Tad Talk
When leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced last year that they planned to revise the faith’s hymnbook for the first time in more than three decades, they opened up an online feedback survey.
That allowed church members to make suggestions about what existing hymns should be added to the hymnal and which should be removed.
More than 45,000 suggestions poured in, and one song was requested for addition more than all the others.
Few fans of the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square will be surprised that it was “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing.”
The song was No. 70 in the church’s hymnbook from 1948 to 1985, when it was rarely was used by congregations. Some lamented its loss when the 1985 hymnbook appeared. The real cry for including “Fount” in the next version of the hymnbook began to grow after a 1995 television broadcast — since repeated on more than 130 PBS stations — that included an unforgettable performance by Brigham Young University’s choir of a new arrangement by Mack Wilberg.
Wilberg became the director of the Tabernacle Choir in 2008, and the choir’s performances of the hymn have only added to its popularity. |
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Audrey Livingston is the secretary for both the committee compiling the new hymnbook and one over a revision of the church’s children’s songbook.
She told me it’s too early to tell which hymns the committee will recommend to the First Presidency, but “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” should be among them.
“The odds are good it will be included in the new hymnbook,” Livingston said.
I asked her about what people want to know when they learn she is on the two committees. She said they ask when the hymnbook and children’s songbook will be done. Unfortunately, she has no timeline to share.
This week, I published a larger story about all the work the committees must do before publication, including how many new hymns and children’s songs were submitted for their consideration by the July 1 deadline.
My guess is there will be a pretty good race between finishing the hymnbook in English and completing the renovation of the Salt Lake Temple, which is scheduled to begin in December and take four years. My early money (betting is not encouraged!) is on the hymnbook to win that race.
That’s not the only question Livingston gets.
“People are always asking about specific hymns and songs, but that’s not something we can share at this point,” she said.
While the committee is keeping its work close to the vest, Livingston did tell me about “Come, Thou Fount” and one other hymn that received a lot of support in the feedback survey: the gospel classic, “Amazing Grace.”
I also wanted to pay tribute to my dad, Willard Bean Walch, born on this day, Aug. 7, in 1940. He passed away in 1994. Happy birthday, Dad! |
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What I’m Reading ... It’s my observation that more and more journalists struggle to write about religion today as society becomes less religious. Here’s an example of a reporter doing it extremely well, while being let down by her organization. My first exposure to the story was on my phone through ESPN’s mobile app. The headline said, “I’m not underliving life,” a quote from the athlete-turned-nun Shelly Pennefather. It’s a good quote that fits the story. Then the headline writer added, “Why Shelly Pennefather chose to give up everything.” Since the headline was accompanied by a photo of Pennefather in a nun’s habit, I knew what the headline writer intended, but I blanched.
Yes, she gave up the world to become a nun, but people of faith do not believe she gave up everything. In fact, they would know that she made her decision to gain something she experiences as real and tangible in her relationship with God. It’s not egregious, but I found it disappointing. But Elizabeth Merrill’s reporting and writing is tremendous. I highly recommend the story.
I was standing next to Church News editor Sarah Jane Weaver and Deseret News opinion editor Boyd Matheson at the NAACP convention when the Rev. Amos Brown compared real unity in America to a salad bowl rather than a melting pot. It was a great moment. If we could all change our thinking to fit this image, we’d be better off. I tried to write about it a couple of times, but it didn’t fit into what I was doing. Boyd did a great job capturing a great image for a new, 21st-century metaphor to which America should aspire.
My favorite line of the week was in a column by Jason Gay (unfortunately, there is a paywall for the article) about the 42nd birthday on Saturday of Tom Brady, the six-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback of the New England Patriots. Gay summed up the QB’s incredible longevity with one line about a 17-year-old singing sensation loved by many of today’s teenagers:
“Brady has a Super Bowl ring the same age as Billie Eilish.” |
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