Let Us Now Depart in Thy Peace: Meaning, History, and Theology
"Let us now depart in thy peace blessed Jesus"
- Written
- 1961
- Category
- Hymn
- Status
- Verified
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Story
Let Us Now Depart in Thy Peace is a Christian sending song drawn from a New Mexican folk text and melody and adapted by Lee Hastings Bristol Jr. in 1961. Paired with the tune A LA PUERTA, it echoes Simeon’s words in Luke 2:29 and is used as closing service music.
Overview
Let Us Now Depart in Thy Peace is a short Christian sending song built from a New Mexican folk text and melody. Its worship function is clear: the congregation leaves the gathered service asking to remain rooted in the peace, love, and loyalty of Christ after returning to ordinary life.
The hymn is closely associated with Luke 2:29, the opening of Simeon’s Nunc Dimittis. That biblical canticle speaks of departing in peace after encountering God’s salvation in Christ. In this adapted folk song, the same language becomes a congregational dismissal rather than a meditation on death: worshipers are sent home with a renewed awareness of God and a determination not to let daily pressures displace their devotion.
The represented form is the 1961 adaptation by Lee Hastings Bristol Jr. of both a traditional New Mexican text and the tune A LA PUERTA. Because the adaptation remains copyrighted, HymnInfo may describe its meaning, history, and musical setting but should not reproduce the complete adapted lyrics.
Historical Background
The roots of Let Us Now Depart in Thy Peace predate Lee Hastings Bristol Jr.’s 1961 adaptation. Hymnary documents an anonymous English form in Hymns for Children and Grownups to Use Together, published in New York in 1953 and edited by Bristol with Harold W. Friedell. That hymnal pairs the text with A LA PUERTA and identifies the melody as a folk song from New Mexico, believed to be of Spanish origin. A 1957 Children’s Hymnal likewise prints the song anonymously and describes the tune as a New Mexican folk melody of probable Spanish origin.
The form represented in later hymnals is specifically credited as a 1961 adaptation by Lee Hastings Bristol Jr. Both text and tune are identified as New Mexican folk material adapted by Bristol, and the adaptation is copyrighted by Concordia Publishing House. This distinction is important: Bristol should not be described as the original lyricist or composer. The original folk creators are not identified, and Bristol’s historically accurate role is adapter, a role not supported by HymnInfo’s current structured contributor keys.
Bristol was not a Presbyterian minister, as the uploaded record stated. Contemporary Episcopal records describe him as an Episcopal layman, church-music leader, writer, composer, educator, preacher, and civic figure. Born in 1923, he studied at Hamilton College and Trinity College of Music in London, worked in the family’s Bristol-Myers business, and became president of Westminster Choir College in 1962. He served there until 1969 and later remained prominent in Episcopal church music, including work connected with the Standing Commission on Church Music and hymnal supplements. He died in 1979.
The 1961 Bristol adaptation was later incorporated into major denominational hymnals. The United Methodist Hymnal of 1989 prints it as no. 668 under the title Let Us Now Depart in Thy Peace, pairs it with A LA PUERTA, cites Luke 2:29, and classifies it under closing worship and sending forth. Chalice Hymnal of 1995 likewise identifies Bristol as adapter of both words and tune. These hymnals helped establish the 1961 adaptation as the standard English-language form now associated with the title.
The date field in this HymnInfo record therefore refers to the represented 1961 Bristol adaptation, not to the earliest known appearance of the underlying folk song. The 1953 and 1957 witnesses show that related English material circulated earlier, while the represented copyrighted adaptation is the later form used by United Methodists and other churches.
The text-only public-domain field is false. Concordia Publishing House is consistently identified as copyright holder for the 1961 adaptation, and contemporary churches continue to license the piece for worship use. In the Philippines, an adaptation authored by Bristol remains within the ordinary life-plus-fifty-year term through the end of 2029 because Bristol died in 1979. That alone prevents the exact represented text from being public domain in every required screening jurisdiction as of 2026.
Biblical Foundations
Luke 2:29–32 is the hymn’s strongest and explicitly documented biblical connection. Simeon receives the infant Jesus, blesses God, and declares that he may now depart in peace because he has seen God’s salvation. The hymn transfers that language into the close of corporate worship: believers depart because they have again encountered the gospel and are being sent back into daily life.
John 14:27 deepens the meaning of peace by grounding it in Christ’s own gift rather than in favorable circumstances. Numbers 6:24–26 connects departure with blessing, especially the final petition that God give his people peace. Philippians 4:7 adds the New Testament image of divine peace guarding the heart and mind in Christ Jesus.
These passages should be understood as theological and liturgical connections rather than claims that every one of them directly shaped the original New Mexican folk text. Luke 2:29 is the one passage specifically attached to the hymn in The United Methodist Hymnal.
Verse Explanation
The represented hymn is a single short dismissal text rather than a sequence of developed stanzas. Its movement begins with departure in Christ’s peace, then turns toward ordinary life beyond the worship service, and finally asks that competing demands not displace continuing devotion to the Lord.
Because the represented 1961 adaptation is copyrighted, this explanation stays at the level of thematic movement rather than reproducing or closely reconstructing the protected wording.
