1:16–20 and alludes to Jesus calling his disciples to follow him. C. Michael Hawn calls it a prophetic Christian hymn and mentioned that it contains words uncommon to other hymns. It has been used as an example of how a Christian should react to fear and love as well as being written as an example of covenantal discipleship. The hymn is used as a vocational and youth hymn because the words are easier to learn for younger people compared with other hymns. In 2014, the hymn was used at

Blackburn Cathedral Blackburn Cathedral, officially known as the Cathedral Church of Blackburn Saint Mary the Virgin with St Paul, is an Church of England, Anglican (Church of England) cathedral situated in the heart of Blackburn town centre, in Lancashire, England ...

at a service performed by the

Bishop of Blackburn The Bishop of Blackburn is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Blackburn in the Province of York. The diocese covers much of the county of Lancashire and has its see in the town of Blackburn, where the seat of the diocese is locat ...

to commemorate 20 years since the first

ordination of women in the Church of England The ordination of women in the Anglican Communion has been increasingly common in certain provinces since the 1970s. Several provinces, however, and certain dioceses within otherwise ordaining provinces, continue to ordain only men. Disputes ove ...

as well as the

Diocese of Blackburn The Diocese of Blackburn is a Church of England diocese, covering much of Lancashire, created on 12 November 1926 from part of the Diocese of Manchester. The diocese includes the towns of Blackburn, Blackpool and Burnley, the cities of Lancast ...

's decision to support the ordination of women as

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

s in the

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 ...

References

External links

Lyrics at ''Spirit and Song''

Recording on YouTube by user DO(re)MI
{{DEFAULTSORT:Summons, The Scottish Christian hymns Scottish music 1987 songs