[UPBEAT GOSPEL MUSIC]

Throughout the ages, religious traditions across the world have reached the heavens through singing praises to their God.

One of the earliest revelations, received after the Church of Jesus Christ was organized in 1830,

instructed the Prophet Joseph Smith’s wife, Emma, to select hymns, “for [the] soul delighteth in the song of the heart, yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me.”

This hymn book was printed in 1835.

In 1985, the 150th anniversary of the first hymnal,

the Church published the hymn book currently in use, but since then the Church’s membership has grown from near 6 million to more than 17 million, with much of the growth outside the United States.

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Now more than ever a worldwide Church, and to be able to share hymns together from the worldwide Church, I think is a really significant and an exciting thing. The Church is filling the earth as we continue to have more members of the Church from different cultures and backgrounds and diverse life experiences, we're increasing the reach of our offerings through the hymns that allow people to feel that they are included in this hymnbook, and that their voice can be expressed in worship through the hymns.

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In 2018, the Church began creating a new hymn book. This first step was inviting Church members worldwide to submit original hymns for consideration. Over 17,000 submissions were received. One submission was from Elizabeth Pouton, of Paris. She was inspired to write the hymn in 1981, when the Poutons were raising a young family.

May thy spirit fully fill our hearts and lives.

Thanks to Thee for my spouse, my home with happiness so sweet.

Let Thy light and Thy love enter. Abide with us forever. Keep us in good health. May our body be purified. May Thy Spirit fully fill our hearts and lives.

Whether hymns to be selected end up coming from Paris or the Philippines, each hymn will be available in one's own language. There will be one hymn book for the entire world. There will be music from Germany or from Spain, from Brazil, from Africa, and it will be translated into all the languages. How exciting is this work, to have one hymn book that represents languages from all over the world? It will be unitedly one Church. And now in 2024, a small group of hymns that are being considered for the new hymn book will soon be available digitally in the Sacred Music app, the Gospel Library app, and in the online music library as part of a gradual advance release. They will be published first in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French. The reason that we provide sacred music for members of the Church is to assist them in coming close to the divine in worshiping their Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. There will be many new hymns as well as hymns Church members are familiar with, but which are not available in all versions of the current hymn book, such as this favorite often sung by The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.

Come Thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace. I’m very pleased to know that “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” will be restored to our new hymnbook. Hymns were not selected based on popularity, but their ability to help people worship. Some of the greatest testifying of the divinity of Jesus Christ has been done through music throughout the ages. There's just something so special about singing pure doctrine. The first group of digitally released hymns, which will include “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” will be available on May 30, 2024 and will be published in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French.

Future groups of new hymns will be released every few months until the full hymnbook is complete.

The same advance release plan will begin for many other languages over the next two to three years.

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