![]() I thought that I had seen this song copied in another hymnbook or two somewhere, but my research turned up nothing. 2:15-17ĬONCL.: The chorus is based on the “Serenity Prayer” of Niebuhr: This wisdom will enable us to do the will of God instead of seeking the world: 1 Jn. Then we must strive to grow in that wisdom from above: Jas. This we can do if we are always determined to be led by the Spirit: Rom. We especially need boldness to say what needs to be said: Acts 4:29Ĭ. God’s people need to be courageous: Josh. This attitude of submission will lead to keeping His commands: Jn. ![]() Following this way means yielding to God’s will as Jesus did: Matt. God has a way planned for us to go that is narrow: Matt. But we need to see that God’s ways are best because they are higher than ours: Isa. Things in life sometimes go wrong because our days are full of trouble: Job 14:1Ĭ. Serenity is akin to a sense of contentment: Phil. The song encourages us to seek the peace and contentment that God offers.Ī. The song was first published that year in Crum’s Special Sacred Selections. In 1977, the stanzas were written and the tune was composed both by Ellis J. In 1952, Niebuhr published The Irony of American History, in which he interpreted the meaning of the United States’ past. Early versions of the prayer are given no title, but by 1955, it was being called the Serenity Prayer in publications of Alcoholics Anonymous such as The International Journal of Alcoholics Anonymous, which identified Niebuhr as the author (pp. A reply in the same column in the issue for August 13, 1950, p. 23, asking for the author of the quotation. A version (apparently quoted from memory) appeared in the “Queries and Answers” column in The New York Times Book Review, July 2, 1950, p. It also appeared in a sermon of Niebuhr’s in the 1944 Book of Prayers and Services for the Armed Forces, while Niebuhr first published it in 1951 in a magazine column. Niebuhr used it in a 1943 sermon at Heath Evangelical Union Church in Heath, Massachusetts. The prayer spread rapidly, often without attribution to Niebuhr, through church groups in the 1930s and 1940s and was adopted and popularized by Alcoholics Anonymous and other twelve-step programs. God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, The earliest known version of the prayer is a diary entry from 1932 by Winnifred Crane Wygal, a pupil and collaborator of Reinhold, quoting the prayer and attributing it to Niebuhr in this version: “Father, give us courage to change what must be altered, serenity to accept what cannot be helped, and the insight to know the one from the other.” The most popular version, the authorship of which is unknown, reads: Niebuhr claimed that he composed the short Serenity Prayer in 1932-33. While teaching theology at Union Theological Seminary, Niebuhr influenced many generations of students and thinkers, including the German minister Dietrich Bonhoeffer of the anti-Nazi Confessing Church. The Niebuhrs had two children, Christopher Niebuhr and Elisabeth Niebuhr Sifton. In 1931 Niebuhr married Ursula Keppel-Compton. He spent the rest of his career there, until retirement in 1960. In 1928, Niebuhr left Detroit to become Professor of Practical Theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York. The congregation numbered 66 on his arrival and grew to nearly 700 by the time he left in 1928. The German Evangelical mission board sent him to serve at Bethel Evangelical Church in Detroit, Michigan. In 1915, Niebuhr was ordained a minister. At Yale Divinity School he earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1914 and a Master of Arts degree the following year. ![]() Niebuhr first served as minister of a church from April to September 1913 when he was interim minister of St. Then he studied at Eden Theological Seminary in Webster Groves, Missouri, where, as he admitted, he was deeply influenced by Samuel D. Reinhold attended Elmhurst College in Illinois and graduated in 1910. ![]() The family moved to Lincoln, Illinois, in 1902 when Gustav became minister of Lincoln’s St. His father was a German Evangelical minister with the American branch of the established Prussian Church Union in Germany, now part of the United Church of Christ. INTRO.: A song that is designed to help us have the peace that Christ gives is “Prayer of Serenity.” The text of the chorus is adapted from “The Serenity Prayer” attributed to Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr, who was born on June 21, 1892, in Wright City, Missouri, the son of German immigrants Gustav Niebuhr and his wife, Lydia (née Hosto). ![]()
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