Carolyn Winfrey Gillette is the author of over 550 hymns that have been sung by thousands of congregations around the world and are found in over 20 books and thousands of websites, including carolynshymns.com. Many of her hymns are published at Sojourners and are also found in Christian Century magazine, The New Yorker, National Public Radio, and PBS-TV. She and her husband Bruce are Presbyterian ministers who have served congregations in New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey. View the Sojourners video on Carolyn's hymns here.
She has written four books of hymns: Gifts of Love: New Hymns for Today's Worship; Songs of Grace: New Hymns for God and Neighbor; I Sing to My Savior: New Hymns from the Stories in the Gospel of Luke; and God’s World is Changing: New Hymns for Advent and Christmas.
Posts By This Author
In This Time of Great Reflection
A new hymn for the United States’ 250th anniversary.
“In This Time of Great Reflection” is a hymn that lifts up the theme of the Puritan John Winthrop’s 1630 sermon, “A Model of Christian Charity.” Winthrop talked about the Massachusetts Bay Colony as “a city on a hill,” referencing Jesus’ image from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:14. In his use of this phrase, Winthrop wasn’t giving a sermon about American exceptionalism, as some later historical figures have suggested. As historian Daniel T. Rodgers explains in As a City on a Hill: The Story of America’s Most Famous Lay Sermon, Winthrop was actually delivering a warning: The eyes of the world would be on Massachusetts Bay to see if the colony would morally succeed in being loving, just, humble, good, neighborly, and kind.
This hymn is a prayer that, as we reflect on our nation’s 250th anniversary, we will strive to be a morally responsible and community-building people; that we will repent of our sins and become as loving and humble as God is calling us to be.
A Hymn for Nonviolent Protests
"O God, as troubles here increase, we wonder what to do: / Can people who are seeking peace still change the world for you?"
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June 23, 2025, Brussels, Bxl, Belgium: Demonstrators gathered in the center of Brussels, Belgium, on 23.06.2025, to protest against NATO's proposal to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP. Participants held peaceful banners and signs reading “Belgium against NATO,†“Welfare not Warfare,†and “To be or NATO be†to condemn militarisation and call for investment in health, education, climate, and diplomacy. by Wiktor Dabkowski (Credit Image: © Wiktor Dabkowski/ZUMA Press Wire)
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A Hymn for Those Devastated by Hurricanes and Violent Storms
A member of the Puerto Rico National Guard wades through water in search for people to be rescued from flooded streets in the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona in Salinas, Puerto Rico Sept. 19, 2022. REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo
O God of all creation, as ocean waters warm, / we grieve the devastation that comes with violent storms. / We pray for people struggling— who need your help and grace / on every flooded island and in each flooded place.
A Hymn for Mary Magdalene and Other Misunderstood Disciples
A stained glass window in depicts the risen Christ appearing to Mary Magdalene. Sabena Jane Blackbird / Alamy
Mary Magdalene was suffering / in her body, mind and soul — / until Jesus met her, offering / love that made the wounded whole.
A Hymn For People Called To Do More Than Sing and Pray
People react outside the Ssgt Willie de Leon Civic Center, where students had been transported from Robb Elementary School after a shooting, in Uvalde, Texas, May 24, 2022. REUTERS/Marco Bello
God, our nation feels the loss / as our children pay the cost / for the violence we accept, / for the silence we have kept.
A Hymn for Peace
A prayer for peace in Ukraine said in the church of St. Michael in Berlin-Kreuberg. Joerg Carstensen/DPA
We pray for peace, O God of love and justice,
as once again, we face a time of war.
The meek and humble try—amid the crisis—
to love and build, to nurture and restore.
May leaders hear the truth the prophets teach us—
that gifts of peace are well worth struggling for
A Hymn for God's People Amid Climate Change
A person walks along cracks at the partly dried up Devegecidi Dam, northwest of drought-stricken Diyarbakir, Turkey, on Oct. 29, 2021. REUTERS/Sertac Kayar
The climate is changing! Creation cries out!
Your people face flooding and fire and drought.
We see the great heat waves and storms at their worst.
We pray for the poor, Lord — for they suffer first.
A Hymn for Places Where War Leads to War
An internally displaced Afghan girl carries a child near their shelter at a refugee camp on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan June 20, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
We weep for the places where war leads to war.
