Raise the Strain: An Easter Song of Joy

For Sunday, May 3, 2026
Come Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain, Thatcher

By Carol Nave

This Sunday, the Adult Choir will offer Come, Ye Faithful, a setting by contemporary British composer Christopher Thatcher that invites us into a spirit of joy, praise, and shared song. The text comes from an ancient hymn attributed to St. John of Damascus (8th century), later translated into English by John Mason Neale, and has long been associated with the joy and proclamation of Easter.

Thatcher is known for crafting singable, expressive choral music that is both accessible and rooted in the Anglican tradition. In this setting, he allows the text to come forward clearly, supported by warm harmonies and a sense of gentle momentum that reflects the brightness and energy of the Easter season.

At its heart, Come, Ye Faithful is a communal call—to gather, to sing, and to proclaim the good news together. As we continue in this season of Easter, the anthem serves as a reminder that our worship is not only something we witness, but something we are invited to join.

Come, ye faithful, raise the strain
of triumphant gladness!
God hath brought his Israel
into joy from sadness;
loosed from Pharaoh’s bitter yoke
Jacob’s sons and daughters;
led them with unmoistened foot
through the Red Sea waters.

’Tis the spring of souls today:
Christ hath burst his prison,
and from three days’ sleep in death
as a sun hath risen;
all the winter of our sins,
long and dark, is flying
from his light, to whom we give
laud and praise undying.

Now the queen of seasons, bright
with the day of splendor,
with the royal feast of feasts,
comes its joy to render;
comes to glad Jerusalem,
who with true affection
welcomes in unwearied strains
Jesus’ resurrection.

Neither might the gates of death,
nor the tomb’s dark portal,
nor the watchers, nor the seal
hold thee as a mortal:
but today amidst thine own
thou didst stand, bestowing
that thy peace which evermore
passeth human knowing.