HymnInfo

We Are the Church Meaning, History, and Theology

"The church is not a building"

Written
1972
Category
Hymn

Viewed 60 times

🔗 Explore Hymn Connections

Share this hymn

Help others discover the story, message, and study guide for this hymn.

X WhatsApp

Story

“We Are the Church” is a copyrighted 1972 song by Presbyterian collaborators Richard K. Avery and Donald S. Marsh, who wrote both its words and tune. Commonly sung to PORT JERVIS, it teaches that the church is a diverse, Spirit-formed people called to worship and mission rather than merely a building.

Overview

“We Are the Church” is a concise teaching song about Christian identity. Its central claim is ecclesiological: the church is fundamentally the community of people who belong to Christ, not the physical structure in which they gather. Buildings, programs, and institutions can serve the church, but they do not exhaust what the New Testament means by the body and household of God.

The song broadens that identity beyond one congregation. It presents the church as diverse in age, appearance, place, and experience, yet joined in Christ. It also portrays the church as active rather than static: Christians gather for worship and shared life, but they are also sent into the world by the Holy Spirit.

Its direct language and memorable music make it especially effective with children and intergenerational congregations, but its theology is not merely introductory. It raises substantial questions about belonging, unity, diversity, worship, mission, and whether a congregation understands itself primarily as a place people attend or as a people called to live as Christ’s body.

Historical Background

“We Are the Church” grew out of the long creative partnership of Presbyterian minister Richard K. Avery and church musician Donald S. Marsh at First Presbyterian Church in Port Jervis, New York. Their collaboration began in the 1960s, when North American churches were experimenting with new forms of congregational song, drama, folk-influenced worship, and participatory arts. In 1967 they published “Hymns Hot and Carols Cool” and established Proclamation Productions, then continued issuing collections that combined contemporary language with biblical and theological themes.

The song was written by Avery and Marsh in 1972, with both men credited for the words and music. It was first published in their 1972 collection “Songs for Easter People.” The tune later became widely identified as PORT JERVIS, the same New York city where their ministry and collaboration were centered. Hymnary identifies the song as 7.7.8.7 with refrain and lists both Avery and Marsh as composers as well as authors.

The musical and literary style belongs unmistakably to its period. United Methodist hymnological commentary places it within the growing use of informal folk styles influenced by 1960s protest song and the folk masses that followed the Second Vatican Council. Instead of the elevated poetic diction of much older hymnody, Avery and Marsh used short, plain statements to teach an ecclesiology that children could grasp while adults could continue to examine.

The complete song contains six stanzas, but denominational hymnals have not always printed them all. Its acceptance into “The United Methodist Hymnal” of 1989 is unusually well documented. Hymnal Revision Committee member Mary Brooke Casad later recalled that the song was initially rejected as too slight musically and more appropriate for a songbook. Charles Webb, then dean of Indiana University’s School of Music, agreed to request reconsideration. The committee then accepted it on the condition that the sixth stanza be omitted. The resulting five-stanza form appears as hymn 558.

Other hymnals made different editorial choices. Scottish and other collections have preserved the sixth stanza, while some children’s and educational hymnals print shorter selections. The song has also appeared under the tune title WE ARE THE CHURCH as well as PORT JERVIS. Hymnary records it in roughly fifteen hymnals, including United Methodist, Presbyterian, Canadian, Australian, Lutheran, and Catholic-oriented collections, and it has also appeared in a Korean-English Presbyterian hymnal.

No reliable evidence points to a dramatic one-time composition story. The stronger historical context is the Avery-Marsh ministry itself: decades of collaborative worship, community theater, congregational music, social ministry, conferences, and Christian education. “We Are the Church” condensed that participatory vision into a song whose subject is not a church building but the identity and mission of the people who gather within and beyond it.

Biblical Foundations

First Corinthians 12:27 gives the song its strongest New Testament image: believers together are the body of Christ. The church is therefore not merely an audience assembled in the same room; its members belong to one another within a living body whose identity comes from Christ.

First Peter 2:5 provides an important corrective to a simplistic contrast between people and buildings. The New Testament does use architectural language for the church, but the stones are living people. Christians are being built into a spiritual house for worship and priestly service, so the biblical metaphor shifts attention from sacred architecture to a community formed by God.

Galatians 3:28 supports the song’s emphasis on a church that crosses social distinctions. Unity in Christ does not erase every human difference, but inherited divisions do not determine access to Christ or membership in his people. Ephesians 2:19-22 develops the same theme through citizenship, household, temple, and the Spirit’s indwelling presence.

