I’ll do Thy will with a heart sincere,
I’ll be what You want me to be.”[11]
Hundreds of eyes by this time were mist-filled, and it was with difficulty that many could control their voices when Bishop Leonard asked the entire company to sing the refrain. Soon, however, about twelve hundred voices were songfully pledging their loyalty to their Lord as they sang the words of the chorus.
Few were the words spoken by the leader of the service before another hymn was rendered:
“I need Thee every hour,
Most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine
Can peace afford.”
These lines voiced a prayer for divine strength, guidance and blessing. With the young ministers now standing at the altar, young people were asked to consecrate their lives to the service of Christ. From all parts of that historic church young men and young women moved forward until sixty of them had publicly registered their decision. Some of them for the first time took their stand for Christ, others expressed a desire to become ministers, missionaries, workers in their home churches.
The effects of this service will remain for many years. For there went forth from that church in the central part of the Empire State of New York a great company of hearts touched by the Spirit of God and resolved to render faithful devotion to Christ’s cause.