What better hymn to end with than the last hymn added to Emma's 1835 hymnal and the last hymn sung for the dedication of this temple?
Following a particularly memorable meeting, [1] W. W. Phelps wrote six stanzas of The Spirit of God Like a Fire is Burning. and all six were sung for the dedication of the Kirtland Temple. [2]
Coming out of the Pentecostal experiences here in Kirtland, the hymn has continued to be sung at numerous historic meetings and gatherings. It has remained a song "dear to the heart of every Latter Day Saint." [3]
Notes:
[1] Sunday, 17
January 1836, "Sketch Book for the use of Joseph Smith, Jr." (22 September
to 3 April 1836), 126; Scott H. Faulring, ed., An American Prophet's
Record: The Diaries and Journals of Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City,
Utah: Signature Books in association with Smith Research Associates,
1989), 111-112. See account of meeting
recorded by Joseph.
[2] Messenger
and Advocate, 2 (March 1836): 280-281. See also, Smith, History
of the Church, 2:426-427.
[3] Richard Clothier,
"The Singing Saints: A Festival of Hymns and History," for John Whitmer
Historical Association, Nauvoo, Illinois, 2002.
