Michael Arnold Perry (8 March 1942 – 9 December 1996) was a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

clergyman and one of the leading

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

hymnodist A hymnwriter (or hymn writer, hymnist, hymnodist, hymnographer, etc.) is someone who writes the text, music, or both of hymns. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the composition of hymns dates back to before the time of David, who is traditionally ...

s of the 20th century.The nation's favourite carols
BBC, 2005 He was closely associated with Jubilate Hymns.

Early life

Michael Perry was born in

Beckenham Beckenham () is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. Prior to 1965, it was part of Kent. It is situated north of Elmers End and Eden Park, east of Penge, south of Lower Sydenham and Bellingham, and west ...

, Kent on 8 March 1942. He was educated at

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2-18 private, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

and went on to study at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

; Oak Hill Theological College, London;

Ridley Hall, Cambridge Ridley Hall is a theological college located on the corner of Sidgwick Avenue and Ridley Hall Road in Cambridge (United Kingdom), which trains men and women intending to take Holy Orders as deacon or priest of the Church of England, and members ...

; and

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

.Michael Perry
at Jubilate Group website It was during his student days at Oak Hill in 1964 that Perry wrote his best-known hymn, the Calypso Carol, the first line of which is "See him lying on a bed of straw".Obituary
, The Hymn Society He wrote this for a college concert, and it only became famous by accident when

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...

substituted it for a missing recording in a radio show.

Ministry

After

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

in the

Diocese of Liverpool The diocese of Liverpool is a diocese of the Church of England in North West England. The diocese covers Merseyside north of the River Mersey, south-west Lancashire, western Greater Manchester, and part of northern Cheshire. Liverpool Cathedral ...

, Perry ministered at

St Helens, Merseyside St Helens () is a town in Merseyside, England, with a population of 117,308. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens which had a population of 183,200 at the United Kingdom Census 2021, 2021 Census. The town i ...

. He moved to Bitterne, Southampton, Hampshire, where he was curate and then vicar. During his time at Bitterne he was on the committees that produced the popular hymn books ''Psalm Praise'' (1973) and ''Hymns for Today's Church'' (1982). From 1981 to 1989 Perry served as Rector of

Eversley Eversley is a village and civil parish in the Hart District, Hart district of Hampshire, England. The village is located around northeast of Basingstoke and around west of Yateley. The River Blackwater (River Loddon), River Blackwater, and ...

, Hampshire. In 1982 he became Secretary of Jubilate Hymns, and was involved in editing most of their books. In addition, he worked as Chaplain and lecturer at the National

Police Staff College, Bramshill The Police Staff College, Bramshill, Bramshill House, Bramshill, (near Hook) Hampshire, England, was until 2015 the principal police staff training establishment in England and Wales. History The need for a training college for the police was ...

. He was also elected to the Church of England's

General Synod The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations. Anglican Communion The General Synod of the Church of England, which was established in 1970 replacing the Church Assembly, is the legislative body of the Church ...

in 1985. Perry's last posting was as Vicar of St Peter & St Paul,

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) (historic spelling ''Tunbridge'') is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Mall ...

in his native

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

from 1989 until 1996. He was appointed Chairman of the

Church Pastoral Aid Society The Church Pastoral Aid Society (CPAS) is an Anglican evangelical mission agency that works across Ireland and the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1836. History The CPAS was founded in 1836 in the midst of the social upheaval of the Industri ...

in 1993, and again to the General Synod in 1994.

Personal life

Perry married Beatrice Mary at St Helens Parish Church in 1967. They had two children, Helen and Simon. From early 1996 Perry was increasingly disabled by an inoperable

brain tumour A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign (non-cancero ...

. He died at home on 9 December 1996.

Legacy

His contemporary, hymn-writer Christopher Idle, paid tribute to Perry's compositions, his constructive criticism of others' works, and his business acumen in "sorting out what had been a

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, ...

jungle" (referring to critics who expected songwriters to make no charge since their work was "for the Lord"). He concluded that few people matched Perry's influence on

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

praise Praise as a form of social interaction expresses recognition, reassurance or admiration. Praise is expressed verbally as well as by body language (facial expression and gestures). Verbal praise consists of a positive evaluations of another's ...

and

worship Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity or God. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recognition of a God. An act of worship may be performed individually, in an informal or formal group, ...

over the 1970s to '90s. Christopher Idle, "Not just a calypso", obituary of Michael Perry in ''Evangelicals Now'', February 1997

Selected works

Perry wrote over 300 hymns. The following works are a selection. ;Hymns *"See him lying on a bed of straw" ( Calypso Carol) *"O God Beyond All Praising" (to

Holst Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite ''The Planets'', he composed many other works across a range ...

's melody

Thaxted Thaxted is a town and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of north-west Essex, England. The town is in the valley of the River Chelmer, not far from its source in the nearby village of Debden, and is 97 metres (318 feet) above sea level (w ...

) *"Bring to the Lord a Glad New Song" (to

Hubert Parry Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet (27 February 1848 – 7 October 1918), was an English composer, teacher and historian of music. Born in Richmond Hill, Bournemouth, Parry's first major works appeared in 1880. As a composer he is ...

's tune

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

) *"When the angel came to Mary" (to the Sans Day Carol) *''Fling wide the gates, unbar the ancient doors'' (chorus line) (based on Psalm 24) ;Books *''The Dramatised Bible'' *''Preparing for Worship'', Zondervan 1995, *''Singing to God'', Hope Publications, 1995. . His own collected hymns

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Michael 1942 births 1996 deaths Christian hymnwriters English hymnwriters People educated at Dulwich College Alumni of Ridley Hall, Cambridge Alumni of Oak Hill College Alumni of University College London Alumni of the University of Southampton 20th-century English musicians