Category: Mormon Arts

Arts – Music – Poetry – Cinema – Television

A Sample Christmas Program

by Chad Nielsen • December 3, 2024 • 5 Comments

As a musician in the Church, I’ve organized several Christmas programs for sacrament meetings over the years. The format that I’ve come to prefer is to have two narrators, one sharing Christmas and Advent themed thoughts, then another reading related scriptures to tell the story of Christmas. After each narrator shares a thought, a music number is performed that relates to the thoughts. (I generally recommend keeping the ward choir contributions to three or less, depending on your ward/branch’s circumstances, so the other ones are usually Primary, solos, and small groups performing.) I thought I would share the basic template that I’ve used most often in case it is helpful to anyone preparing Christmas programs in the future.

The Paris Art Mission

by Chad Nielsen • November 5, 2024 • 2 Comments

I love that Latter-day Saint temples tend to be well-decorated with artwork, including the temple murals. I still find it a bit painful that the murals were not preserved as part of the Salt Lake City Temple renovation, but still find the history of the original murals in the Salt Lake City Temple to be fascinating, particularly due to the Paris Art Mission initiative. Notably, Linda Jones Gibbs discussed the history of the Paris Art Mission in a recent interview at the Latter-day Saint history blog From the Desk. What follows here is a co-post to the full interview.

Thoughts on the Second Wave of New Hymns

by Chad Nielsen • September 27, 2024 • 17 Comments

The Church recently released a new batch of hymns for the new Latter-day Saint hymnbook. I feel like some of my predictions are paying off with the new round of hymns. Back in 2018, I called it that “This is the Christ,” “Come, Lord Jesus, Come,” and “Amazing Grace,” would likely be added. (I could say the same for “Come, Thou Fount” with the last round, but that one was beyond obvious.) But, beyond those, there are some very excellent inclusions that I am excited about. Let’s go through each of the new hymns and I’ll share some thoughts and information (including some from the official press release):

J.R.R. Tolkien and the Resurrection

by Chad Nielsen • September 18, 2024 • 7 Comments

J.R.R. Tolkien had an enormous impact on my teenage years. I read Lord of the Rings by the time I was eleven and loved it enough to reread it each year for the next few years. By the time I was thirteen, the Silmarillion was my favorite book and my mom was bringing home the History of Middle Earth series from the library for me to read. As a result, Tolkien had some impact on my religious thoughts during this formative period.

Thoughts on the First Batch of New Hymns

by Chad Nielsen • July 12, 2024 • 19 Comments

I have wanted to share my thoughts on the first batch of hymns and songs released by the Church as candidates for the New Latter-day Saint Hymnbook (and I would love to hear your thoughts as well).

“Digno es de todo loor”

by Chad Nielsen • June 24, 2024 • Comments Off

“Digno es de todo loor” by Edmund Richardson is another effort by Richardson to address the Latter-day Saint understanding of the Godhead in a hymn (the other example being Doxologías).

“Dios Te Loamos”

by Chad Nielsen • June 17, 2024 • Comments Off

“Dios Te Loamos” by Edmund Richardson was one of the shorter original hymns included in the Mexican Mission hymnals. That being said, I am fond of this text.

“Promesa cumplida”

by Chad Nielsen • June 16, 2024 • Comments Off

“Promesa cumplida” by Joel Morales is a fantastic example of hymns about the Great Apostasy and the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Mexican Latter-day Saint literature.

“El Tiempo Ha Llegado” and “Te glorificamos, oh Dios”

by Chad Nielsen • June 12, 2024 • Comments Off

There were two hymn texts in the Mexican Mission hymnals that I wasn’t really sure what to do with: “El Tiempo Ha Llegado” and “Te glorificamos, oh Dios.”

Doxologías

by Chad Nielsen • June 3, 2024 • 3 Comments

Doxologías is an expanded text based on “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow”, but it was eventually phased out in favor of the latter by the time that the 1942 hymnal was published.

One Day More

by Chad Nielsen • May 29, 2024 • 10 Comments

Hymns—for Home and Church will be getting its first preview tomorrow! Back at the start of April, the Church announced that “12 hymns of the new ‘Hymns—for Home and Church’ will be available on May 30, 2024.” We already know that “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” will be among those (that was explicitly stated in the April announcement and has been shown in footage related to the release), but we aren’t sure what the other ones are yet. After this first release, there will be “new batches coming every few months.”

