New song ‘How Did the Savior Minister?’ helps children learn about ministering – Church News

When The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints put out a call for submissions for a new global hymnbook in June 2018, it was not long after ministering took the place of visiting teaching and home teaching.

Ministering was announced during April 2018 general conference as a newer, holier approach to caring and ministering to others.

Merrijane Rice and Jennette Jay Booth had met during a Church music festival and found that they worked really well together. Rice writes lyrics, and Booth composes music.

As they talked together about submitting a song or hymn to the new hymnbook, Rice said they felt that they should write a new children’s song about ministering.

“The whole time I was thinking, ‘Do kids know what minister means?’” Rice said.

Booth said the idea of ministering resonated with her as a ward Relief Society president at the time. And she also felt that the concept of ministering was missing in gospel music, especially for children.

“Instead of just talking about, ‘Ministering is being kind and doing this and that,’ Merrijane just made it completely about what Jesus does and that we can do it too,” Booth said. “I thought, ‘Oh this is so beautifully perfect.’”

Often when Booth composes music, songs can take months. She will work on something and have to put it away and come back to it later.

“But this song, I sat down at the piano, and it just sort of flowed. It was more like remembering it almost instead of writing it,” Booth said. “It really wrote itself.”

The result was “How Did the Savior Minister?” and it was included in the latest batch released in September 2025 of new hymns for “Hymns — For Home and Church.”

Listen to this song here.

Teaching children through music

Both women use their talents in their communities and spheres of influence. Rice writes poetry, and Booth teaches elementary school music.

Rice has four sons who are young adults; Booth has nine children between the ages of 7 and 22. As mothers and musicians, the women understand the importance of music for children to learn the gospel.

Remembering when she was in Primary growing up, Rice said she learned best from the children’s songs that were more simple and straightforward.

“When you’re talking about junior Primary, or 3-, 4-, 5-year-olds, they need something that’s going to be short, sweet and memorizable,” Rice said.

And their voices reach different notes than adults’ voices.

“You have to make something that fits within that range and that still is fun to sing, not boring and overly repetitive. So I think Jennette did a great job. She’s very talented, and she’s extremely kindhearted,” Rice said.

Booth said she hopes adults can appreciate and learn from the song too.

“The majority of my profound experiences spiritually with music have been with Primary songs, because they teach gospel doctrines in such really simple ways,” she said.

After the song was finished, Booth and Rice invited the Primary children in each of their wards to sing the song, and they submitted it to the Church in 2019.

Rice said when she and Booth found out that their song was selected to be in the new hymnbook, each felt a sense of deep satisfaction.

“Because when we wrote it, we thought, ‘This is a consecrated gift. And we know it’s gonna be accepted by God, whether or not it gets published,’” Rice said. “But to have it shared with other people feels very satisfying, and I’m very grateful for it.”

Ministering in the Savior’s way

Members of the Church are assigned to minister to others in their wards and branches so that they can learn of and attend to their needs.

For Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson, ministering is linked to discipleship.

“Ministering is part of our discipleship and helps us become more like our Savior,” she told the Church News earlier this year. “It is more about who we are becoming than what we have done.”

Rice said she is trying to teach her children that they can’t always control the way they feel, but they can control what they do. Everything in “How Did the Savior Minister?” is about things that people can do.

“To minister to others, you can serve with gentle hands, you can be a friend to people, you can pray for them,” she said. And, the song teaches of the Savior in all of these things.

“For kids to know that He is a real person, it’s important,” Rice said. “He was really here, and He really did these things, and we can do them too.”

Booth said she hopes this song helps people realize that they are already ministering to others and that it is something they have the capacity to do.

“From the beginning, that was my hope also that this would be something that would help adults realize that this isn’t as complex as it feels,” she said.