Come, Let Us Join Our Friends Above

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1. Come, let us join our friends above who have obtained the prize, and on the eagle wings of love to joys celestial rise. Let saints on earth unite to sing with those to glory gone, for all the servants of our King in earth and heaven are one.

2. One family we dwell in him, one church above, beneath, though now divided by the stream, the narrow stream of death; one army of the living God, to his command we bow; part of his host have crossed the flood, and part are crossing now.

3. Ten thousand to their endless home this solemn moment fly, and we are to the margin come, and we expect to die. E'en now by faith we join our hands with those that went before, and greet the blood-besprinkled bands on the eternal shore.

4. Our spirits too shall quickly join, like theirs with glory crowned, and shout to see our Captain's sign, to hear this trumpet sound. O that we now might grasp our Guide! O that the word were given! Come, Lord of Hosts, the waves divide, and land us all in heaven.

Words by: Charles Wesley
Music by: Trad. English melody;
arr. by Ralph Vaughan Williams

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Story of Come, Let Us Join Our Friends Above

🕊️ 1. When and Why Wesley Wrote It

Charles Wesley wrote this hymn in 1759 and included it in his collection titled "Funeral Hymns." He intended it to comfort Christians who were facing grief, loss, and the reality of death. Wesley wanted believers to see death not as a final separation but as a continuation of the one family of God, united across heaven and earth.

During this period, early Methodists were growing rapidly and often faced hardship, illness, and persecution. Wesley wrote hymns that helped reshape how Christians viewed dying, encouraging them to see it as entering joy rather than falling into despair.

🌿 2. The Central Theme: The Communion of Saints

This hymn is one of Wesley's clearest expressions of the Christian belief known as the communion of saints. It teaches that God's people in heaven and on earth remain spiritually connected.
Key ideas in the hymn include:
-One family in Christ: "One family we dwell in Him, one church above, beneath."
-Death as a narrow stream that separates believers only for a short time.
-Worship on earth joining with the worship of the saints in heaven.
-The journey of faith continuing, with some saints having crossed the flood and others still on the way.

The imagery is gentle and hopeful. Wesley paints death as a transition into the presence of Christ, not an ending.

🎶 3. Musical History

Today the hymn is most often sung to the tune FOREST GREEN, an English folk melody arranged by Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1906. Other tunes, such as PISGAH, have also been used, but FOREST GREEN gives the hymn a warm and pastoral feeling that matches its message of comfort and reunion.

💔 4. A Moving Anecdote About John Wesley

A well-known story tells that after Charles Wesley died in 1788, his brother John Wesley tried to read this hymn aloud during worship. When he reached it, he stopped, covered his face with his hands, and stood silently for several minutes. The emotion of remembering his brother and the hope expressed in the hymn overwhelmed him. This moment shows how deeply the hymn speaks to love, memory, and Christian hope.

🌟 5. Why This Hymn Endures

"Come, Let Us Join Our Friends Above" remains beloved because it:
-Offers comfort in grief without being sentimental
-Affirms the unity of the church across heaven and earth
-Gives a hopeful vision of death as homecoming
-Connects earthly worship with the worship of the saints in glory

It continues to appear in hundreds of hymnals and is especially meaningful for funerals, memorial services, and All Saints Day.

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