Our emphasis will be Hope in Christ for the next two years. Because of our hope in Christ, we will seek to be genuine in love, patient in tribulation, constant in prayer, and compassionate to all. Our watchword is found in Romans 12:12: “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” (NIV).

In 1913, Fannie Heck (WMU, SBC president) wrote the women’s hymn “Come, Women, Wide Proclaim” set to the tune of the Italian Hymn published in 1769. If you are unfamiliar with the music, do a search online.

I took some of the elements of the emphasis and put them to words to update the hymn for potential use the next few years.

Ask a gifted musician to prepare special music for one of your meetings using the words to “Hope in Christ” provided below. You could very easily add the chorus of “The Solid Rock” (“On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; / All other ground is sinking sand, / All other ground is sinking sand”) between each verse of “Hope in Christ” set to the Italian Hymn. You could also use this piece during your personal quiet time.