Hymn #542: Born of God, Eternal Savior | First Congregational Church

Somerset Thomas Corry Lowry (1855-1932) titled this hymn “For Unity” when he first published it in a magazine called Good Will in 1894. The next year it was included in the Christian Social Union Hymn Book. Lowry was serving at North Holmwood, England, when he wrote the hymn.

Somerset T. C. Lowry was born in Dublin, Ireland, on March 21, 1855, and spent his life as a priest in the Anglican Church. In addition, he wrote sixty hymns and several devotional books. He died at Torquay, England, on January 29, 1932.

This anonymous tune was first printed in a Roman Catholic hymnal in Cologne, Germany, in 1741. The tune’s name, WEISSE FLAGGEN, is taken from the German text with which it appeared, “Lasst die weissen Flaggen wehen.” The hymn may have originated as a popular folk song.

Tochter Sion was a Roman Catholic hymnal printed in Cologne, Germany, in 1741. It was one of more than thirty hymnals printed in that region of Germany for Roman Catholic churches. Many of these hymnals contained variations on tunes popular with German congregations.