“I Saw a Stranger" Original Hymn (Stranger, Friend, Community)
“I Saw a Stranger" Original Hymn (Stranger, Friend, Community)
DIGITAL SHEET MUSIC DOWNLOAD
This hymn, originally written for the Everything in Between bundle for Lent 2025, is created for use in congregational worship and other ministry contexts. We’ve set fresh words of faith to a well-loved public domain hymn tune for maximum singability.
License for congregational use is included in the purchase—no reporting to CCLI or other licensing agencies is required. To inquire about other uses, such as recording or publishing, please contact us.
“I Saw a Stranger”
Tune: KINGSFOLD 8.6.8.6 D
Text: Anna Strickland, 2024
Music: English Traditional
DOWNLOAD includes:
PDF sheet music with four-part harmony
PNG image of the lyrics and melody for use in bulletins
Lyrics to copy and paste for bulletins and screens
Lyrics:
I Saw a Stranger
Tune: KINGSFOLD 8.6.8.6 D
Text: Anna Strickland, 2024
Music: English Traditional
I saw a stranger on the road in need of help and care
No clues to their identity, just human flesh laid bare
A thought had fluttered through my mind: “Is this one of my own?”
My tribal mind made me forget that they’re bone of my bone
I laid there desperate by the road in need of help and care
As one by one they passed me by, too busy or too scared
Then one approached and my first thought was “Do they mean me harm?”
To my surprise they met my eyes and held me in their arms
In our embrace the memory returned from Eden’s dust
Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh, my kin whom I can trust
The artificial walls we build around the tribes we claim
Make us forget the gospel truth: “Beloved” is your name
credit info:
Hymn text by Rev. Anna Strickland | A Sanctified Art, LLC | sanctifiedart.org
