SALT LAKE CITY — Leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are set to release the first 12 hymns of a new hymnbook after six years of work reviewing thousands of submissions and gathering music from across the world. 12 hymns of the new “Hymns—for Home and Church” will be available on May 30, 2024.
According to a press release, 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 online.
Church officials explained that 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.
Ryan Murphy, associate music director for The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square and hymnbook committee member said, “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.”
Members of The Church sing hymns as part of their worship.
Selecting hymns to please every church member has been a challenge. Knowing this, the hymnbook committee worked with senior church leaders to establish five guiding principles for the selection process. The hymns should:
- Increase faith
- Teach core doctrines
- Invite joyful singing at home and at church
- Comfort the weary and inspire members
- Unify members throughout the world
Steve Schank, chair of the new hymnbook committee said, “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.”