We pray for your hand there to heal and restore!
Bless all who seek justice and peace as your way.
We pray for Afghanistan’s people today.
A Hymn of Lament for Climate Disaster
A helicopter is being filled up with water from a tank as a wildfire burns near the village of Spathovouni, near Corinth, Greece July 23, 2021. REUTERS/Vassilis Psomas
“Through Devastating Storms” was written for the opening worship service on Aug.1 for the national Presbyterians for Earth Care online conference, “Creation Care Buffet: Come to the Table.” The hymn recognizes the record-breaking heat waves and forest fires in the West and Northwest United States and hurricanes and massive flooding worldwide. It is a prayer that we will love the Earth and love each other, and so work for healing and hope.
May It Become Our Practice to Counter Hate and Fear
People gather at "Stop Asian Hate" rally at McPherson Square in Washington, D.C., March 12, 2021. Photo by bgrocker / Shutterstock
God, in our church’s teaching, may we be bold and clear;
may it become our practice to counter hate and fear.
We’ve said that Jesus’ message is one that’s filled with love,
and yet our sweeping statements are clearly not enough.
O God, We Long for Better Days
A New Hymn for Advent-Christmas During the Pandemic
We long for Silent Night in crowded pews, by candlelight.
May we who stay at home now find your Christmas blessing.
We Grieve 100,000
O God, we grieve the struggle of those who died alone —
so far from friends and neighbors, from all they’d ever known.
We grieve for precious people who could not say good-bye;
we weep for those, now mourning, who sit alone and cry.
God Whose Will Is Health and Wholeness
Eucharistic ministers use hand sanitizer before Communion as a sanitary precaution at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic church in Atlanta.March 8, 2020. REUTERS/Christopher Aluka Berry
God whose will is health and wholeness, hear your people as we pray:
Many now are facing illness; more face sickness every day.
As we lift our song toward heaven, may we use the gifts you give—
science, justice, and compassion— to help others safely live.
A Hymn for the Children at the Border
Image via REUTERS / Jose Luis Gonzalez
Christ, you taught us to give water
And to help the ones who thirst.
Yet in places near the border,
We confess we’ve done our worst.
Those who walk must now walk farther.
We have made their journey harder;
We dump water in the dirt.
A Hymn to Remind Us We Are Not Alone
So when we seek direction, remind us what is true:
the Advocate is with us to help us follow you.
Christ, guided by the Spirit, may we your people be
A loving, faithful witness in this community.
O God, We Grieve the Hatred
Flowers and signs are seen at a memorial site for victims of the mosque shootings, at the Botanic Gardens in Christchurch, New Zealand, March 18, 2019. REUTERS/Edgar Su
O God, we grieve the hatred, the ugly, racist fear
that hurts our common living and harms those you hold dear.
For Muslims who were gathered to worship and to pray
soon found their lives were shattered as violence filled their day.
A Hymn for Loving Those Who Hate Us
Christ, your words of love confound us,
even as we give you praise,
for the lessons that you teach us seem
so far from this world’s ways. How can we love those who hate us?
How can we love enemies?
What of people who abuse us?
How can we love even these?
When Any Child Suffers, Pray That Love Will Win
Image via Reuters/Josue Decavele
O God of great compassion, you love each little one;
So shake us loose from our believing nothing can be done.
When any child is suffering, Lord, we pray that love will win;
God, may we now obey your word and welcome children in.
A Hymn for the Third Sunday of Advent
People asked him, “How can we
Turn and serve God faithfully?”
John responded, “Be the good
In your home and neighborhood.”
God has called you! Have you heard?
God has said a mighty word!
Listen, people! Turn from wrong.
Turn around and sing God's song.
Seek God’s justice! Pave the way!
God is bringing this new day.”
A Hymn for Neighbors Seeking Asylum
Asylum seekers traveling from Central America en route to the United States cross the Tijuana river to reach the border fence between Mexico and the United States in Tijuana, Mexico, Nov. 25, 2018. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
When children scream from tear gas where they’ve been told to wait,
when signs tell families, “Don’t pass!” outside our nation’s gate—
O Lord who welcomed children and loves each little one,
we cry, “Where is compassion?” We pray, “What have we done?”