Music

Across the world, music leaders, choir directors, and choristers eagerly await the next wave of new hymns, hopeful that these fresh songs will bring new energy and faith to their congregations.

“I have had a strong feeling that the songs being released have been written for the kids of these latter days,” said Brett-Casey Brown, a Primary music leader from Tennessee.

Since May of last year, 37 new songs have been digitally released to the Saints on the Gospel Library, Music Library, and Sacred Music app in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French.

In 2018, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced a new iteration of the hymnbook, which has been revised every 30 to 40 years since 1835. It was announced to “meet the needs of a global church.”

The new hymnbook will have 450 to 500 hymns and songs, with no national anthems included. Its selection criteria are as follows:

1. Increase faith in and worship of Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.
2. Teach the core doctrine of the gospel with power and clarity.
3. Invite joyful singing at home and at church.
4. Comfort the weary and inspire members to endure in faith.
5. Unify members throughout the Church.

According to the Church’s website section, Questions about the New Hymnbook, it is meant to resolve inconsistencies across languages, correct doctrinal inaccuracies, and replace hymns that are difficult for members to sing or play.

The Original Hymnbook

Emma Smith was first called by the Lord to create a “selection of sacred hymns” in 1830, recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 25:11. The Lord said, “For 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).

Five years later, she released “A Collection of Sacred Hymns, for the Church of the Latter Day Saints”, which included 90 songs with lyrics and no musical notation.

In the 1840s, missionaries serving in England, which included Brigham Young, John Taylor, and Parley P. Pratt, compiled one of the earliest region-specific hymnals for Saints in Great Britain. This later became known as the “Manchester Hymnal”.

Following the publication and sale of the Manchester Hymnal in England, Smith created a second official hymnal for the Church, which had a total of 304 selected songs.

The first hymns for children, the “Children’s Primary Hymn Book,” were selected by Eliza R. Snow in 1880, which contained 124 short songs for young children.

Later, a Welsh hymnal was published in 1846 through the collaborative efforts of local Church members and missionaries.

Since then, the Church has focused on officially translating the songs into different languages to reach Saints globally. The current editions are translated into 38 languages, and the new hymnbook is set to be translated into 50 languages by the year 2030.

There have been over 20 iterations of the Latter-day Saint hymnal since its creation in the 1800s, and the most recent editions before the current updates were the 1985 Hymns and the 1989 Children’s Songbook.

An Overwhelming Response

Following the announcement of the new hymnbook, the Hymnbook and Children’s Songbook committees were created under the supervision of the First Presidency. These groups involve General Authorities and General Officers of the Church who are experts in related fields: music, education, literature, world cultures, and Church doctrine.

After 2 years of open submissions, nearly 50,000 suggestions and 17,000+ original songs, texts, and hymns were submitted from 66 different countries. In response to the members, Elder Soares said, “Their dedication and contributions are humbling!”

“We are grateful for every contribution shared by our members and friends not of our faith,” said Elder Jeremy R. Jaggi, General Authority Seventy and committee advisor, “The sheer volume of offerings speaks to the faith and love of each contributor.”

While not every submission will be included in the new hymnbook, Children’s Songbook advisor Sister Christina B. Franco said, “We consider every submission to be a sacred offering that members of the Church have laid on the altar.”

How Latter-day Saints are Using the Newly Released Hymns

This multi-year project is expected to be completed in late 2026. This will include the printed hymnbook, as well as special selected hymns for emerging languages of the Church. But it has already begun to touch members as they have incorporated the digitally released hymns in their wards.

Brett-Casey Brown, a Primary music leader from Tennessee, shared his experience with the song “His Eye is on the Sparrow” after it had been released last year. He was hesitant to teach the song because of its large range and complicated concepts, but continued, “Despite my hesitations, I moved forward with it, and I think it was the best song in the program last year. It was one of the kids’ favorites, and ended up being very impactful for some of the teachers.”

