{"id":268676,"date":"2026-02-01T12:38:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T12:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/268676\/"},"modified":"2026-02-01T12:38:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T12:38:17","slug":"how-the-new-hymn-as-bread-is-broken-came-to-be-church-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/268676\/","title":{"rendered":"How the new hymn \u2018As Bread Is Broken\u2019 came to be \u2013 Church News"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Stephen A. Reynolds of Heber City, Utah, sat in sacrament meeting one Sunday almost nine years ago, he felt \u201cparticularly flawed and imperfect,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He did not remember what had happened that week \u2014 what he had said or done or not done \u2014 that was weighing on him, but he wondered if he was even worthy to partake of the sacrament.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the bread began to be passed, these words, along with a simple melody and harmony, came into my mind: \u2018As bread is broken, we think of Thee,\u2019\u201d Reynolds said.<\/p>\n

Reynolds wrote the words down on his printed program. This was the beginning of what later became the new sacrament hymn \u201cAs Bread Is Broken<\/a>,\u201d one of the first new hymns added in 2024<\/a> to \u201cHymns for Home and Church<\/a>,\u201d the new global hymnbook of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.<\/p>\n

\"StephenStephen Reynolds’ notes on his sacrament meeting program on Sunday, July 2, 2017, later became the new hymn “As Bread Is Broken.” | Stephen A. Reynolds <\/p>\n

Over the next few months after that July Sunday, and often during the sacrament, Reynolds continued to seek inspiration and would add to his initial thoughts and impressions.<\/p>\n

This hymn-writing exercise became a way of doing what the late President Boyd K. Packer taught<\/a> about dismissing negative thoughts by thinking of a hymn. Only, in this case, Reynolds was trying to create a hymn \u2014 and it helped him elevate his thoughts. Searching for words and phrases about the ordinance of the sacrament increased his reverence and his understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

As he worked on lyrics, inspiration for the melody and harmony as well came to Reynolds, who holds degrees in choral music education and has taught high school choir for the last 22 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe music came so clearly to my mind that I assumed I had heard it somewhere before,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

When he sat down to compose the music, it took only a few minutes because he already knew how it should sound.<\/p>\n

Finding the right words<\/p>\n

In the third verse, Reynolds wanted to convey the idea of coming to the sacrament with real intent and a repentant attitude. He wrote the line, \u201cMay our repentance now be sincere.\u201d While looking for a word to rhyme with sincere, the word \u201cear\u201d stood out. So he turned to the scriptures.<\/p>\n

\u201cI found the phrase \u2018incline Thine ear\u2019 in multiple places \u2014 this beautiful image for listening \u2014 typically in a context or attitude of pleading, and the phrase came together: \u2018Unto our pleadings incline Thine ear,\u2019\u201d Reynolds said.<\/p>\n

\"StephenStephen Reynolds conducts at Dumke Recital Hall at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on May 9, 2025. | Provided by Stephen A. Reynolds <\/p>\n

He also wanted to describe what the ongoing process of repentance should mean and how it changes natures. The rest of the verse says, \u201cWe seek forgiveness \u2014 that gift divine \u2014 A change of heart, a change of mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fourth verse was the most difficult to write, he said, but he thought something about taking upon oneself the name of Christ was needed. He couldn\u2019t find any references to this principle in any of the sacramental hymns in the current hymnbook. And he was unsure how to express it in just a few words. <\/p>\n

So he decided to keep it simple. He looked for good rhyming words with \u201cname\u201d and decided to use \u201cproclaim.\u201d That verse now says, \u201cHelp us, dear Savior, to take Thy name, To be like Thee and Thy word proclaim.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reynolds said he hopes this hymn helps others reflect on the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the purposes of taking the sacrament each week and their personal relationship with the Savior \u2014 approaching the weekly ordinance \u201cwith a broken heart and a contrite spirit, earnestly seeking to become more worthy of the companionship and cleansing of the Holy Ghost.\u201d<\/p>\n

Music communicates truth\"StephenHymn writer Stephen Reynolds poses with his wife and four children for a family portrait near Park City, Utah, on Aug. 30, 2024. | Ashlyn Arlene Photography <\/p>\n

When Reynolds started writing \u201cAs Bread Is Broken\u201d in 2017, there was no place for a new sacrament hymn to be printed or used. Then, a few months later, the Church announced a new hymnbook and a search for submissions. Reynolds began to consider that there might be another purpose for his song beyond his personal benefit.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo act on impressions, even when they seem illogical, has become a valuable lesson for me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Learning that his hymn would be published globally made him \u201cextremely honored\u201d and \u201cquite surprised.\u201d He expressed his gratitude and respect for all those who translated, recorded and formatted the hymn for publication in multiple languages, and he said how grateful he is to have had the opportunity to contribute to the new hymnbook\u2019s collection of sacred music.<\/p>\n

\u201cMusic is uniquely suited to communicate truth to our spirit,\u201d he said. \u201cMany of us can trace our first experiences with the Holy Ghost to singing or hearing sacred music. These new hymns help us to consider the doctrines of the gospel with fresh perspective, and, therefore, have the ability to help us strengthen our testimonies and our understanding of gospel principles.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Stephen A. Reynolds of Heber City, Utah, sat in sacrament meeting one Sunday almost nine years ago,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268677,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[146,85,46,140201],"class_list":["post-268676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sacred-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}