Hymn #332: As We Gather at Your Table | First Congregational Church

Carl Pickens Daw Jr. (b. 1944) wrote this text in 1989 for the tercentenary celebration of Eastern Shore Chapel (Episcopal) in Virginia Beach. In stanza 2, Daw utilized references to postcommunion prayers of the Eucharist. Stanza 3 reflects on the parable of the banquet.

Carl P. Daw Jr. was a member of the Standing Commission on Church Music for The Hymnal 1982 of the Episcopal Church when he was inspired to begin writing hymns. Soon, Daw began to receive commissions to write hymns for particular occasions, such as this one.

Benjamin Franklin White (1800-1879) may have written or adapted this tune, BEACH SPRING. It was first found in a tunebook called The Sacred Harp (1844), which White edited with Elisha James King. This book contained tunes collected from the southern United States.

B.F. White was the youngest of fourteen children and had fourteen children of is own. A self-taught musician, he traveled to southern United States as a singing-school teacher. He and his brother-in-law William Walker, editor of Southern Harmony, collected hymns together.