This is a new children’s song from the new Hymns – For Home ad Church from The Church of Jusus Christ of Latter-day Saints page 1002. There are arrangements available on Brother Johnson’s website at lanejohnsonmusic.com. It was written by Lane Johnson in 2019 and will be a great addition to your primary.
Music Method
If you look closely, the verses are divided into two parts which are mostly the same melody. You could start teaching the melody by singing a ha, lew, and duh on the different phrases. (When the Savior comes again) (He will cleanse the earth, and then) (In glory He will reign as King of kings among all men) You might print up these small words and change up the order you sing the phrases. Then you could add the words to the phrase one at a time, using the small words for the phrases they don’t know… until bam! the verse is learned.
The chorus tells of 5 things to do to prepare. You could have the children hold up their hand and count each time they say one of those things. They are
- Lift up your voice!
- Rejoice!
- Prepare for that day!
- Learn of the Lord
- Keep following His way.
The next phrase (No one knows the day and hour when He will come again) leans perfectly into a crescendo. This is where the singing starts soft and gets louder. Use this time to teach this musical phrase.
To finish out this chorus, the children might use their hand to follow the melody’s ups and downs. The phrase (but He’ll return as scriptures say) makes some awesome jumps for their voices. The phrase (it will be a joyful day) makes a great arch in the melody going up and then coming down. Then pointing to a picture of the Savior would be a great way to end this song.
Visual Aids
I have created a flipchart to use when teaching this song. This flipchart has black-and-white pictures that can be used in several ways.
For small primaries, you could pass out each image and have the children color your flipchart while they listen to the music and get used to the new melody. I have recorded this song on YouTube and you can find a recording here. When the pictures are colored, they can be placed on the board as you discuss and learn each phrase.
You can use this flipchart yourself and color the pictures as YOU learn the song.
Another idea would be to challenge the children to see how much they could learn. You could tell them that every page they can sing well by memory will appear in color the next week. It will be a good marker to see how much they can get in their memory. The goal will be to get the whole song colored. I think they will enjoy creating work for you to do if you make a big deal about not having time this week to color or having to buy crayons etc.
This would be a great service project for activity day boys or girls. They might really enjoy coloring your visual aids and having a part in teaching the song to the primary. They can own their creation by signing it and be recognized for their help. This would need to be planned ahead to have time to get them to and from the activity day leaders.
I have created a Coloring Book for you to print off for your primary kids. This is something they can take home and do with their families. Feel free to share the link to the YouTube recording so they can sing this at home! I have added a page where they can write down what they can do to prepare for the Second Coming.
Gospel Teaching
The Second Coming is a wonderful topic to discuss, but make sure with these primary kids that you focus on the wonderful parts, or the things to look forward to. The song references two great scriptures, Doctrine and Covenants 45:56-59 and 1 Nephi 22:24-28. This would be a great reference to your lesson plan. There is no need to instill fear or worry about this event. Stay positive and joyful just as this song does.