There's a spirit in the air (StF 398)
- Festivals and Seasons:
- Pentecost
- Authors & translators:
- Wren, Brian
- Theme:
- The Gift of the Holy Spirit
- Tune:
- Lauds
- Composers & arrangers:
- Wilson, John
- Metre:
- 77.77.
- Source:
- Singing the Faith: 398 (CD16 #27)
- Verses:
- 7
- STF Number:
- 398
More information
Brian Wren wrote this text for use on Pentecost Sunday at Hockley Church, England, where he was serving as pastor. He was aiming for simple language that was suitable for all ages.
Some StF+ users have noted a change of words in this popular hymn from the recurring phrase "We can see his power today" (as in Hymns & Psalms 326) to "Live tomorrow's life today". This is a change that Brian Wren himself has made.
Brian has revised many of his texts over the years as his understanding of God and of the language we use about God has changed. Increasingly he has become uncomfortable with the attribution of power to God in a way that is too redolent of the way we use power as humans and nations. "There's a spirit in the air" was one of his earlier texts, which he revised and published in his collection, Faith Renewed (1995). This and other of his texts in Singing the Faith have been published from the revised versions at his request.
(An anthology of all Brian Wren's texts in their revised versions up to 1996 has been published: Piece Together Praise: a theological journey.)