Hymn of the Week: "America"

My Country 'Tis of Thee

In recognition of Independence Day, our hymn this week is the simple and stately “My Country, ’Tis of Thee,” whose melody we took from the British hymn “God Save the King,” and re-named as AMERICA.  The poem, written by a young seminarian, Samuel Francis Smith, in 1831, was intended to be a hymn, and it really is a hymn.  The first stanza reminds us of …