Make this, God, a place of welcome (Dedication hymn)

Make this, God, a place of welcome for all those who come this way;

For those who need sanctuary just to make it through the day.

For your children facing trouble in dark places of the mind, 

May this be a place of healing where good hope we all can find.

 

For your children in addiction far beyond their own control,

May this be a place of wholeness both in body and in soul.

For your daughters who seek learning, yet in poverty and need,

May this be where, through our sewing, they can open doors indeed.

 

For your children long in seeking who they’re truly meant to be,

May this be a place for finding home and hope to know and see.

For your children, wounded, broken, who have nowhere else to turn,

May this be a place of healing not bound to what they can earn.

 

For the hopes of saints before us who once dreamed these faithful dreams,

We give thanks for all these centers through which that dear vision beams.

Make this, God, a place of welcome for all those who come this way;

In this place may your good pleasure be our mission every day.

 

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, September 2021, for the rededication of the Highlands Regional Ministry Center, Gainesville, Florida.

MUSIC: Tune ODE TO JOY, Ludwig van Beethoven, 1824; adapt. Edward Hodges, 1842; alt.