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And they’re asking for opinions and experiences with church music. newmusic.lds.org
I was about to post some details from lds.org. (I added more to the title.) My favorite two changes:
1) National anthems are being removed.
2) “Sacred music of local interest may be made available to members by language through digital channels as appropriate and doctrinally correct.”
#1 is important. #2 is HUGE!!!
Hooray – Something of value. This is loooong overdue. Old Timer wrote:
I was about to post some details from lds.org. (I added more to the title.)My favorite two changes:
1) National anthems are being removed.
2) “Sacred music of local interest may be made available to members by language through digital channels as appropriate and doctrinally correct.”
#1 is important. #2 is HUGE!!!
It always seemed strange to me that O Canada and Advance Australia Fair etc were not in there. Especially the former given that there is a kind of mini-Utah in Alberta.
SamBee wrote:
It always seemed strange to me that O Canada and Advance Australia Fair etc were not in there. Especially the former given that there is a kind of mini-Utah in Alberta.
That’s an easy one to explain… It’s because the United States of America was specifically declared by God in the Book of Mormon to be the greatest country on earth. I’m not sure where it says this, but I’ve heart it in church countless times, so it
mustbe true! 
We did give Canada “God Save the King/Queen”, but I assume it was mostly to mock them. In all seriousness, though, I hate it when members and Church leaders mingle their personal ideologies (patriotism, romanticism, capitalism, etc) with scripture.
dande48 wrote:
SamBee wrote:
It always seemed strange to me that O Canada and Advance Australia Fair etc were not in there. Especially the former given that there is a kind of mini-Utah in Alberta.
That’s an easy one to explain… It’s because the United States of America was specifically declared by God in the Book of Mormon to be the greatest country on earth. I’m not sure where it says this, but I’ve heart it in church countless times, so it
mustbe true! We did give Canada “God Save the King/Queen”, but I assume it was mostly to mock them. In all seriousness, though, I hate it when members and Church leaders mingle their personal ideologies (patriotism, romanticism, capitalism, etc) with scripture.
I’ve always had a soft spot for America the Beautiful. I think it is more appropriate than the SSB, and I even find it moving as a non-American. It is a kind of hymn too.
SSB – and sorry to hurt American pride here – is an old European drinking song, which most people find impossible to sing and just strikes me as a really odd choice, given all the other contenders.
This is an exciting announcement. I actually don’t mind national anthems in the hymnbook as long as it’s expected that any country will sing their national anthem. In Guatemala on my mission we sang their national anthem at least twice a year in Sacrament Meeting. It’s kind of different and very old fashioned Spanish that almost nobody understood but it was special to them. Likewise I love The Star Spangled Banner when the organist knows how to play it well. I now live 2 miles from an air force base in the US and if we didn’t sing it the Star Spangled Banner the Sunday before July 4 there might literally be a revolt. My suggestion is to add:
1) Amazing Grace
2) Come Thou Fount of All Our Blessings
My main gripe with that is that my country’s anthem isn’t in there! We would never sing SSB in this ward. We have Americans but not enough. On the other hand, I’m sure it would be easy enough to get the words for it (though not sing it)
Roadrunner wrote:
My suggestion is to add:1) Amazing Grace
2) Come Thou Fount of All Our Blessings
Good choices!
There are a lot of hymns we never sing. Without hearing them all regularly it is hard to judge them.
We had a beautiful LDS tune played in our ward once, but I can’t remember the name of it… and it’s not in the hymn book.
Roadrunner wrote:Likewise I love The Star Spangled Banner
when the organist knows how to play it well.So, in other words, never in an LDS service?
I had always thought Amazing Grace was not included because it was not thought to be doctrinally correct. Great news. Thank you, Ann. This has made me reflect on some of the old hymns we used to sing, but now rarely or never. Perhaps you still do in your area, but I don’t hear them anymore. For the older crowd:
– We are all enlisted (till the conflict is o’er; happy are we, happy are we. Soldiers in the army, there’s a bright crown in store. We shall win and wear it by and by. Haste to the battle, quick to the field; truth is our helmet, buckler and shield. Stand by our colors; proudly they wave. We’re joyfully, joyfully, marching to our home.)
– In our lovely Deseret (indlucing the second verse: “That the children may live long, and be beautiful and strong, tea and coffee and tobacco they despise. Drink no liquor, and they eat, but very little meat; they are seeking to be great and good and wise.”)
– I still occasionally hear Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel around July 24, but it used to be a mainstay.
Now that we are talking about grace much more openly, I can see it being added – or, at the very least, allowed. That is an example of why the second change I mentioned is so important. Even if it isn’t included, it still may be sung (subject to leadership roulette, but at least possible).
On Own Now wrote:
This has made me reflect on some of the old hymns we used to sing, but now rarely or never. Perhaps you still do in your area, but I don’t hear them anymore. For the older crowd:– We are all enlisted (250) …
– In our lovely Deseret (307) …
– I still occasionally hear Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel (252) around July 24, but it used to be a mainstay.
Edited to add the current hymn numbers.
OON, you’d love one unit I used to belong to. We only sang about two dozen songs in the hymnal and if you included Called to Serve in your list I could guarantee you that you’d hear at least one of those four hymns every single Sunday. That ward “Hootie and the Blowfished” those songs for me, I grew sick of them due to the repetition.
– – – – –
I could be completely wrong but I think one of the goals is to standardize the hymnals in all languages. I’ve belonged to multi-language wards in the past and it was always a struggle. Group A, turn to page 36; group B, turn to page 116; group C turn to page 46 – all to sing the same hymn. There were also several hymns that were unique to the various languages so we had to cross reference and cross reference every time we picked out hymns. It’s a niche problem to be sure, but I think they may be aiming for hymn 36 to be the same hymn in
alllanguages. Most of my suggestions are for things I’d like removed. 😈 I always cringe when I hear the announcement that the hymn we’ll be singing falls somewhere in the 19-27 range. I’m also no fan of the combat themed hymns – Onward, Christian Soldiers, We Are All Enlisted, Behold, A Royal Army, etc. – the ones with strong us vs. them, we’re right and you’re wrong, when god comes back you’ll get yours, if you don’t believe what we believe you’ll never be happy language.
If Praise to the Man isn’t booted…
:think: I won’t lose any sleep if none of those hymns change, I’ll just continue to not sing them when they come up – merrily not sing them at that.
This is a good thing. I’ve been wishing for change in this area for a while now.
Edited to add: Come, All Ye Sons of God is so cornball. I’m not sure whether I’d like to see the hymn removed or for it to make it into the new hymnal so I can continue to imagine dogs barking the notes in place of the lyrics.
The church is seeking input, including original songs. I have submitted the following, though it is to a common tune (as they used to do). (sung to “If You Could Hie to Kolob”):
If you could high five Dieter, with a twinkling in his eye,
He’d then continue talking ’bout when he used to fly,
Do you think that you could ever, through all eternity
Find out the reason he is not in the First Presidency?
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