Stephen A. Reynolds of Heber City, Utah, was attending sacrament meeting one Sunday about nine years ago when he felt “particularly flawed and incomplete,” he said.
He did not remember what had happened that week, what had been a burden to him, what he had said, what he had done or not done, and he wondered if he was even eligible to receive the sacrament.
“As the bread began to be distributed, these words came to my mind, along with a simple melody and harmony: ‘Every time a loaf of bread is broken, we think of you,'” Reynolds said.
Reynolds wrote down the words on a printed program. This was the beginning of what would become the new sacramental hymn “As the Breaking of Bread” and is one of the first new hymns added in 2024 to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ new worldwide hymnbook, Hymns for the Home and Church.
From that July Sunday and over the next few months, often during the sacraments, Reynolds continued to seek inspiration, further deepening his initial thoughts and impressions.
This hymn-writing exercise became a way to practice what the late President Boyd K. Packer taught about letting go of negative thoughts by thinking of hymns. Only in this case, Reynolds was trying to compose a hymn, which helped raise his thoughts. Searching for words and phrases related to the sacrament of the sacrament has deepened my respect and understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
While working on the lyrics, inspiration for the melody and harmony also came to Reynolds. He has a degree in choral music education and has taught high school choir for the past 22 years.
“The music came to mind so clearly that I thought I had heard it somewhere before,” he said.
When he sat down to compose the music, it only took a few minutes because he already knew what it should sound like.
find the right words
In the third verse, Reynolds wanted to convey the idea of approaching the sacrament with true intention and an attitude of repentance. He wrote this line: “May our repentance be from the heart.” I was looking for a word that rhymes with sincerity, and the word “ear” caught my eye. So he turned to the scriptures.
“I found the phrase ‘incline your ear’ in multiple places. This beautiful image is meant to be heard, but typically in the context or attitude of a plea, and this phrase came together as ‘incline your ear towards our plea,'” Reynolds said.
He also wanted to explain what the ongoing process of repentance means and how it changes nature. The rest of the verse says, “We ask for forgiveness, and that gift is from God, a change of heart, a change of thinking.”
He said the fourth verse was the most difficult to write, but he thought it needed something to take on the name of Christ. He could find no reference to this principle in the sacramental hymns in the current hymnbook. And he didn’t know how to express it in just a few words.
So he decided to keep it simple. He looked for a good word that rhymed with “name” and decided to use “declaration.” That verse says: “Dear Savior, help us to accept Your name and become what You and Your Word proclaim.”
Reynolds said she hopes the hymn will help others think about the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the purpose of receiving the sacrament each week, and their personal relationship with the Savior. She said she hopes those come to the weekly service “with a broken heart and a spirit of repentance, earnestly striving to become more worthy of the communion and cleansing of the Holy Spirit.”
music tells the truth
When Reynolds began writing “When the Bread Broke” in 2017, there was no place to print or use the new sacramental hymn. A few months later, the church announced the publication of a new hymnbook and a call for contributors. Reynolds began to wonder if his songs had another purpose beyond personal gain.
“It was a valuable lesson for me to act on impressions, even if they seem illogical,” he said.
He was “very honored” and “very surprised” to learn that his hymn would be published worldwide. He expressed his gratitude and respect to all those who translated, recorded and formatted the hymn for publication in multiple languages, and said how grateful he was to have the opportunity to contribute to the new hymnbook’s sacred music collection.
“Music is uniquely suited to convey truth to our psyches,” he said. “Many of us can trace our first experiences with the Holy Spirit to singing or hearing sacred music. These new hymns help us think about gospel doctrines in a new light. They therefore help us strengthen our testimonies and understanding of gospel principles.”
