Hymns—for Home and Church
“Hymns—for Home and Church,” a sacred music collection of between 450 to 500 hymns and children’s songs, will be available digitally and in print for individuals and families to use globally at home and at church. “Hymns—for Home and Church” will be representative of the communal nature of music and worship with hymns and children’s songs together in one collection. “Hymns—for Home and Church” aligns with the Church’s emphasis in recent years of providing home-centered, Church-supported resources that help individuals and families learn and live the gospel of Jesus Christ. The hymns are principally about Jesus Christ and our connection to Him.
This collection is a revision of the 1985 "Hymns" and the 1989 "Children's Songbook."
In June 2018, the Church announced plans to publish new, unified editions of both Hymns and the Children's Songbook. Members of the Church were invited to participate in the revision process in unprecedented ways. Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles noted, "We desire to offer a consistent core collection of hymns and songs in every language that reflects the diverse needs of the global Church in our day.” Elder Erich W. Kopischke of the Seventy added, "This core collection means that “members of the Church, no matter where they live in the world, will have the same hymns and the same songs and the same hymn numbers!” Members were asked to submit original music and lyrics and to provide feedback.[1]
Contents
"Christians Worshiping Jesus Christ"
As the new hymn collection is released in batches, members of the Church and other interested persons will notice that the hymns are focused on Jesus Christ and our connection to Him. Elder Matthew L. Carpenter of the Seventy, a hymnbook advisor, said: “As more releases become available, we will see that we are sharing hymns with other Christian faiths. It’s a joy because we are all Christians worshiping Jesus Christ.” In addition to bringing in hymns from various Christian traditions, the new collection includes Latter-day Saint hymns of Christ that have become dearly loved after the 1985 hymnbook was published, such as "This Is the Christ" and "Gethsemane."
As noted in the introduction to the new hymn collection, "The Lord has said, 'My soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads" (Doctrine and Covenants 25:12).
Member Participation in the Hymn Gathering
The Church requested member feedback about sacred music and called for member submissions of original hymns, songs, and texts. Tens of thousands responded, and more than 17,000 songs were submitted.
“It would have been a lot simpler to just have specific writers and specific composers contribute specific things,” said Anna Molgard, music project coordinator for the Church’s Priesthood and Family Department. “But in the Lord’s kingdom, He allows us to be a part of this great work, and so it was an opportunity for members of our faith to express their own testimonies in their own way and have an opportunity to perhaps share that with the world.”[2]
The ongoing project is complex. Not only are the hymn and song collections being revised, but in some cases, individual hymns and songs are being revised to make them more globally relevant. Updates will clarify doctrine, replace outdated language where meanings have changed over time, and ensure that lyrics and musical styles are more universally inclusive.
Stated in a news release just prior to April 2024 general conference: "After six years of work reviewing thousands of submissions and gathering hymns from across the world, 12 hymns of the new “Hymns—for Home and Church” will be available on May 30, 2024. The selections will include “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” and will be published in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French. The hymns will be available in the Sacred Music and Gospel Library apps, and in the online Music Library."
"More groups of new hymns will be released every few months until the full hymnbook is complete in 2026. The same advance release plan will begin for many other languages over the next two to three years."
Up to 50 total languages will be published by 2030. This means that Latter-day Saint congregations throughout the world will worship with the same consolidated and unified hymnbook, numbered the same across the languages most spoken in the Church.
Many additional languages in which the Church is still being established will receive a smaller collection of approximately 60 hymns and children’s songs called “Selected Hymns” as soon as reasonably possible.
“We are just so excited about the opportunity that a new hymnbook will give us as a Church to become unified, to meet those sacred music goals, and to come closer to our Heavenly Father and worship not only at church but at home every day,” said Steve Schank, chair of the new hymnbook committee. “These are the ultimate goals that we hope every Latter-day Saint achieves by using the sacred music of the Church in this new collection.”
First Wave of New Hymns Released—May 30, 2024
The gradual release of the new global hymnbook of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has begun with the release of 13 new songs, one more than originally anticipated. This new music may be accessed digitally through the Sacred Music and Gospel Library apps and in the online Church Music Library at music.churchofjesuschrist.org.
The first hymns now available are "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing"; "When the Savior Comes Again"; "It Is Well with My Soul"; "I Will Walk with Jesus"; "His Eye Is on the Sparrow"; "Think a Sacred Song"; "As Bread Is Broken"; "Bread of Life, Living Water"; "Gethsemane"; "Hail the Day that Sees Him Rise"; "He Is Born, the Divine Christ Child"; "What Child Is This?"; and "Star Bright."
Wards and branches have been encouraged to include the new music in worship services. Latter-day Saints are encouraged to incorporate this new music in their personal worship and study.[3]
9 New Hymns Released for New Global Hymnbook—September 12, 2024
As the gradual release of the Church’s new global hymnbook continues, nine new hymns have been added to the “Hymns—For Home and Church” collection in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French. These songs will be available on the online Music Library, Gospel Library and Sacred Music app. Included in this second release are a series of hymns shared with other Christian faiths. Many will be familiar with the song “Amazing Grace,” composed by 18th-century English cleric and abolitionist John Newton. “As more releases become available, we will see that we are sharing hymns with other Christian faiths,” said Elder Matthew L. Carpenter of the Seventy, a hymnbook advisor. “It’s a joy because we are all Christians worshiping Jesus Christ.”
The nine new hymns are: “Amazing Grace”; “Holding Hands Around the World”; “Anytime, Anywhere”; “God’s Gracious Love”; “My Shepherd Will Supply My Need”; “Oh, the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus”; “Behold the Wounds in Jesus’ Hands”; “This Is the Christ”; and “Come, Lord Jesus.”
Other included Christian hymns are “God’s Gracious Love,” a 19th-century Swedish hymn currently in the Church’s Swedish hymnal; “Oh, the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus,” a 19th-century English hymn with a new musical setting; and “My Shepherd Will Supply My Need,” composed by 18th-century English hymn writer and minister Isaac Watts, who also composed the well-known hymns “Joy to the World” and “Sweet Is the Work.”
Included in this batch of hymns is the song “This Is the Christ,” an original Latter-day Saint hymn written in 1995, with lyrics by former First Presidency member James E. Faust (1920–2007) and Jan Pinborough. It was previously featured in the Church film “The Testaments: Of One Fold and One Shepherd.”
Many may recognize the hymn “Come, Lord Jesus” from the musical drama production “Savior of the World,” first presented in November 2000 in the Church’s Conference Center Theater in Salt Lake City. “Savior of the World” has since been performed by Latter-day Saints across the United States in their local communities.
One other original hymn, “Behold the Wounds in Jesus’ Hands,” was submitted in 1998 for the annual Church Music Submission. It was performed by a combined choir from Brigham Young University in the October 2021 general conference.
More songs will continue to be released in batches every few months until the release of the full hymnbook in 2026.
The new collection will include the same song list and numbering in all languages, with a total of 450 to 500 hymns included. Local and language-specific hymns, such as patriotic anthems, will be available in language-specific digital collections.
The new hymnbook will be available first in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French. More languages will become available in the coming years as they are ready.