“Mensaje de paz”

by Chad Nielsen • May 26, 2024 • Comments Off

“Mensaje de paz” by Joel Morales is notable as being the song that was sung when Elder Melvin J. Ballard and then-ambassador J. Reuben Clark, Jr. visited with the Latter-day Saints in Mexico in 1932. Morales is also the author of “La Proclamación” and “Final.”

“La Ofrenda”

by Chad Nielsen • April 23, 2024 • Comments Off

“La Ofrenda” is a sacrament hymn written by José V. Estrada G. It is possible that it was based on “Venid Hermanos En La Fe” by Edmund Richardson or drew inspiration from similar places. It is one of the hymns that was only published in the 1912 edition of the Mexican mission hymnals.

“Venid Hermanos En La Fe”

by Chad Nielsen • April 18, 2024 • Comments Off

“Venid Hermanos En La Fe” is another example of the prolific hymn writer Edmund Richardson. It bears some notable resemblances to “La Ofrenda,” another sacrament hymn written by José V. Estrada G., though the Richardson text was written first.

“La Voz de Jesucristo”

by Chad Nielsen • April 15, 2024 • Comments Off

As mentioned previously, Edmund Richardson seems to have had a particular interest in linking indigenous Mexican peoples to the Book of Mormon narrative and “La Voz de Jesucristo” is the third example of this. For some relevant historical analysis, see the following posts:

¡Oh gente afligida!

by Chad Nielsen • April 12, 2024 • Comments Off

Edmund Richardson seems to have had a particular interest in linking indigenous Mexican peoples to the Book of Mormon narrative. In many ways, however, his approach was a colonizing narrative in which the indigenous peoples were ignorant, benighted peoples in need of civilizing through the efforts of Euro-American Latter-day Saints. “¡Oh gente afligida!” is just one example of Richardson’s poetry on the subject, with “La Obra Ya Empieza” and “La Voz de Jesucristo” being two other examples. For some relevant historical analysis, see the following posts:

“La Obra Ya Empieza”

by Chad Nielsen • March 3, 2024 • Comments Off

“La Obra Ya Empieza” was one of the original hymns included in the 1907 Himnario Mormón (the first Spanish-language hymnbook in the Church). Written by the prolific hymn-writing colonist Edmund Richardson, it was originally a text with no tune specified for singing. In the 1940s red hymnbook, it appeared with an unidentified tune for the first time. When the current hymnbook came out in 1992, this hymn was not included.

Missions and memory

by Jonathan Green • March 1, 2024 • 9 Comments

People keep asking me for proof that the irritating tics in Mormon writing I’ve mentioned actually exist. In that respect, Taylor Kerby’s post over at BCC is useful in a couple of ways.

“Tened en Dios Confianza”

by Chad Nielsen • February 14, 2024 • 3 Comments

I have not been able to find out much about “Tened en dios confianza,” nor about its author, José V. Estrada G. On a more personal note, however, this was the first hymn that I worked with when I started contemplating the Mexican Mission Hymns Project around six years ago. The original music for the hymn that I wrote was even one of the five I submitted for consideration with the new hymnbook.

“Placentero nos es trabajar”

by Chad Nielsen • February 8, 2024 • Comments Off

“Placentero nos es trabajar” or “Despedida” is one of the more popular hymns that is included in Latter-day Saint hymn books, written by a Latter-day Saint, but not in the English hymnal at this time. Hence, I’ve been consistent in pointing it out as a likely candidate for inclusion in the forthcoming hymnal. While I’ve talked about this hymn in the past, this post will serve two purposes—first, it is going to be where I pick up the Mexican Mission Hymns series. Second, it’s also a co-post for a recent interview with John A Gonzalez—the grandson of Andrés Carlos González, the author of the hymn—at the Latter-day Saint history blog From the Desk.

Hymnal Watch: February 2024

by Chad Nielsen • February 7, 2024 • 10 Comments

A YouTube channel called “For All the Saints” recently interviewed Ray Robinson—a member of the team that is creating the new hymnbook. There were several notable observations made by Robinson that I want to highlight:

Everything wrong with Mormon writing (I)

by Jonathan Green • February 6, 2024 • 44 Comments

Collectivize the ignorance, individualize the enlightenment.

Counterpoint: Receiving Change with Grace and Gratitude

by Chad Nielsen • January 28, 2024 • 9 Comments

I only truly disagree with Jonathan on one point from his recent post about the new hymnal, and it’s probably not the part you would expect.

