Together4Bristol : We Seek Your Kingdom: A Whole-Life Worship Song

We Seek Your Kingdom: A Whole-Life Worship Song

We are excited that "We Seek Your Kingdom" will be used as theme song for the Church of England's "Thy Kingdom Come", a global initiative on prayer that will engage churches and denominations on all continents of the earth.

One of the great things about history is that we can look back and see what has happened.

We can see the power and results of prayer in the lives of so many amazing people of faith who helped to shape much of what you see in todays society.

From the Sunday School movement to the Boy Brigades, Girl Guides to our Education, Financial, Legal, Social, Health & Civic structures, these systems that have been created because people prayed and followed the Truth found in Scripture, and lived out their Kingdom assignments.

This song "We Seek Your Kingdom", commissioned by Matt Bird of Cinnamon Network, and written by Noel Robinson, Andy Flannagan and Graham Hunter, seeks to re-imagine new lyrics with "Eventide", a popular 18th Century melody which was originally put to the hymn "Abide with Me", with a new civic prayer and song, a call to Transform, Revive and Heal society.

With performances by worship artists, Noel Robinson, Andy Flannagan, Lou Fellingham and Donna Akodu, the video is directed by Andy Hutch and produced by the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity (LICC).

'We Seek Your Kingdom' is probably as close to a hymn for politics that we will get. It's a cry for the perfection of heaven to infuse leadership in every sphere, by clearly acknowledging where the authority for human leadership comes from.

As we emerge from COVID, it's a prayer for all of society to be healed and transformed. From mental health to righteous legislation. We were originally commissioned to write something for civic prayer breakfasts by Matt Bird, and we really wanted it to be sing-able by those who frequented church buildings and those who didn't, so I scoured many tunes and landed on Eventide (made famous by the hymn "Abide with me"). When you are asking people to sing perhaps more challenging words, it is often good to allow them to be very comfortable with the tune!

I hope it blesses you and I hope that you will be able to share it in whatever way you share things, that it might do the job it's meant to do, far and wide. We are hoping it causes a shift in what people feel able to write and sing in church.

Soon you'll see it used as the theme song for "Thy Kingdom Come" and appearing on a TV near you, but you, this faithful political clan deserved to get a little early, private look.

I hope it blesses you,
Andy