TO BUILD A CHURCH song lyrics
by Joel Sattler

[written on the California Zephyr train
while riding through the farmland of Western Illinois
on January 6, 2016]

when my great great great great grandfather
came to Illinois
he was just apprentice carpenter
with a wife and two small boys

a wagon full of lumber
and his tools a mule and cart
with nothing but his faith and trust
a pure and giving heart

the folks in Adams Township
had a need for such a man
and great great great great grandpappy
had a master plan

to find himself a piece of land
he knew just where to search
to make a life for kith and kin
and build himself a church

to build a church
a little wooden church
where all could pray each Sunday
he came to build a church

he said he wernt a holy man
or special any way
a humble and god-fearing man
just the same as they

his neighbors helped to raise the walls
and laid a roof of tile
and all the righteous all around
would come for many a mile

to sing the hymns and listen to
the travelling padre preach
and a long line of old schoolmarms
the Sunday School to teach

to build a church
a simple single church
where all could pray on any day
he came to build a church

a church is more than just a house
to find peace in the Lord
a church is refuge from all hate
to put aside the sword

for many members lived and died
and yet the church has grown
but in the heart of the mighty chapel
the little church lives on


to build a church
we built a church
the dead and quick
with every stick and brick
each of us build a church

each of us are here
are here to build a church

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