The first batch of hymns from the Church’s new hymnbook is now available online in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. The digital advance release marks a significant milestone in the Church’s plans to create a consolidated global collection of sacred music, which features new aspects that Church leaders and members already appreciate.
Global Unity
“For the first time in the history of the Church, we will now have one hymnbook that will be global across all countries,” said Elder Isaac K. Morrison, General Authority Seventy, at a media event on Thursday, May 30, 2024. “This means no matter where you live in the world, we will have the same hymns, same songs, same page numbers. This is a miracle, and it is so exciting. This will bless our members all over the world and foster greater unity among all our congregations.”
The sacred music collection will be published in up to 50 languages by 2030.
These sacred hymns will not only bring families and local congregations closer together but also connect the Church across the world. Songs that were previously only included in Latter-day Saint hymnbooks for specific languages—such as “Star Bright” in the Spanish collection and “He is Born, the Divine Christ Child” in the French collection—will now be featured in the hymnbook for all 50 languages.
Member Participation
The hymnbook revision is no small undertaking, and the Church music committee says they have deeply appreciated the outpouring of volunteer efforts to support this process.
“The Lord is really in charge of this,” Elder Morrison said. “There are [many] people that have come to help us, and their contributions have been phenomenal. And I think that that is the Lord’s hand in this project.”
The recent release marks the initial fulfillment of the Church’s announcement in 2018 to combine and revise its 1985 Hymns and 1989 Children’s Songbook. As part of this massive initiative, the Church invited members to provide feedback about sacred music and submit original hymns, songs, and texts—receiving tens of thousands of responses and song entries from members of the Church.
“When they invited members of the Church to submit original hymns, the Church was expecting around 6,000 to 7,000 submissions—and they got 17,000,” said Primary General President Susan H. Porter. “A very small fraction of 17,000 can be included, but you think of all the members who prayed, fasted, [and] read the scriptures, trying to feel how they can express their love of the Savior through music. Those songs and hymns will continue to bless their families, their friends, their congregations as musical numbers through all time.”
Children’s Songs
The new hymnbook also reaches across ages by bringing hymns together with children’s songs. While these children’s songs may be less musically complicated, with one melody line for the congregation to sing rather than four-part harmonies, President Porter believes that their inclusion will help young children and adults alike to understand the essential meanings of principles and topics.
“It makes us realize how simple the gospel is,” she says. “Sometimes we can try to make it more complex than it is.”
For example, President Porter appreciates how the song “Gethsemane” helps children understand the connection between the Savior’s mortal suffering and His love for us as individuals: “We’re invited … to sing, ‘Gethsemane, Jesus loves me.’ … It didn’t say Jesus loves ‘us,’ [although] He does love us all in the aggregate. But the song is ‘Jesus loves me.’”
Christlike Joy
Elder Michael T. Ringwood, General Authority Seventy and the executive director of the Priesthood and Family Department, believes that these hymns reflect the Church’s focus on helping others experience the joy of living the gospel. “We want people to come to church to have a joyful experience, … and we hope that the music adds to that joyful experience,” he said. “We hope that you would come to church and walk out with an uplift that carries you through the week.”
The first batch of 13 hymns includes joyful Christian songs like “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” “It Is Well with my Soul,” and “His Eye Is on the Sparrow,” as well as newer Latter-day Saint compositions like “When the Savior Comes Again” and “Think a Sacred Song.” The Church will continue to release batches of new hymns every several months until the full hymnbook is complete in 2026.
Learn more about the first batch of hymns here.
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