Many will be singing We Gather Together today, either in church or gathered around your Thanksgiving table. I wanted to tell you a bit about its origins.
When this lovely hymn was written by Adrianus Valerius in 1597, the Dutch were involved in a war for their national liberation against the Catholic King Phillip II of Spain. It was written in celebration of the Dutch victory over the Spanish forces at the Battle of Turnhout. It became well-known and much-loved by the Dutch because they had been forbidden to gather and worship as Protestants.
