Eternal Father, Strong to Save

The story of this hymn

William Whiting ran the choristers' school at Winchester College and had himself survived a violent storm at sea; in 1860 he wrote these words, by most accounts for a pupil about to sail for America. Published in Hymns Ancient and Modern in 1861 with John Bacchus Dykes's tune 'Melita', it became the hymn of the Royal Navy and the US Navy — sung wherever seafarers are mourned, and at the state funerals of presidents and princes.

Where it sits in the service

The natural choice when the person lived or worked on the water — navy, merchant fleet, fishing — and it usually stands as the closing hymn, though it also suits the gathering. One printing note: the final verse changes the familiar last lines to 'Glad hymns of praise from land and sea', so print all four verses in full rather than writing 'repeat refrain'.

In the programme, list it in the order of service as “Hymn — Eternal Father, Strong to Save” with the leader or choir named beside it.

How it is actually sung

The naval hymn, and the conventional choice at a funeral for anyone who served at sea or in the navy, or who drowned. Four verses. Congregations outside that world often do not know it, so a choir or a strong organ is wanted. Its association is specific enough that choosing it for someone with no connection to the sea reads as odd.

Printing the words

Public domain. Print all four verses — outside naval circles the congregation will be reading rather than singing from memory.

This is practical guidance rather than legal advice. Reproduction rights vary by territory, by hymnal edition and by the licence your church holds — the church office is the right place to ask, and they answer this question often.