Hymnal indexes can only be so helpful, and broad terms like “stewardship” can stymie even the wisest hymnal editor. So, we’ve combed through the hymnals of several denominations to select our favorite stewardship-related hymns. Many are related to money, but we’ve also sought a more holistic list for those of you seeking to embrace year-round stewardship teaching, money, and more. I hope you’ll find the list illuminating — and, if even if you don’t refer to it this week, know it will be archived here for years to come.
Yours truly,
Adam Copeland, Center for Stewardship Leaders
Singing Stewardship: A List of Stewardship Hymns
Alex Benson
Together, we sing the stories of our faith. Uniting our voices in song, we profess our theology, we receive hope of healing, and we declare God’s presence among us and proclaim the coming of God’s kingdom. Hymns hold the power to comfort or convict, spark our imaginations, and to tell an old story in moving new ways.
In particular, stewardship hymns invite worshiping communities to consider our relationship with God and money, our call to care for creation, and even the ways in which we share of our very selves in our vocations.
Finding just the right hymn when you need it can be a struggle, so we’re here to help! Below, you will find several hymns exploring different stewardship themes. Consider using them year-round to nurture reflection and corresponding action regarding what it means to be faithful stewards, both individually and communally. I for one continue to be amazed at the ways in which words composed in a different era continue to speak into communities across time and space. Perhaps together we might find renewed appreciation for the power of these hymns to speak into our own realities as well.
Money
Be Thou My Vision (link, ELW #793, Glory to God #450, The United Methodist Hymnal #451, With One Voice #776) We look to God as the source of all goodness, light, power, and wisdom — far above money, riches, or human praise.
Son of God, Eternal Savior (link, ELW #655) Through the incarnation, we receive God’s gifts of love and grace and are freed to be stewards of these gifts, both tangible and intangible, in care of others.
Take My Life, That I May Be (link, ELW #583, Glory to God #697, Hymnal 1982 #707, The United Methodist Hymnal #399) We offer our whole selves and all that we have, including our “silver and gold,” to God in praise.
Parables or Teachings of Jesus
A Woman and a Coin (link, Glory to God #173) Through a reflection on three of Jesus’ parables (the lost coin, the lost sheep, and the prodigal son), we discover anew God’s profound love that seeks us out, enabling us to full live into who God calls us to be.
God, Whose Giving Knows No Ending (link, ELW #678, Glory to God #716) God has generously entrusted us with skills, time, and treasure to follow Christ’s call in loving others.
Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God (link, Glory to God #175, Hymnal 1982 #711, The United Methodist Hymnal #405) Christ calls us to seek God’s kingdom above all things — which transforms the way we approach material possessions and the way we live in relationship to others.
Right Relationship with Money and Possessions
All My Hope on God Is Founded (link, ELW #757, Hymnal 1982 #665, With One Voice #782) God is the only source of true hope, for wealth, human pride, and earthly power will ultimately betray us.
As Saints of Old (link, ELW #695, Glory to God #712, Hymnal 1982 #705) Just as the “saints of old” gave of themselves, their harvest, and their possessions to God’s mission in the world, we too are called to share of all that we are and all that we have to love and serve a world in need.
Jesus Calls Us o’er the Tumult (link, ELW #696, Glory to God #720, Hymnal 1982 #549,550, United Methodist Hymnal #398) Jesus calls us away from love of idols and to love and follow him above all else.
Creation
Creating God, Your Fingers Trace (link, ELW #684, With One Voice #757, United Methodist Hymnal #109, Hymnal 1982 #394, 395) God creates, sustains, redeems, and indwells in all of creation, restoring life and proclaiming love so that we too may join in caring for all created things.
God, Whose Farm Is All Creation (link, ELW #734) We offer “the finest of our harvest” in gratitude to God for the gift of creation.
Touch the Earth Lightly (link, ELW #739, Glory to God #713) Too often, humans have put life of all of God’s creation in danger and are instead called to “use the earth gently” and nurture life for all of the Earth.
Stewardship of Self & Vocation
Christ, Be Our Light (link, ELW #715, Glory to God #314) With Christ as our light, we can recognize the human need surrounding us and unite our varied gifts and passionate hearts to serve one another.
The Church of Christ, in Every Age (link, ELW #729, Glory to God #320, The United Methodist Hymnal #589) Christ liberates the church to lead a life of justice, service, and sacrificial generosity.
Voices Raised to You (link, ELW #845) We join all of creation in offering our voices, gifts, and bodies to God in thankful praise.
Hymnals cited (though, hymns appear elsewhere too):
Evangelical Lutheran Worship. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2006.
Glory to God: The Presbyterian Hymnal. Louisville: Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, 2013.
Hymnal 1982: According to the Use of the Episcopal Church. New York: Church Hymnal Corp, 1985.
The United Methodist Hymnal. Nashville: United Methodist Publishing House, 1989.
With One Voice. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1995.