We thank You Lord, for steadfast ground

1.
We thank You, Lord, for steadfast ground
Where early steps were laid;
For streets where craft and skill were found,
And honest labour stayed.
In towns of loom and spinning mill,
Where purpose shaped our powers,
You taught our hearts to seek You still
Beneath the seven towers.

2.
For symbols set before our eyes
To guide us as we grew—
The lamp that lifts our minds to rise,
The badger brave and true;
Tenax propositi we stand,
In faithfulness made strong,
The fruit of their devoted hand
Still guiding us along.

3.
For teachers patient, firm, and wise,
Whose counsel shaped our days;
For friendships time can never prise,
And laughter’s warming ways;
We bless the One whose mercies blend
Through all our changing years,
Whose love sustains us to the end
And stills our passing fears.

4.
Now send us forth in grateful trust
To serve with generous will;
To hold what’s noble, true, and just,
And seek the higher still.
Tenax propositi we go,
With courage born of grace,
To honour all we came to know
Within that cherished place. 

Hymn information

First line: We thank You Lord, for steadfast ground
Text: Michael McFarland Campbell
Metre: DCM
Tunes: Coe Fen, Kingsfold, or Resignation
Theme: Ballymena Academy, learning, education

Reflection

Back in March 2026, I wrote a hymn of thanksgiving for Ballymena Academy—a prayer, really, for the place that helped lay some of the earliest foundations of my life.

It was written with the school’s long history in mind, and with those symbols we knew so well: the lamp of learning and the steadfast badger. Drawing on the motto Tenax Propositi, it gives thanks for that “steadfastness of purpose” the Academy sought to instil in us—for the teachers who guided us, the friendships that endured, and the quiet shaping of those years that gave us our bearings for the world.

Now, as it comes up on thirty years since I left the school, and with the Academy approaching the two-hundredth anniversary of its refoundation next year, the hymn feels less like something finished and more like something still unfolding—a small offering of gratitude for a place that continues to form lives long after we have gone.

Copyright

© 2026 Michael McFarland Campbell.
This hymn is offered in thanksgiving and may be used freely by Ballymena Academy for school worship, events, and anniversary celebrations, with acknowledgement.
Please contact the author for any wider use.