Acts 2:1-4 grounds the song’s Pentecost and mission dimension. The gathered disciples receive the Holy Spirit and are given speech that crosses linguistic boundaries. The church therefore appears both as a community gathered by God and as a Spirit-empowered people prepared to bear witness beyond its original setting.

Verse Explanation

The song’s broad movement begins with Christian identity and then expands outward. It distinguishes the church from the structures that serve it, presents the people of God as diverse and translocal, and portrays Christian community as something lived rather than merely attended.

The later movement brings together gathered worship, the church’s activity in the world, and the Pentecost gift of the Holy Spirit. The recurring refrain keeps the emphasis participatory: ecclesiology is not only a doctrine about other Christians but an identity shared by those who sing.

In its complete six-stanza form, the song also includes an explicit intergenerational emphasis. Some denominational hymnals omit that final stanza, so the theological balance of a particular printed version may vary slightly.

Theological Reflection

The song’s central doctrine is ecclesiology: what the church is. Its strongest insight is that the church cannot be reduced to property, architecture, or an institution people occasionally visit. In the New Testament, the church is a people incorporated into Christ, gathered by the Spirit, and called into shared worship and mission.

At the same time, the song should not be used to dismiss physical churches, ordered ministry, sacraments, or institutions as unimportant. Buildings can shelter worship and service, and institutions can preserve memory, accountability, and mission. The theological point is one of priority: these things exist to serve the people God is forming, not to replace them.

The song also emphasizes catholicity and unity. The church reaches beyond one age group, nationality, race, congregation, or historical period. Christian unity is grounded in Christ rather than uniformity, which means diversity of people and gifts can belong within one body without becoming grounds for exclusion.

Finally, Pentecost gives the song a missional ecclesiology. The Spirit does not gather the church only for its own comfort. The community is formed for witness, service, proclamation, learning, lament, celebration, and participation in God’s work in the world.

Church Impact

“We Are the Church” moved from an Avery-Marsh songbook into denominational hymnody and Christian education, with particularly strong use among children and intergenerational congregations. Its adoption as number 558 in “The United Methodist Hymnal” gave it a prominent place in a major denominational collection, especially under Pentecost, community in Christ, church dedication, and the nature of the church.

Its journey into that hymnal is itself part of its reception history. The revision committee initially rejected it, but reconsideration led to acceptance with one stanza omitted. That episode illustrates a tension that has followed the song: its musical and verbal simplicity can make it seem lightweight, while the ecclesiology it teaches has proved durable enough for repeated congregational use.

The song also crossed denominational and national boundaries. Hymnary records it in Presbyterian collections such as “Church Hymnary,” the Canadian “Book of Praise,” Australia’s “Together in Song,” Lutheran and children’s hymnals, and “Singing Our Faith,” a Catholic-oriented collection. A Korean translation appears in a Korean-English Presbyterian hymnal.

Its continuing usefulness is closely tied to teaching. Churches employ it for Pentecost, confirmation and Christian education, church anniversaries, building dedications, children’s worship, and services focused on unity or mission. In each case, the song presses the same question: whether the congregation understands church primarily as a place to go or as a people called to belong, worship, learn, serve, and witness together.

Musical Notes

The tune PORT JERVIS was composed jointly by Richard K. Avery and Donald S. Marsh in 1972 as part of the same creative work as the text. Hymnary gives the meter as 7.7.8.7 with refrain and lists G major as the representative key, although some hymnals classify the tune as irregular because of the dimensions of the refrain.

Its musical language reflects the informal folk-influenced church music of the late 1960s and early 1970s. United Methodist commentary connects the style with contemporary protest song and the folk-mass movement. The short stanza phrases and recurring refrain support memorization and participation, which helps explain the song’s usefulness with children and intergenerational groups.

The tune is variously titled PORT JERVIS, WE ARE THE CHURCH, or simply by the song’s opening phrase in different collections. These are naming differences rather than separate compositions. Both the words and music remain copyrighted by Hope Publishing Company, and modern hymnals commonly identify Hope as the rights holder.

Application

  • Evaluate church life by whether people are being formed as disciples, not only by attendance, property, budgets, or programs.
  • Treat children, older adults, newcomers, and people from different cultural or social backgrounds as genuine participants in the body of Christ rather than as peripheral groups.
  • Use church buildings as tools for worship, hospitality, service, education, and mission without confusing the facility with the church itself.
  • Make congregational gatherings places where prayer, learning, joy, grief, and mutual care can all be expressed honestly.
  • Ask how the Holy Spirit is sending the congregation beyond its walls into witness, mercy, justice, reconciliation, and service.
  • Observe current copyright and licensing requirements when printing, projecting, recording, streaming, translating, or arranging the song.