Hymnbook Watch: January 2024

by Chad Nielsen • January 4, 2024 • 14 Comments

We’re getting closer to the new hymnbook/songbook being released. I talked about some updates last August, but there has been some other information that has come out since then.

Sabbath Day Media and Touched by An Angel

by Stephen C • December 18, 2023 • 1 Comment

I have fond memories of Sunday evenings spent watching Voyager and Deep Space Nine with the family growing up. My wife’s home was more restrictive in regards to Sabbath day media, but that paradigm has been adopted by our own home as I’m gradually realizing the benefits of being more intentional and explicitly devotional for Sunday night movie night in terms of helping set the mood of the sabbath as the day dedicated to God. Lately we’ve been going through Touched by an Angel which is now free on Amazon Prime. TBAA can err on the side of being a little saccharine at times, but I’m willing to put up with a little syrup for media that at least takes a chance at trying to create something profound and moving even if they slightly miss, as opposed to just giving into the nihilistic cynicism that has become ubiquitous in any film that tries to be more artistic than a Marvel superhero reboot. Additionally, TBAA threaded the partisan needle in a way that is hard to pull off nowadays. It had obvious appeal to conservative Christian types, while being ecumenical enough to incorporate non-Christian religious perspectives, and having highly diverse casting and narratives back before diversity was just another parameter to adjust in pursuit of an Emmy. I churned through the different episodes while cleaning (there are lot), and was able to select the particularly moving and profound ones for…

Advent Songs in the Latter-day Saint Tradition

by Chad Nielsen • December 16, 2023 • 2 Comments

When I played handbells as part of the music ministry of a local Presbyterian church, I was surprised to learn that in the traditional liturgical calendar, most of December isn’t Christmas time. Instead, it is a season called Advent that looks forward to Christmas time. Christmas itself begins on Christmas Eve and lasts through January 7. And by the same token, I learned that Advent has its own music tradition while playing in the bell choir. What has surprised me, however, is that some of those pieces of Advent music have found their way into Latter-day Saint hymnals over the years.

The Gospel Plan of Happiness Explained in Movie Quotes

by Guest • December 7, 2023 • Comments Off

If we listen carefully, and squint hard enough, we can find the gospel plan hidden throughout Hollywood. There, on the big screen, we can find nuggets of truth, or at least, poetic lines to illustrate the plan of happiness. Consider:

A Book worth tracking down: “Drat! Mythed Again”

by Ivan Wolfe • December 4, 2023 • 2 Comments

Drat! Mythed Again: Second Thoughts on Utah by: Steve Warren Most people, I find, have never heard of this book, but it’s one I referenced often growing up, as we had a copy in my house. My parents weren’t sure exactly when they picked it up, but it’s 1986 copyright date indicates it had to be after they moved to Alaska.

“Angels and Seerstones” and Latter-day Saint Folklore

by Stephen C • October 31, 2023 • 32 Comments

Midjourney: Mormon missionaries and a dark spirit, in the style of Greg Olsen. (Because why not.) My memories of childhood “I swear my uncle heard that…” fantastic stories are still fresh enough in my memory for me to associate folklore and urban legends with a sort of enchanting nostalgia of a more magical time before devices where we’d gather around the campfire to share stories. Where my friend said it happened to his uncle, and my friend wouldn’t lie, so ipso facto of course Bloody Mary is going to crawl out of the mirror to try to rip out my eyes. While I’m uncomfortable with people conflating Mormon cultural tidbits with the gospel of Jesus Christ, at the end of the day it is my culture, and missions in particular seem like a perfect little laboratory for folklore development. Like Darwin’s finches, each variation of an urban legend becomes quasi-isolated within the mission boundaries and adds local flavor and variation. Mormon folklorist is one of (many) things I would absolutely love to do full-time in a parallel life if I didn’t have a large family and had to buy an awful lot of cheddar, and the chances of obtaining an R1 TT anthropology position wasn’t akin to being drafted into the NFL (if you think through the numbers involved you’ll find I’m not exaggerating). Still, BYU faculty couple Christine and Christopher Blythe have pulled it off, and have started a…

Book Recommendation: Satan is Real

by Ivan Wolfe • October 5, 2023 • 3 Comments

The Country Music history podcast Cocaine and Rhinestones called this book “everything a Country Artist’s autobiography should be.” Even if you aren’t into this particular genre (I was not and have no plans to read any anytime soon), this is a worthwhile read. And despite the (content warning) constant cussing (including many “f-bombs”), I even felt the Spirit at one point. Let me explain:

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