Verne Arens was my pastor for 23 years, and he nurtured my growing call to deep involvement in the church, right up till when he retired. As Pastor of Little River United Church of Christ in Annandale, VA, Verne weekly provided wonderful sermons.
In February 2010 he did a sermon that centered on the image of God as a hen, protecting her chicks, which Jesus uses as he gazes on Jerusalem. He followed it up with a hymn that played on the many names of God, but did NOT include the image. As I left the sanctuary that day, I said to Verne, "You need a hen hymn." But the hymn did not come easy, and the idea was shelved for the time. Finally, about a year later I presented Verne with Sheltering Wings. The theme of the hymn is inspired by his sermon that day (and attributed in the hymn.)
In February 2013, when the same scripture reading came up, now as pastor of my own churches, I brought out "Sheltering Wings." and had my congregation sing it. That was a great deal of fun.
I have always felt that inclusiveness is better achieved when we bring in the various biblical visions of God - Sheltering Wings, like We Celebrate You, God of All Creation, has a mother God image, this time deeply biblical. Enjoy.
This hymn is distributed via a Creative Commons 4.0 Attribution Non Commercial license. You are free to use, adapt, and reproduce this as long as you attribute me and do not sell it or the derivative work.
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