Discussion Questions

  1. How does the New Testament define the church differently from the everyday use of the word for a building?
  2. What does 1 Corinthians 12:27 imply about responsibility to other members of the body of Christ?
  3. How does the image of living stones in 1 Peter 2:5 preserve the building metaphor while changing its meaning?
  4. What kind of unity does Galatians 3:28 describe, and what differences can remain within that unity?
  5. Why is Pentecost important for understanding the church as both gathered community and missionary people?
  6. What might a congregation discover about itself if it evaluated ministry by discipleship and mission rather than primarily by facilities and attendance?

Teaching Tips

  • Begin with 1 Corinthians 12:27 and 1 Peter 2:5 so learners see that the church is both Christ’s body and a spiritual house made of living people.
  • Explain that Avery and Marsh wrote both the words and music in 1972 and first published the song in “Songs for Easter People.”
  • Use the authors’ Port Jervis ministry in music, drama, community service, and Christian education to show the participatory church context from which the song emerged.
  • Tell the documented 1989 hymnal story: the song was initially rejected for “The United Methodist Hymnal,” reconsidered, and accepted with its sixth stanza omitted.
  • Compare a five-stanza United Methodist version with a six-stanza hymnal listing without reproducing the copyrighted text, and discuss how editorial selection can affect emphasis.
  • Connect the song with Acts 2 during Pentecost and ask learners to identify ways the congregation is being sent beyond its building.

Sources

  1. Richard K. Avery and Donald S. Marsh, “Songs for Easter People,” Proclamation Productions, 1972, first publication context for “We Are the Church.”

  2. United Methodist Discipleship Ministries, C. Michael Hawn, “History of Hymns: We Are the Church,” on the 1972 publication, folk-influenced worship context, Avery-Marsh partnership, textual themes, and contributor biographies.

  3. United Methodist News, Mary Brooke Casad, “From children’s song to church anthem,” 2020, on the song’s initial rejection and reconsideration for The United Methodist Hymnal and the omission of the sixth stanza.

  4. Presbyterian News Service, “Presbyterian pastor, songwriter Richard Avery dies,” 2020, on Avery’s Port Jervis pastorate, education, Hope Center ministry, Proclamation Productions, and collaboration with Marsh.

  5. Presbyterian News Service, Jerry L. Van Marter, “Don Marsh Is Dead at 86,” 2010, on Marsh’s church music, arts, and Port Jervis ministry.

  6. Hymnary.org, text authority page for “We Are the Church,” identifying Richard K. Avery and Donald S. Marsh, 1972 copyright, first line, meter, Scripture associations, and hymnal circulation.

  7. Hymnary.org, tune authority page for PORT JERVIS, identifying Avery and Marsh as co-composers, 1972, G major, meter, copyright, and tune instances.

  8. “The United Methodist Hymnal,” 1989, no. 558, five-stanza denominational form with PORT JERVIS.

  9. “Church Hymnary,” fourth edition, 2005, no. 204, an instance preserving the sixth stanza and naming the tune WE ARE THE CHURCH.

  10. World English Bible, public-domain Scripture text.

Lyrics

Lyrics Not Displayed

This hymn is not currently marked as public domain in the HymnInfo database. To respect copyright, the full lyrics are not displayed here. HymnInfo still provides historical, biblical, and theological study notes where available.

Sheet Music

Music Sheet Not Displayed

This hymn is not currently marked as public domain in the HymnInfo database. To respect copyright, the full music sheet is not displayed here. Please use a licensed hymnal, authorized publisher, or approved sheet-music provider.

Looking for licensed sheet music? Use an authorized sheet-music provider or licensed hymnal for the complete music and text.

Download Resources

Teaching and small-group resources available for this hymn.

Full lyrics and sheet music are not displayed because this hymn is not currently marked as public domain in the HymnInfo database. Teaching resources prepared for study and discussion may still be available below.

These teaching resources are free to use. Contributions help us create more.

Support HymnInfo

Opens in a new tab.

Scripture Foundations

Related Hymns

Suggested Worship Uses

Body of Christ Children and Youth Christian Community Church Diversity Mission Pentecost Unity