When We All Get to Heaven

The story of this hymn

Eliza Hewitt was a Philadelphia schoolteacher whose spine was badly injured when a pupil struck her; she wrote hymns through the long convalescence that followed. At the Methodist camp meetings in Ocean Grove, New Jersey, she shared these verses with her friend Emily Wilson, who gave them their bounding tune, and the song was published in 1898. It has become the hymn families choose when they want the service to end in open rejoicing.

Where it sits in the service

Choose it as the closing hymn when the family has asked for a celebration rather than a lament — it sends the congregation out singing of victory. It also works after the eulogy to lift a heavy room. The chorus returns after every verse, so print it once, indented, and the page stays uncluttered.

In the programme, list it in the order of service as “Hymn — When We All Get to Heaven” with the leader or choir named beside it.

How it is actually sung

Bright and forward-looking, with a refrain that lifts a room. It is chosen most often for celebrations of life and homegoings, and it can sit oddly at a burial within days of a sudden death — the register is anticipation rather than grief. Five verses, though three is more usual.

Printing the words

Public domain. Three verses and the refrain is the practical selection; printing all five invites a longer hymn than the order allows.

This is practical guidance rather than legal advice. Reproduction rights vary by territory, by hymnal edition and by the licence your church holds — the church office is the right place to ask, and they answer this question often.