By the end of May, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will get their first glimpse of the new hymnbook.
The Church Newsroom reports the Church of Jesus Christ will release the first 12 hymns of the new “Hymns—for Home and Church” on May 30. The selections will include a fan favorite that was left out of the current hymnbook, “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” The hymns will be published in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French and will be available in the Sacred Music and Gospel Library apps as well as in the online Music Library.
“We’re now more than ever a worldwide Church,” said Mack Wilberg, music director for The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. “To be able to share hymns together from the worldwide Church, I think, is a really significant and an exciting thing.”
Latter-day Saints from around the world submitted thousands of hymns for the committee to consider. It’s taken six years for the first group of songs to be released.
More groups of new hymns will be released every few months until the full hymnbook is complete in 2026. The hymnbook will eventually be released in several languages over the next two to three years.
“The Church is filling the earth,” said Ryan Murphy, the associate music director for The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square and a member of the hymnbook committee. “As we continue to have more members of the Church from different cultures and backgrounds and diverse life experiences, we’re increasing the reach of our offerings through the hymns that allow people to feel that they are included in this hymnbook and that their voice can be expressed in worship through the hymns.”
The hymnbook committee worked with senior leaders of the Church to come up with five guiding principles for selecting new hymns. The hymns should:
- Increase faith in and worship of our Heavenly Father and his Son, Jesus Christ
- Teach the core doctrine of the gospel with power and clarity
- Invite joyful singing at home and at Church
- Comfort the weary and inspire members to endure in faith
- Unify members throughout the Church.
“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.”