As Bread Is Broken
#1007 Hymns—For Home and ChurchLyrics
The Story Behind “As Bread Is Broken”
A choir teacher feeling unworthy during the sacrament heard a hymn begin in his mind — and jotted it on his meeting program as the bread was passed.
Written on a Sacrament Program
On Sunday, July 2, 2017, Stephen A. Reynolds — a high school choir teacher from Heber City, Utah, with more than two decades in the classroom — sat in sacrament meeting feeling, in his words, 'particularly flawed and imperfect,' questioning his own worthiness to partake.
Then, as the bread began to be passed, words came into his mind — the hymn's opening line — along with a simple melody and harmony. 'The music came so clearly to my mind,' he recalled, 'that I assumed I had heard it somewhere before.' He wrote it down on his printed meeting program, right there in the pew.
A Hymn with Nowhere to Go
Reynolds spent months developing the remaining verses, often during sacrament meetings, working scripture study into the lines. The fourth verse — on taking the Savior's name upon us, a theme he felt the existing sacrament hymns lacked — was 'the most difficult to write.'
There was just one problem: the Church's sacrament hymns had been a closed set since 1985. There was nowhere to send a new one. Then, months after he finished, the Church announced a new hymnbook and opened submissions to every member. His hymn suddenly had a door — and it walked through.
A New Sacrament Hymn After Four Decades
'As Bread Is Broken' was released on May 30, 2024, as hymn #1007 in the first batch of Hymns—For Home and Church — one of the first new sacrament hymns to join Latter-day Saint worship in nearly forty years, alongside 'Bread of Life, Living Water' (#1008).
For Reynolds, the lesson outlasted the hymn: 'To act on impressions, even when they seem illogical, has become a valuable lesson for me.' The man who felt too flawed to partake was given a hymn that now helps the whole Church do exactly that.
Did You Know?
- The opening line and melody came to Reynolds during the sacrament itself — he jotted them on his printed meeting program.
- When he wrote it, there was no way to submit a new sacrament hymn — the Church announced the new hymnbook months later.
- It's one of the first new sacrament hymns in Latter-day Saint worship in nearly 40 years.
- Reynolds taught high school choir for over 22 years in Heber City, Utah.
- The tune name, WHEELER PARK, matches a small neighborhood park in his hometown.
Scripture Connections
- 3 Nephi 18:3–12 — The Savior instituting the sacrament among the Nephites — 'this shall ye do in remembrance of my body.'
- 1 Corinthians 11:23–26 — Paul's account of the Last Supper — 'as often as ye eat this bread... ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.'
- Joseph Smith Translation, Mark 14:20–25 — The Last Supper with the Savior's fuller words restored.
Talk About It
Questions to spark a conversation with your family or Primary class:
- The hymn began when its author felt unworthy — during the very ordinance that offers renewal. What does that teach about who the sacrament is for?
- Reynolds acted on an impression that seemed to come from nowhere. Have you ever acted on a prompting you didn't fully understand?
- What do the broken bread and poured water each help you remember?
- The hymn waited months for a way to be shared. What talent of yours might be waiting for its door to open?
Teaching Resources
Categories
Attribution
Music by: Stephen A. Reynolds, 2018 | WHEELER PARK
Text by: Stephen A. Reynolds, 2018
Audio files from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints