The kingdom of God is justice and joy 

The author of this hymn, Bryn A. Rees (1911-1983), was born in London, but his family moved to Neath, in South Wales, where his father was a minister.  Rees attended Neath Grammar School and studied theology at New College, London (formerly Hackney Theological College and now subsumed in the University of London).  He was ordained as a Congregationalist minister in 1935 and after 1972 was a minister in the United Reformed Church.  He was an RAF Chaplain in World War II.  In addition to several hymns, Rees wrote poetry, and he also collaborated with William Lloyd Webber (then organist of Methodist Central Hall in London) on anthems and a cantata called “The Saviour.”  Rees wrote this hymn in 1973; three or four if his other hymns are in some modern hymnals.

 

Several hymn tunes are paired with Rees’ words.  One, “Tetherdown, was written for the text by the organist of a north London church where Rees served for 12 years; the name is the name of the area.  The text is sometimes paired with Parry’s “Laudate Dominum” or with the 18th-century German tune “Paderborn.”  We sing a tune very frequently paired with the words, “Hanover,” by the 18th-century English composer William Croft (1687-1727).  As a child and a young man, Croft sang in the Chapel Royal under John Blow.  His first appointment was in 1700 as organist of St Anne’s, Soho; he was made “Gentleman-Extraordinary” of the Chapel Royal at the same time, and shared organist duties there with Jeremiah Clarke until Clarke’s suicide in 1707.  In 1708 he succeeded Blow both at the Chapel Royal and at Westminster Abbey.  The tune “Hanover,” named for the house of King George III, was first published without a composer’s name in A Supplement to the New Version of Psalms, 6th edition, 1708.  It has always been attributed to Croft