In the April 2025 general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, choirs sang seven of the new additions to the global hymnbook, “Hymns—For Home and Church.”
- “Come, Hear the Word the Lord Has Spoken”
- “Oh, the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus”
- “Hail the Day that Sees Him Rise”
- “Were You There?”
- “Welcome Home”
- “It Is Well with My Soul”
- “Close as a Quiet Prayer”
These songs were performed by The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, a youth choir from Northern Utah and a combined choir from Brigham Young University.
Geoff Anderson directed the youth choir and was inspired to include two of these hymns in their performance. “There’s a lot of really great inspiration going into choosing these hymns for the new hymn book,” he said. “We’d hit rehearsals, and we'd be working, working, working, and I’d say, pull out ‘Oh, the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus,’ and there was an audible, ‘I love this one,’ and [the youth] connected immediately.”
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| Temple Square is always beautiful in the springtime. Gardeners work to prepare the ground for General Conference. © 2012 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. | 1 / 2 |
Some of these selected hymns come from different centuries, cultures and languages. “‘Were You There?’ is a traditional African American spiritual, and it just invites us to contemplate the death, burial and resurrection of Christ,” explained BYU combined choir member Jorge Rojas.
“I love that we're involving different cultures or genres in our Church and in our new hymnbook, because I think it adds so much variety,” added fellow choir member Mia Walker.
“Welcome Home” was written by Andrea Brett, who attended the Sunday morning session to hear her hymn performed by the Tabernacle Choir. “This is the thrill of a lifetime,” she said. “When I was a young girl, I actually dreamed of having a hymn in the hymnbook.”
Since 2024, 37 songs have been released as part of the new hymnbook. More songs will continue to be released in batches. The new hymns can be accessed online or on the Gospel Library app. You can learn more about the project here.
