Tag Archives: O My Father

Mormon history

The Loveliest Missionary Tract Ever Published

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In 1909, after months of preparation, Ben E. Rich of the Eastern States Mission (with headquarters at New York) and German E. Ellsworth of the Northern States Mission (with headquarters at Chicago), jointly published a tract to be used as a missionary tool.

The 24-page (8×12) brochure wasn’t especially exciting on its face — this stiff brown cover, tied with string and announcing the hymn “O, My Father,” is what greeted readers. It was also expensive, costing nearly a dollar to produce in contrast to the usual 2- or 3-cent cost of normal missionary tracts, and so could not be widely and indiscriminately distributed. Instead, it was offered for sale and was given to civic and social leaders and others whose good opinion the missionaries especially sought.

So what was so special about it?

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Mormon history

We Sing Those Songs to Remind Us of What We Are

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Evan Stephens (1854-1930) was the musician who, more than any other, transformed the Mormon Tabernacle Choir from an excellent stake choir to the world-famous professional musical voice of the Church. Our English hymnbook still carries 19 hymns written and/or composed by Stephens.

What follows is a selection from a talk Stephens gave in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, on 27 August 1916, during an evening in his honor upon his retirement as director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  Continue reading We Sing Those Songs to Remind Us of What We Are →