Mick, there seems to be some confusion about the purpose of this thread. In the OP you stated "The purpose of this thread is to investigate, discuss and debate whether or not the First U. S. Congress opened its daily sessions with prayer, as is often claimed."

Were you really after such a narrowly focused discussion, or a broader discussion about religion, government and the Founding Fathers? If the former is true, I think I'll have to bow out of the discussion - I have no idea if the First U.S. Congress opened its daily sessions with prayer (although I would guess that they didn't, but that's just a guess).