Green, Fred Pratt

(b. Sept. 2, 1903). British Methodist minister and hymn writer. He was born near Liverpool, England, and educated at Huyton High School, Wallasey Grammar School, Rydal School, and Didsbury College, Manchester. From the time of his ordination in 1925 until his retirement, Green wrote plays, hymns, and poems. After retirement in the late 1960s, he devoted much of his time to writing hymns. As a founder and leader of the British “Hymn Explosion,” his hymns were among the finest composed in the last third of the twentieth century. They are included in most major English language hymnals. The Hymnal 1982 uses six of his original hymn texts, including “When in our music God is glorified” (420) and “For the fruit of all creation” (424). Another of these original texts, “By gracious powers” (695), is based on the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945). The Hymnal 1982 also includes one hymn text translated by Green, “Blest be the King whose coming” (74).