The Church published nine more additions to its musical catalog on Thursday, Sept. 12. This brings the number of new hymns to 22, with the first 13 having been released on May 30 of this year.
Some of the hymns will already be familiar to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Songs like “Amazing Grace” have been around for more than 250 years. And while that song has not been in the most recent hymnal of the Church, The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square has performed it many times and included it on one of its albums. A young adult choir also recently sang an arrangement of the song in the April 2024 general conference.
Elder Matthew L. Carpenter, a General Authority Seventy who has advised the Church’s hymnbook project, said “Amazing Grace” is not an anomaly.
“As more releases become available, we will see that we are sharing hymns with other Christian faiths,” he said. “It’s a joy because we are all Christians worshipping Jesus Christ.”
Other familiar hymns in this release include “This Is the Christ.” Church members and friends may recognize it from the Church’s movie “Testaments: Of One Fold and One Shepherd.” The song was written 1995 by the late President James E. Faust and Jan Pinborough, who retired last year as the managing editor of The Friend magazine.
Those who have watched or participated in the Church’s original musical drama “Savior of the World” may also recognize “Come, Lord Jesus,” which is sung in the Christmastime play. The choral version of the song and all others from the play are still available on the Church’s website as well.
“We hope that not only do we enjoy them as a Church, but we’re able to share those with all Christians worldwide,” Elder Carpenter said.
This latest group of songs is now available for use in the “Hymns — For Home and Church” music collection in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French. Like those published in May, these songs will be available on the online Music Library, Gospel Library and in the Church’s Sacred Music app. Also like the first release, the songs will be available for download as PDF sheet music. They can also be viewed strictly as lyrics. Or the music can be played through interactive sheet music with options to change the key of the music and its tempo.
Other hymns that were borrowed from other churches include “God’s Gracious Love,” a Swedish hymn that was previously included in the Church’s Swedish hymnal. “Oh, the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus,” is a 19th-century English hymn the Church has published with a new musical setting. And “My Shepherd Will Supply My Need,” composed by 18th-century minister Isaac Watts, joins two other hymns he wrote that are already in the Church’s hymn collection – “Joy to the World” and “Sweet Is the Work.”
The Church invited individuals to submit original pieces for consideration as the hymnbook process began. Other calls for submissions have happened over the years. One original hymn that was chosen to be included in this most recent release is “Behold the Wounds in Jesus’ Hands.” This hymn was submitted in 1998 as part of the Church Music Submission. A combined choir from Brigham Young University performed this hymn in the October 2021 general conference.
The Church will continue to release small groups of songs every few months over the next couple of years. It anticipates publishing the full collection of hymns sometime in 2026 in four languages – English, Spanish, Portuguese and French. Other language releases will happen in coming years.
