Soham Grammarians
Service of Thanksgiving in Remembrance
of the Founding of the School,
29th June 1951

ORDER OF SERVICE

HYMN O Worship the King

In the Faith of Christ we, Scholars, Masters, Governors and friends of this School have come together to thank Almighty God for the blessings he has conferred on us in times past; we seek his guidance, as we confess our faults and failings at the present which we desire to amend, and we pray that his goodness may still be conferred on our fellowship in the years to come that we may continue his servants and obtain his promises.

That we may be bold to do so, first we will join in reciting the articles of our belief:

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth: And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead, and buried, He descended into hell; The third day he rose again from the dead, He ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost; The holy Catholick Church; The Communion of Saints; The Forgiveness of sins; The Resurrection of the body, And the life everlasting. Amen.

Then, all kneeling, let us repeat the prayer of our Saviour Christ himself has taught us, saying:

Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give
us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; But deliver us from evil; For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, For ever and ever. Amen.

In our thanksgiving let us remember His mercies from Whom all good things do come.

O God our Father, who hast through many generations and by many bountiful servants blessed this School for a house of faith and fruitful study; Grant us likewise in this place so to learn truth as to bear its light along all our ways, and so to learn Christ as ever to be found in him; Who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

O Lord God and Father of all, who hast shewn unto man light and darkness, right and wrong, that he may choose freely between them ; Grant us both generosity and courage to choose the good and to refuse the evil, that we may be numbered among thy sons in whom thou art well pleased, and who dwell in thy presence; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

O Lord God, whose will it is that, next to thyself, we should hold our parents in highest honour; nor is it the least of our duties to beseech thy goodness toward them: Preserve, we pray thee, our parents and homes and grant that through us no sorrow may befall them; and finally, as they are kind to us, so be thou to them, who art the supreme Father of all. Amen.

Then let us pray for the School, now and in the days to come:

O God, our heavenly Father, from Whom cometh every good and perfect gift, we beseech Thee to bestow Thy blessing on our School. We praise Thee for the heritage into which we have entered, and pray Thee to make us worthy to maintain and strengthen all that is good in our traditions.
Give to all who work here the true love of knowledge which makes study a discovery and a joy. May the spirit of loyalty and devotion bind us all more closely together, that we may labour not only for our own advantage but for the common good.
May thy wisdom guide and prosper our work and our recreations that we may grow in the love of all that is true and honest and of good report. And when our members go out into the world may they carry with them the ideal and the power of service which thou dost give them in Thy Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

DEDICATION
To be said by all.

Take into thy hands, strong Son of God, this School and each member of it kneeling before thee.
Thou seest into our hearts, sustain them. Thou seest our sins, forgive them.
Thou seest our hopes, purify them.
Thou seest all that we might do and might become if we had but faith; give us faith and take us into thy service. For Thy Name's sake. Amen.

HYMN The God of love my Shepherd is

THE LESSON
Galatians V, 25 -VI, 10.
As we live by the Spirit, let us be guided by the Spirit: let us have no vanity, no provoking, no envy of one another. Even if anyone is detected in some trespass, brothers, you are spiritual, you must set the offender right in a spirit of gentleness; let each of you look to himself, in case he too is tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. If anyone imagines he is somebody, he is deceiving himself, for he is nobody; let everyone bring his own work to the test - then he will have something to boast about on his own account, and not in comparison with his fellows. For everyone will have to bear his own load of responsibility.
Those who are taught must share all the blessings of life with those who teach them the Word. Make no mistake - God is not to be mocked - a man will reap just what he sows; he who sows for his flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, and he who sows for the Spirit will reap the life eternal from the Spirit. Never let us grow tired of doing what is right, for if we do not faint we shall reap our harvest at the opportune season. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all men and in particular to the household of the faith. (Transl. Moffatt).

HYMN All people that on earth do dwell

ADDRESS
By the Vice-Chancellor of the University
and Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge,
S. C. ROBERTS, M.A.

HYMN He who would valiant be

Let us pray:

Grant, O Lord, that we may both perceive and know what things we ought to do and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfil the same, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Teach us, good Lord, to serve thee as thou deservest; to give and not to count the cost; to fight, and not to heed the wounds; to toil and not to seek for rest; to labour, and to ask for no reward, save that of knowing that we do thy will. Amen.

The Venerable H. F. Kirkpatrick, Archdeacon of Ely, will pronounce
THE BLESSING

provided by David Sale (1946)