Come, Come Ye Saints

One of my favorite LDS-authored hymns is William Clayton's 1846 composition "Come, Come Ye Saints" (initially titled "All is Well"), written en route from Nauvoo to Utah. The following, I think, is one of the better performances available on YouTube, since the Mormon Tabernacle Choir rendition is too... choir-y... for my taste:

Personally, I think it's beautiful, both musically and lyrically. (And have I mentioned that I'm a total sucker for the word "wend"?) It's also one of the few LDS hymns that's been adapted and adopted by Protestants. A while back, a woman named Avis B. Christiansen modified the third verse slightly to make it more suitable for Protestant audiences; I'm told that it's appeared in a United Church of Christ hymnal.

This past week, I've spent an inordinate amount of time at the headquarters of my denomination, going through a Pastoral Assessment Center (which went well, with the result that they'll be recommending that the conference approve me as a candidate for the ordination process; those interested may feel free to read a trial evangelistic sermon I preached while there). While there, I had a chance to look at the most recent hymnal we've published, The Singing Church, which my own congregation has never used but which, apparently, my best friend's church does. Somewhat to my surprise, I found that we've got "Come, Come Ye Saints" in there, in Christiansen's adaptation. Small world!