Wayne Hooper (1920- ; see Biographies), the author and composer of this song, was at the time a member of the King’s Heralds Quartet of the Voice of Prophecy radio broadcast. He was asked to serve on a special committee appointed to prepare music for the quadrennial session of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists to be held in San Francisco in 1962. He gives the Following account of how this theme song came to be written:

“Charles Keymer, chairman of the music committee, encouraged me to try my hand at writing a theme song for them to consider. For several years I have been making a special study of the symphonies  of Brahms in my graduate study program at nearby Occidental College to see our son, I started thinking about the motto that had been chosen, “ We Have This Hope.”  All of a sudden, the four notes following the pickup note in the final theme of Brahms’ Fourth Symphony No. 1 in C Minor came to mind as fitting those four words exactly. I had been praying that if it were the Lord’s will that I write something combination of words and music that would be a blessing to the people at that GC session. In just a matter of half an hour I had all the words and most of the music—the transition section did not come about a week later.

“This is the one time in my life that I feel very certain that I was ‘given’ the musical ideas from Lord. Later it was my privilege to read a book that set down actual conversations with the great Johannes Brahms, in which he told about the steps he took before attempting to compose music. He said, ‘All truly inspired ideas come from God. Beethoven, who was my ideal, was aware of this.’ Then he was asked, ‘how do you contact Omnipotence? Most people find Him very aloof.’ Then Brahms told how he would study the Bible, especially the fourteenth chapter of John, where it says, ‘…not I, the Father that dwelleth within me, he doeth the works,” and John 17, where it says, ‘I and my Father are one.’ He went on to say, ‘I always contemplate this before commencing to compose. This is the first step. When I feel the urge I begin by appealing directly to my Maker, and I first ask Him the three most important questions pertaining to our life here in this world. Where did we come from? Why are we here? Whither are we going? . . . Above all I realize at such moments the tremendous significance of Jesus’ supreme revelation “I and my Father are one.” These vibrations assume the form of distinct mental images, after I have formulated my desire and resolve in regard to what I want—namely, to be inspired so that I can compose something that will uplift and benefit humanity, something of permanent value.

“ ‘Straightway the ideas flow in upon me directly from God, and not only do I see distinct themes in my mind’s eye, but they are clothed in the right forms, harmonies, and orchestration. Measure by measure the finished product is revealed to me when I am in those rare inspired moods’ (Arthur M. Abell, Talks With the Great Composers [New York: Philosophical Library, 1955]).

“So it is evident that Brahms prepared his mind, and asked for divine help—but admits that it was only rarely that the finished product was given him, note for note.

“I had feelings very close to these while riding in the car that day. ‘We Have This Hope’ came to me almost all at once as a gift from God.”

In addition to the meeting it was written for in 1962, the song was again used as a theme song for the General Conference sessions held in Detroit, Michigan, 1966; in Vienna, Austria, 1975; and in Utrecht, Netherlands, 1995. For the latter meeting, Hooper added a second stanza, based on the motto chosen for the session, “United in Christ.”

The tune name GENERAL CONFERENCE is of course derived from the gathering that brought about its writing.