The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released additional information Tuesday on its forthcoming new hymn book.
A printed version of “Hymns — For Home and Church” will be available in mid-2027, according to a press release. It will initially be published in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese, with approximately 46 other languages following thereafter.
It will feature about 375 songs, 37 of which have already been released. Many of the songs will come from the existing hymn book as well.
Each language in the current hymnal has a different number of songs and verses, which means the page numbers are different. The new book will be unified across all languages.
“This is a worldwide church — a church 17 million strong,” Elder Isaac K. Morrison, General Authority Seventy, has said. “This is one of the ways to bring all of us together, having the same hymn book with the same page numbers with the same songs.”
The church received more than 17,000 submissions when it requested that members send in original songs for the new hymn book. That’s approximately one from every 1,000 members of the church.
“This is an ambitious and complex project,” said Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. “Because of the importance of sacred music in the church, the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve have been intimately involved in every aspect of the new hymnbook, including the selection of hymns to be included in the print and digital versions.”
Hymns were selected by the First Presidency based on five criteria:
- Increase faith in and worship of Heavenly Father and his Son, Jesus Christ.
- Teach the core doctrine of the gospel with power and clarity.
- Invite joyful singing at home and at church.
- Comfort the weary and inspire members to endure in faith.
- Unify members throughout the church.
The church encourages congregations, families and individuals to use the newly released hymns in their regular worship, so as to gradually familiarize themselves with them.
“Some of the hymns will be less familiar to many members of the church,” Elder Renlund said. “For this reason, the First Presidency and the Twelve have directed that some hymns be released in advance of the publication of the completed hymnbook. Each hymn has been approved by the First Presidency and the Twelve, and these approvals have not been taken lightly.”