When asked who W. W. Phelps is and what he might be remembered for, most Latter-day Saints respond with something like this: “Didn’t he write (or compose) many of our hymns?” But when pressed, most even have difficulty identifying all of Phelps’s most frequently sung hymns such as “The Spirit of God,” “Now Let Us Rejoice,” “Redeemer of Israel,” “Praise to the Man,” “O God, the Eternal Father,” and “If You Could Hie to Kolob.” Virtually none realizes that in the Church’s most recent hymnal, Hymns (1985), Phelps has the largest number of songs attributed in some way to him. He has 15, more than any other composer or author except Evan Stephens.
