Happy were the church, could all
Her ministers agree;
Evidence their lawful call
To their high ministry,
Fulness of the Spirit obtain,
And Stephen’s faithful zeal express,
Offering up their lives, to gain
The crown of righteousness!
Happy were the church, could all
Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “‘And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith, and of the holy Ghost.’—[Acts 6,] v. 5.” This hymn appears in the 1764 manuscript “MS Acts.” This manuscript is part of the collection of the Methodist Archive and Research Centre in The John Rylands Library, The University of Manchester (accession number MA 1977/555, Charles Wesley Notebooks Box 1). Accessed through the website of The Center for Studies in the Wesleyan Tradition, Duke Divinity School. Published in The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, Collected and Arranged by G. Osborn, Vol. 12 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1871), page 198.
Publishing: Public Domain