Everybody wanted to sing on this happy occasion. The hymns needed to be selected with particular care. Beautifully appropriate, therefore, was the first hymn of the program:
“We love the place, O God,
Wherein Thine honor dwells;
The joy of Thine abode
All earthly joy excels.
“It is the house of prayer,
Wherein Thy servants meet;
And Thou, O Lord, art there,
Thy chosen flock to greet.”
This hymn, which appeared in “Hymns Ancient and Modern,” 1861, has found wide acceptance. It is found in The Church Hymnary (Scotland); The Hymnary of the United Church of Canada; and likewise The Hymnal (1940) of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States.