Hymn #11: Bring Many Names | First Congregational Church

Brian Arthur Wren (b. 1936) based this text on Genesis 1:27 and explains his interpretation in a commentary: “God gives us glimpses of the divine nature in each other, and specifically in our genderedness.” Although the text offers some “glimpses” of God throughout, it concludes with the recognition that God is “never fully known.”

Brian Wren published a collection of his hymns in 1989, using the name of this hymn for the title, Bring Many Names. He continued to work on the text, and this version is the one that appears in Faith Renewed – a 1995 publication of thirty-three earlier hymns presented with varying degrees of revisions.

Carlton Raymond Young (b. 1926) composed the tune WESTCHASE for this text in 1989. Young has written many articles and books on hymnody and published more that 150 compositions. He holds the distinction of having edited two major United Methodist hymnals of the twentieth century.

Carlton R. Young was born in Hamilton, Ohio, and received his education at Cincinnati College – Conservatory of Music, Boston University School of Theology, and Union Theological Seminary, New York City. In addition, he studied in Vienna, Austria, and Prague, Czechoslovakia.