It’s November 2023, and John Dickson is meeting with two of the world’s most successful songwriters in a rehearsal space called ‘The Barn’ just outside of Nashville, Tennessee.

Ben Fielding and Chris Tomlin are the minds behind some of modern worship’s biggest anthems – think ‘Mighty To Save’, ‘This I Believe (The Creed)’, ‘Our God’, ‘Holy Forever’ … the list is extensive (as are the awards).

But on this day, Chris and Ben aren’t just trying to come up with something new; they’ve come together (so John thinks) to begin the process of transforming the oldest Christian hymn ever found into a song for our times.

The pair are meeting as part of a broader project, which consists of a documentary hosted by John that follows the journey of the papyrus P. Oxy. XV 1786 – otherwise known as the ‘Oxyrhynchus Hymn’ – from the sands of Egypt to the studios of Nashville and finally into the concert arenas of America (and beyond).

What is ‘The First Hymn’?

On a scrap of papyri, unearthed in the ruins of the ancient Egyptian city of Oxyrhynchus, were the legible words – and melodic notation – of a 3rd century Christian hymn. 

It’s the oldest example of Christian music (with notation) ever discovered – and John and his team were determined to give it back to the modern church.

The First Hymn documentary tracks the process of reimagining the song (via the trusted pens and guitars of Chris Tomlin and Ben Fielding) for the modern church, the recording of it in its new form, and its eventual live premiere.

It all comes together

The meeting at ‘The Barn’ between John, Ben, and Chris was supposed to be day one of re-writing the song.

But when John sat down with the pair to get started, they had a surprise for him (and the cameras).

“We think we’ve finished the song.” 

John was stunned.

“I was expecting a long, drawn-out process, and instead I was presented with what some might call a miraculous outcome”, he said, speaking on the Undeceptions podcast. 

Chris and Ben composed their song via voice notes, exchanging ideas back-and-forth online until it all came together.

For Chris, online collaboration is usually a tricky experience – but this time, it was easy.

“A lot of people can get on Zoom, or they can write through technology and go back and forth, and it just never works for me,” he said.

“This was, I think, one of the only times … it was definitely God’s Spirit connecting us across the oceans, writing this together.”

For Ben, the key was this line from the original papyrus:

(To) the sole giver of all good things. Amen, amen.

“That felt to me like this centerpiece, this culmination,” Ben said.

“I had in mind straight away that the chorus would be sort of, ‘As we sing our praise to the, to the God, our Father, Son, and Holy Spirit’ … but then the bridge would be a culminative kind of moment that brings it all together around the only giver of all good gifts.”

The hymn in its original form

 

Cracking the code

Once the centrepiece of the song was finished, everything else fell into place.

“It was just a matter of trying to find how we sing these lyrics in a way that felt really fresh, and today, and singable, and powerful,” Chris said.

“We just kept going back and forth, and it was beautiful.”

Ben adds that although he and Chris generally approach writing in a similar way, it was the points of difference that made the collaboration extra special.

“One really good example is the original bridge melody. 

“Chris was like ‘I just think it gets a bit too high, so we have to dial that back a little bit.’

“I’m really grateful for his input into the song because he definitely took it from something that was headed in a direction and made it great.”

It remains to be seen how ‘The First Hymn’ will perform commercially – but for Chris and Ben, the project was about so much more than chart numbers or award nominations.  

“I never ever really know what a song is going to do,” Chris admits.

“Sometimes I thought I have and I’ve been completely wrong, so I just don’t know … I just say ‘God, this is the best I can do at this moment. And you take this offering, and if it could be used, that’d be amazing’”.

Ben adds that throughout the process, he wondered about the original hymn writer 1800 years ago and what they would have thought of this whole process.

“I thought, ‘Were they kind of doing what I do? Trying to write songs that help people sing in worship?’

“I had this sense that maybe we’re kind of very like-minded people … definitely through the process, I wanted to honor that original intent of the songwriter.” 

Adapted by Alasdair Belling from Undeceptions episode 149 ‘Our Hymn’. Listen here

Want to be further undeceived? 
Check out our network of podcasts and articles in the Undeceptions Library.