Hymns—For Home and Church

Hymns—For Home and Church will be a collection of 450–500 hymns and children’s songs combined into a single resource. The main collection will include the same song list and numbering across all languages in print and digital channels.

Because the new core collection will be the same in every language, national anthems will not be included in the printed hymnbooks. However, sacred music of local interest may be made available to members by language through digital channels as they meet the goals of sacred music within a given country.

Music translation, printing, and distribution for the worldwide Church is a major undertaking. Therefore, the leaders of the Church have decided to release Hymns—For Home and Church in language phases, starting in 2026. 50 languages will be completed before the end of 2030. Each language will receive several small batches of new music spaced out over approximately two and a half years before the release of the full hymnbook.

The Church has released an updated hymnbook and other music collections every few decades, and the senior Church leaders have determined that the timing is right for an update to the 1985 hymnbook and 1989 Children’s Songbook.

Issues that are being resolved with the new collection include:

• Inconsistency in music offerings across languages spoken by members of the Church.
• Doctrinal inaccuracies, culturally insensitive language, and limited cultural representation of the global Church.
• Licensing limitations for music publishing, particularly impacting digital use.
• Hymns that have fallen into disuse and can be retired to make way for other music that will be more valued.
• Unaddressed gospel principles in our current collections.
• Hymns that many members find are too difficult to sing or play.

Under the direction of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, General Authorities and General Officers were assigned to oversee the hymnbook and Children’s Songbook revision. Those assignments have rotated many times since 2018, providing input from those with a diversity of experiences and perspectives from around the globe.

Hymnbook and Children’s Songbook committees work under the direction of the assigned General Authorities and General Officers. The committees are composed of Church employees and called members with expertise in a variety of areas, including music, education, literature, world cultures, and Church doctrine.

The main task of the hymnbook and Children’s Songbook committees is to recommend music to the senior leaders of the Church. Recommendations have come from the Church’s current global library, hymns originating from other Christian faiths, and the 17,000 original pieces submitted for this new hymnbook. In some cases, the committees also recommend text and music revisions to align each piece with the criteria for this collection. The senior leaders of the Church, including the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and First Presidency, counsel together about the committee recommendations to approve music for the collection.

All decisions about the new collection are based on five guiding principles that were informed and approved by the First Presidency. These criteria guide the review, editing, and leader approval process for every piece of music all the way up to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and First Presidency. Music included in the new Hymns—For Home and Church collection should:

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.

The review and selection of music is expected to be completed early in 2025. At that point, all submitters will be notified at the same time of the status of their pieces. The Church leaders and committees involved in the project are grateful for all those who have made contributions to the hymnbook project in any way.

The current books will continue to be used until the full new collection is released in print and digital channels. These current collections will be available as legacy items through digital channels once the new books are distributed.