Words: , 1911; first pub­lished in the Pres­by­ter­i­an news­pa­per The Con­ti­nent. Mer­rill wrote:

No­lan R. Best, then ed­it­or of The Con­ti­nent, hap­pened to say to me that there was ur­gent need of a bro­ther­hood hymn…The sug­gest­ion lin­gered in my mind, and just about that time I came up­on an ar­ti­cle by Ger­ald Stan­ley Lee, en­ti­tled “The Church of the Strong Men.” I was on one of the Lake Mi­chi­gan steam­ers go­ing back to Chi­ca­go for a Sun­day at my own church, when sud­den­ly this hymn came up, al­most with­out con­scious thought or ef­fort.

Music: Fes­tal Song, , in the Epis­co­pal Hymn­al with Tunes Old and New, by John Ire­land Tuck­er, 1872. Alternate tune:

  • St. Thom­as (Will­iams), , The New Un­i­vers­al Psalm­o­dist, 1770

Rise up, O men of God!
Have done with lesser things.
Give heart and mind and soul and strength
To serve the King of kings.

Rise up, O men of God!
The kingdom tarries long.
Bring in the day of brotherhood
And end the night of wrong.

Rise up, O men of God!
The church for you doth wait,
Her strength unequal to her task;
Rise up and make her great!

Lift high the cross of Christ!
Tread where His feet have trod.
As brothers of the Son of Man,
Rise up, O men of God!