Because the new collection includes both traditional hymns for adults and songs for children, many leaders have begun teaching the newly released songs and hymns in Primary.

“Our ward has been excellent at the new songs!” Another Primary music leader, Alison Smith from Utah, said, “We sing a new one a few times a month. We’re also learning some in primary, and I love the feeling these songs bring!”

Members may already recognize many of these songs, even before they were officially added to the book. Some of these songs have been printed in the Friend magazine for Primary children, such as Holding Hands Around the World, which was published in 2002, and Gethsemane, more recently published in 2002.

Others like Amazing Grace, This Is the Christ, and Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing, are well-known existing Christian hymns that have been performed by Church musical groups like the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square and BYU choirs. For many members, incorporating these beloved songs into the official hymnbook is both familiar and refreshing.

“I am excited about the new relationship this music will bring to members,” said Sarahlynn Zavoral, a choir director and stake Primary director. “It’s more modern, simplified, and relevant to people. It’s so accessible!”

Zavoral is a music teacher based in San Diego, offering piano, voice, and ukulele lessons to children ages 2 to 13. Teaching at both Zavoral Music Studios and a nearby elementary school, Zavoral emphasizes joyful music-making in every lesson.

Her experience with the new hymns has been a lot of fun, she said, and she feels that “the Holy Ghost has been magnifying the effects of the music. It is like angels are singing with us!”

In her ward, Zavoral has helped introduce hymns at various levels. One week, she taught the Relief Society a song for 5 to 10 minutes, then invited all the sisters to sing during sacrament meeting the next Sunday. Her hymn introductions have helped sisters who are afraid to sing gain more confidence.

She helped the youth in her ward learn “This Is the Christ” for an Easter performance, practicing a few minutes with them on youth nights and for a few more minutes on Sundays.

Zavoral assists these various choirs in her ward and stake, even sharing these songs beyond the chapel, at interfaith events. There is no fancy piano accompaniment, no hour-long practices. It does not need to be perfect, she said.

“I like to ask them questions about the song, like, ‘What is speaking to you?’ to help them understand the messages that the songs are teaching us,” she shared.

Lowell Smith, a ward choir director in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, has also actively been involved in introducing these new hymns in his community.

Smith remembers being inspired to get involved with his ward choir by his former Men’s Chorus director, Rosalind Hall. Almost two decades ago, she instructed the choir that they needed to “take music seriously” in their Church callings and to be actively involved with bettering their ward choir.

Over the years, Smith has followed this advice carefully, using his talents to bless the wards he was in. Most recently, Smith has been teaching the new songs to his congregation as they are released.

One of his contributions was creating clean, printed copies of the 37 new hymns, spiral-bound, with a QR code to access the digital files. This booklet is shared with the other wards in his chapel, and five other surrounding chapels have now printed the same booklet and are using it in their sacrament meetings.

In addition to adding the new songs in the temporary hymnbook, Smith also provides brief introductions to his ward whenever musical symbols like repeats or D.S. al Coda appear. These are less than a minute, but are helpful for people who are not familiar with reading music.

“Explaining the markings has been incredibly helpful for our ward. Once, after we sang Gethsemane in sacrament meeting, a visitor even thanked me for explaining the ending,” said Smith.

As Latter-day Saints across the world continue to incorporate these new songs into their worship, the global hymnbook is already beginning to fulfill its purpose to unify, uplift, and inspire Saints.

From Primary classes to large congregations, these hymns are connecting Saints from all backgrounds through messages of hope and discipleship.

Each sacred song reflects the Lord’s promise in Doctrine and Covenants 25:12–that the song of the righteous is a prayer that will be answered with immense blessings.

They are becoming songs of the heart, chosen for this generation, and offered to the world as a testimony of Jesus Christ.

The completed hymnbook will be released in late 2026, and Saints everywhere are invited to sing these special songs of the heart as part of their daily and weekly worship, uniting their voices in faith and commitment to the Lord.