Thine Be The Glory

Ruth Ann Leduc

Missionary and Huguenot Fellowship Trustee Ruth Ann Leduc shared an uplifting music video created by the Evangelical Reformed Church for Easter Sunday. Many graduates of Faculté Jean Calvin serve as pastors in this denomination. It’s wonderful to see and hear the sheep and little lambs of their flocks raising their voices in celebration of Christ’s resurrection, ascribing glory and victory to our Risen Savior.
(Click on music video, then on the broken-square icon in the lower right to enter full screen.)

À toi la gloire, O Ressuscité!
À toi la victoire pour l’éternité!
Brillant de lumière, l’ange est descendu,
Il roule la Pierre du tombeau vaincu.
À toi la gloire, O Ressuscité!
À toi la victoire pour l’éternité!

Vois-le paraître: C’est lui, c’est Jésus,
Ton Sauveur, ton Maître, Oh! ne doute plus!
Sois dans l’allégresse, peuple du Seigneur,
Et redis sans cesse: Le Christ est vainqueur!
À toi la gloire, O Ressuscité!
À toi la victoire pour l’éternité!

Craindrais-je encore? Il vit à jamais,
Celui que j’adore, le Prince de paix;
Il est ma victoire, mon puissant soutien,
Ma vie et ma gloire : non, je ne crains rien!
À toi la gloire, O Ressuscité!
À toi la victoire pour l’éternité!

Thine [be] the glory, Oh resurrected One!
Thine [be] the victory, for eternity!
Shining with light, the angel descended,
He rolled the stone from the conquered grave.
Thine [be] the glory, Oh resurrected One!
Thine [be] the victory, for eternity!

Watch Him coming, it's Him, it's Jesus,
Your Saviour, your Master, Oh, doubt no more!
Rejoice, people of the Lord,
And repeat without ending: Christ is Conqueror!
Thine [be] the glory, Oh resurrected One!
Thine [be] the victory, for eternity!

Shall I still fear? He lives forever,
It is Him whom I adore, the Prince of peace;
He is my Victory, my mighty Sustainer,
my Life and my Glory: no, I fear nothing!
Thine [be] the glory, Oh resurrected One!
Thine [be] the victory, for eternity!

A Stroll Down Memory Lane to Aix-en-Provence

Ruth Ann and Norman Leduc

Thirty years ago this month, I moved to Aix-en-Provence, France to serve as Parish Assistant in the Evangelical Reformed Church, just off the Cours Mirabeau, the beautiful main street of Aix. Parish Assistant is a fairly catch-all term for what my ministry involved – Bible studies, work with the youth and Sunday School, hospital visits, editing the church newspaper, visits to shut-ins and a variety of other activities. What rich, formative years those were!

I was privileged to work with Christian Almeras, a French pastor who was himself a graduate of the Reformed Seminary (now John Calvin Seminary) and had over 20 years of pastoral experience. Those were wonderful years of learning about various aspects of church work in the French context, the culinary delights of a church picnic in the beauty of the Provençal countryside, the diligent labors of a Board of Elders providing servant leadership to the Body, and a continual awareness of the secular nature of France and the need for people to hear words of Truth, bringing the Hope of the Gospel.

The close connections between our church and the seminary provided multiple avenues for collaboration with John Calvin Seminary during those formative years – auditing a class on Practical Theology, the church choir having rehearsals in the seminary classrooms, many students participating in activities in the church, and collaborating with professors and spouses on Sunday School material, hospital visits and the church newspaper. What a blessing to see that those seminary students 30 years ago are now the pastors providing senior leadership in that same denomination in which I served.

Those 5 1⁄2 years serving as a single in Aix accentuated for me the incredible need for well-trained pastors, able to provide strong leadership for the Church in France. Although I wasn’t officially connected to the ministry of John Calvin Seminary, I saw first-hand how the seminary graduates had a vital role to play in what God was doing among the French people.

An additional (though not minor!) blessing of my time in Aix was that it was there that I met my Canadian husband who was serving with another mission agency. We were married in that beautiful, historic church off the Cours Mirabeau, and we had our stand-up reception in the gardens of the seminary. No wonder my heart holds a special place of fondness for Aix and John Calvin Seminary!

When our family moved to the Philadelphia area in 2007, I was delighted and honored when Bill Edgar, President of the Huguenot Fellowship, invited me to join the Board of the Fellowship. The Edgars and I had been part of that same church in Aix, and shared many wonderful memories together in the context of both the church and the seminary. Serving on the Board has provided a venue for combining my heart burden for the French people and the work of John Calvin Seminary, producing well-trained, servant leaders for the Church in France.

France needs what the Seminary provides – solid theological training for future leaders in the Church. Will you join with us to encourage and support the work of John Calvin Seminary?

Ruth Ann Leduc