Builder of ages, Planner divine,
Drawing the length and breadth of space and time;
Yet also Monarch with kingdom to build,
And golden capital still yet unfilled.

Surveyor, Architect, Craftsman sublime,
He drew the blueprint ere the start of time,
Building with living stones fair temples bright,
Fixing our hearts into His halls of light.

First came the Cornerstone, Jesus, our Lord;
We hear this mighty Rock call from the Word:
“Build up My Church,” says He, “it cannot fail;
As long as you believe, you will prevail.”

“As you are gathered here, so here am I,
Lift up your hearts and song unto the sky;
Call in My citizens, do not delay;
Bring in My kingdom of the perfect day.”

So, in this year to come, we vow to build
Two things for Christ our King, with spirit filled:
First, we will make a house, fit for a King;
And build within ourselves hearts fit to sing.

Press on, press on, ye workers,
Be loyal, brave, and true:
Great things the Lord is doing,
And greater things will do;
His army, still increasing
With each revolving year,
Shall send a shout of rapture forth
That all the world shall hear.

Refrain

Rejoice, rejoice, ye workers all rejoice;
O, clap your hands and sing,
O, clap your hands and sing;
God’s holy Church shall triumph yet,
Triumph yet, triumph yet,
And He shall reign our King,
Shall reign our King.

The walls of leagued oppression
To dust shall fall away;
The sword of truth eternal
No power on earth can stay;
Though all the hosts of darkness
Were marshaled on the field,
The Church of God would stand unmoved,
With Christ her Strength and Shield.

Refrain

Behold her marching onward,
In majesty sublime,
Along the rolling prairies
That bound our western clime;
And soon from every hamlet
On all our vast frontier
Glad songs shall rise to Jesus,
While skeptics turn to hear.

Refrain

Hark, the sound of coming legions,
O how joyful is the sound,
’Tis the children’s army marching,
On the Master’s errands bound.
See their faces all are glowing
With the joyous light of youth
As they’re marching, onward marching
For the cause of Right and Truth.

Refrain

Hark, the tramp of coming legions,
O how joyful is the sound,
’Tis the children’s army marching,
On the Master’s errands bound.

Hark, the tramp of coming legions,
Hosts of Satan now must quail,
They must scatter in confusion
When this army shall prevail.
At the summons of the Master,
See the children fall in line,
Marching on with glad endeavor,
Trusting in the help divine.

Refrain

Hark, the tramp of coming legions,
Marching onward millions strong,
They shall surely be victorious
O’er the hosts of sin and wrong.
Ever loyal to the Master,
Strong their hearts shall be and brave,
Till the Gospel’s glorious banner
Over all the world shall wave.

Refrain

The highest and the holiest place
Guards not the heart from sin;
The Church that safest seems without
May harbor foes within.

Thus in the small and chosen band,
Beloved above the rest,
One fell from his apostleship,
A traitor-soul unblest.

But not the great designs of God
Man’s sins shall over throw;
Another witness to the truth
Forth to the lands shall go.

The soul that sinneth, it shall die;
Thy purpose shall not fail;
The word of grace no less shall sound,
The truth no less prevail.

Righteous, O Lord, are all Thy ways;
Long as the worlds endure,
From foes without and foes within,
Thy Church shall stand secure.

Mighty God, come build Your mighty Church upon Your mighty Word!
In the ears of an astounded world, make all Your Wisdom heard!
Let Your apostolic teaching forge in us a bond of awe,
As Your people come together, seeing more than Moses saw:
Not in cloud, or fiery pillar, come now to make us one,
But in Word made flesh come show Yourself, through Your Eternal Son!

As we praise Your name together and worship all You are,
By the broken bread of Your own flesh, come heal our every scar!
In a life-transforming wonder, enter to show forth Your name.
Come engrave on our new hearts this Love that You proclaim.
Work a miracle of fellowship among us as we pray,
Open up our hearts to meet the needs we lift to You today.

With great gladness and sincerity we praise our God and King,
Seeing in our trials and triumphs His hand in everything.
And whether this world hates us or whether it may smile,
We will trust a sovereign mercy to be working all the while
To augment the glorious choir that sings in realms of endless day
Of amazing and unbounded love that never fades away.

O where are kings and empires now
Of old, that went and came?
But Lord, Thy Church is praying yet,
A thousand years the same.

We mark her goodly battlements
And her foundations strong;
We hear, within, the solemn voice
Of her unending song.

For not like kingdoms of the world
Thy holy Church, O God,
Though earthquake shocks are threat’ning her,
And tempests are abroad.

Unshaken as eternal hills,
Immovable she stands,
A mountain that shall fill the earth,
A house not made by hands.

O young and fearless Prophet of ancient Galilee,
Thy life is still a summons to serve humanity;
To make our thoughts and actions less prone to please the crowd,
To stand with humble courage for truth with hearts uncowed.

We marvel at the purpose that held Thee to Thy course
While ever on the hilltop before Thee loomed the cross;
Thy steadfast face set forward where love and duty shone,
While we betray so quickly and leave Thee there alone.

O help us stand unswerving against war’s bloody way,
Where hate and lust and falsehood hold back Christ’s holy sway;
Forbid false love of country that blinds us to His call,
Who lifts above the nations the unity of all.

Stir up in us a protest against our greed for wealth,
While others starve and hunger and plead for work and health;
Where homes with little children cry out for lack of bread,
Who live their years sore burdened beneath a gloomy dread.

Create in us the splendor that dawns when hearts are kind,
That knows not race nor station as boundaries of the mind;
That learns to value beauty, in heart, or brain, or soul,
And longs to bind God’s children into one perfect whole.

O young and fearless Prophet, we need Thy presence here,
Amid our pride and glory to see Thy face appear;
Once more to hear Thy challenge above our noisy day,
Again to lead us forward along God’s holy way.