Come Home to the Hymns™
W. Herbert Klopfer, BYU Workshop on Church Music
Come Home to the Hymns™ used by permission from Larice Music
1. Come home to the hymns by singing them frequently.
"We hope to see an increase of hymn singing in our congregations. We encourage all members whether musically inclined or not, to join with us singing the hymns . . . Sing them on the Sabbath, in home evening, during scripture study, at prayer time. Sing as you work, as you play and as you travel together." (Preface, Hymns, 1985).
"If you love the Lord, if you love His doctrine, you’ll love the hymns; and when you love them, then you sing them." (President Thomas S. Monson, Hymnbook Celebration, September 3, 1985, Assembly Hall on Temple Square).
2. Come home to the hymns by using the words in support of teaching gospel principles.
"We hope leaders, teachers, and members who are called upon to speak will turn often to the hymnbook to find sermons presented powerfully and beautifully in verse." (Preface, Hymns, 1985).
"The Spirit does not ratify speech nor confirm music which lacks spiritual substance." (President Boyd K. Packer, October 1991 General Conference).
As an example, gospel principles regarding home and family are taught in the hymn "Home Can Be A Heaven On Earth." (Number 298)
Fill your homes with love and kindness (verse 1)
"See that ye love one another; cease to be covetous; learn to impart one to another as the gospel requires" (Doctrine & Covenants 88:123).
Serve one another with cheerful hearts (verse 2)
"Ye will not have a mind to injure one another, but to live peaceably, and to render to every man according to that which is his due. And ye will not suffer that they transgress the laws of God, and fight and quarrel one with another, and serve the devil, . . . But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another."
Stimulate growth through praying, singing, and scripture reading (verse 3)
"We can get nearer to the Lord through music than perhaps through any other thing except prayer" (President J. Reuben Clark, Jr, October 1936 General Conference). " . . . The song of the righteous is a prayer unto me." (Doctrine & Covenants 25:12).
3. Come home to the hymns by feeling their power in motivating correct actions and behavior.
"Hymns can lift our spirits, give us courage, and move us to righteous actions. They can fill our souls; with heavenly thoughts and bring us a spirit of peace. Hymns can also help us withstand the temptations of the adversary." (Preface, Hymns, 1985).
"In the Church, we need better music and more of it, and better speaking and less of it." (Elder Adam S. Bennion of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, some time in the 1950s).