Theological Reflection
The hymn treats dismissal from worship as a spiritual act rather than a mere ending. Christian worship gathers a community before God, but it also sends that community back into homes, workplaces, relationships, and public life. The prayer for peace therefore belongs to discipleship: the worshiper asks that the encounter with Christ continue to shape life beyond the sanctuary.
A second theme is rightly ordered loyalty. The song recognizes that ordinary life contains competing demands that can absorb attention and weaken devotion. Its closing purpose is not withdrawal from the world but faithful presence within it, with Christ remaining the center of the believer’s allegiance.
Finally, the hymn links peace with remembrance. Biblical peace is more than emotional calm; it is life lived under God’s blessing and in conscious relationship with Christ. The sending song therefore joins assurance with vocation: believers leave worship in peace so that their daily lives may continue to reflect the One they have worshiped.
Church Impact
The hymn has a focused but durable place in American Protestant worship. Hymnary documents it in several hymnals, including The United Methodist Hymnal and Chalice Hymnal, where it is explicitly assigned to the close of worship or sending forth rather than treated as a general-purpose hymn.
Its earlier appearance in children’s hymnals also shows that the song circulated before the 1961 Bristol adaptation became the standard copyrighted form. The melody’s New Mexican folk origin gave later denominational hymnals a piece of regional American traditional material adapted for congregational Christian use.
Current church bulletins and online worship pages still identify and license the Bristol adaptation, demonstrating continued practical use. Such evidence supports describing the hymn as an enduring closing response in some congregations, while not implying universal or frequent use across all Protestant traditions.
Musical Notes
A LA PUERTA is a traditional New Mexican folk melody, probably of Spanish origin. The melody predates Bristol’s 1961 work and was already associated with the English dismissal song in Hymns for Children and Grownups to Use Together in 1953. Later hymnals identify Bristol as adapter rather than original composer.
The represented 1961 adaptation has a 12.11.12.10 meter. The United Methodist Hymnal prints the tune in F major and treats the piece as closing service music. Its concise shape suits a congregational benediction response or sending song because the entire musical statement can be sung quickly without functioning like a full multi-stanza hymn.
The traditional melody and Bristol’s adaptation must be distinguished for copyright purposes. The folk source is older, but the represented textual and musical adaptation is separately copyrighted by Concordia Publishing House. No ChordPro material is added because the represented text fails the lyrics inclusion gate; the protected text is not reproduced merely to attach or map chords.
Application
- Use the hymn as a true sending song at the close of worship rather than as background music after the benediction.
- Connect its language of departure with Luke 2:29–32 and explain how Simeon’s peace becomes a model for Christian dismissal.
- Encourage worshipers to identify the everyday pressures that compete for their deepest loyalty after they leave church.
- Use John 14:27 to distinguish Christ’s peace from temporary comfort or the absence of difficulty.
- Let the final act of singing become a commitment to carry God’s love and Christ-centered attention into home and daily responsibilities.
Discussion Questions
- How does Luke 2:29–32 help explain the hymn’s use at the close of worship?
- What is the difference between leaving church and being sent from worship?
- Which daily pressures most often compete with Christian loyalty and attention?
- How does John 14:27 deepen the meaning of peace in a dismissal hymn?
- What can a short sending song accomplish that a spoken benediction alone may not?
Teaching Tips
- Introduce the song as a New Mexican folk text and melody later adapted by Lee Hastings Bristol Jr., not as an original Bristol composition.
- Explain that Bristol’s accurate historical role is adapter of both words and tune, so he should not be mislabeled as original lyricist or composer.
- Read Luke 2:29–32 before singing and connect Simeon’s departure in peace with the congregation’s departure from worship.
- Use the hymn to teach the liturgical idea of sending: worship ends in order that Christian service may continue in daily life.
- Note that the represented 1961 adaptation remains copyrighted and should be reproduced only under an appropriate license.
Sources
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Hymnary.org — The United Methodist Hymnal 1989 no. 668; Bristol as adapter, A LA PUERTA, 1961 adaptation, Luke 2:29, F major, and copyright
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Hymnary.org — Let Us Now Depart in Thy Peace text authority; New Mexican folk source, 1961 adaptation, copyright, and hymnal circulation
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Hymnary.org — A LA PUERTA tune authority; New Mexican folk melody, Bristol adaptation, meter, key, and copyright
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Hymnary.org — Hymns for Children and Grownups to Use Together 1953 no. 11; earlier anonymous English text and New Mexican folk tune
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Hymnary.org — Children’s Hymnal 1957 no. 88; anonymous text and New Mexican folk tune believed to be of Spanish origin
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Hymnary.org — Chalice Hymnal 1995 no. 444; Bristol explicitly credited as adapter of both text and tune
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Episcopal Archives — Lee Bristol, Church Music Leader, Dies; Episcopal lay leadership, Westminster Choir College, church-music service, and death in 1979
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Centreville United Methodist Church — Online Worship music acknowledgements; current licensed use of the 1961 Bristol adaptation
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U.S. Copyright Office — Virtual Card Catalog guide; renewal requirement for U.S. works published before 1964
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Lawphil — Republic Act No. 8293, Sections 213–214; Philippine copyright term and calculation
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World English Bible Classic — Luke 2
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World English Bible Classic — John 14
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World English Bible Classic — Numbers 6
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World English Bible Classic — Philippians 4
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Sheet Music
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