The Church’s One Foundation

“The Church’s One Foundation” was written in 1866 by Samuel John Stone.

Verse 1

The Church’s one foundation
Is Jesus Christ her Lord;
She is His new creation
By water and the Word:
From heaven He came and sought her
To be His holy Bride;
With His own blood He bought her,
And for her life He died.

This verse lays the cornerstone: the church exists because of Christ, not human organization.
“By water and the Word” refers to baptism and Scripture—the means by which believers are brought into new life. The “holy Bride” imagery comes straight from Ephesians 5 and Revelation 21, reminding us that the church is bound to Christ by covenant love, not contract or convenience.

In modern terms, it’s saying: Don’t build the church on charisma, marketing, or moral superiority. Build it on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Verse 2

Elect from every nation,
Yet one o’er all the earth,
Her charter of salvation,
One Lord, one faith, one birth;
One holy name she blesses,
Partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses,
With every grace endued.

Here, Stone affirms the universality and unity of the Church.
No matter the nation, race, or denomination, the true Church is one—because she shares one Savior and one baptism. The “one holy food” refers to the Eucharist (Holy Communion), the visible sign of shared grace. “To one hope she presses” means all believers are moving toward the same eternal destiny.

For the modern church—so splintered along lines of race, class, and theology—this verse is a prophetic reminder that unity is not optional. It’s part of the Church’s DNA.

Verse 3

Though with a scornful wonder
Men see her sore oppressed,
By schisms rent asunder,
By heresies distressed:
Yet saints their watch are keeping,
Their cry goes up, ‘How long?’
And soon the night of weeping
Shall be the morn of song!

Stone wrote this during a time of deep division in the church, so “schisms” and “heresies” weren’t abstract ideas—they were lived reality.
He’s honest about the pain: the Church suffers under misunderstanding, persecution, and internal conflict. But he counters despair with apocalyptic hope—the promise that God will vindicate his people. The “night of weeping” will become “the morn of song” (Psalm 30:5).

For today: this verse captures the weary sigh of believers who see the church fail repeatedly, yet still hope that Christ will purify and restore her.

Verse 4

’Mid toil and tribulation,
And tumult of her war,
She waits the consummation
Of peace for evermore;
Till with the vision glorious
Her longing eyes are blest,
And the great Church victorious
Shall be the Church at rest.

This verse lifts our eyes from history to eternity.
The “consummation” is the final union of Christ and His Church when all striving ends. The “Church victorious” isn’t a triumphant empire—it’s the purified body of Christ at rest in God. This perspective keeps the church humble: her mission is to persevere, not to dominate.

In modern life, this pushes back against triumphalism—the belief that the church can perfect the world by its own power. Stone says, in effect, No, the church is a pilgrim body waiting for grace’s final fulfillment.

Verse 5

Yet she on earth hath union
With God the Three in One,
And mystic sweet communion
With those whose rest is won:
O happy ones and holy!
Lord, give us grace that we,
Like them, the meek and lowly,
On high may dwell with Thee.

This closing verse completes the circle: the Church’s unity extends beyond time.
The “mystic sweet communion” links the Church militant (those still living) with the Church triumphant (those who have died in Christ). This is a vision of spiritual continuity, not just across geography but across eternity. It reminds modern Christians that faith isn’t an individual project—it’s participation in a vast, living story.

The prayer at the end—“Lord, give us grace…”—draws the hymn from theology back into humility. After all the grand vision, we’re left asking simply to live faithfully and humbly like the saints who’ve gone before.

In sum, the hymn is a theological symphony of Christ’s sufficiency, the church’s unity, suffering, and hope. It speaks just as powerfully now as it did in 1866: in a world that treats faith like a brand and the church like a platform, Stone’s words call us back to the quiet, costly reality that the Church belongs to Christ alone.