Episode 883: Daniel Carter and Devan Jensen, New Church Hymn “Long Ago, Within a Garden”

Listen, Learn & Love Hosted by Richard Ostler

Richard Ostler

Religion & Spirituality

4.7 • 855 Ratings

🗓️ 26 April 2026

⏱️ 67 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

My friends Daniel Carter and Devan Jensen join us to share the story behind the beautiful new hymn “Long Ago, Within a Garden,” with text by Devan and music by Daniel, written in 1999 and added in February 2026 to Hymns—For Home and Church (no. 1210). Daniel, who worked in the Church Curriculum Department for 27 years before retiring in 2016, opens up about his personal journey. After coming out as gay, he made the decision to resign his membership—not out of anger, but as a step toward healing and “returning to love.” He shares moving insights about his path to self-acceptance, grace, peace, and his deep respect for others. Daniel is now married to his husband, Gale, and continues to express love for his Latter-day Saint roots and community. Devan, an active Latter-day Saint who worked alongside Daniel, reflects on their friendship and creative collaboration. They share their perspectives on the meaningful process of bringing this hymn to life. Elder Gérald Caussé Plays the Piano and Speaks About New Hymn, in Versailles, February 2026 (see show notes). The podcast then shifts as Daniel shares about his decision to resign his membership from the Church—and how that was not out of anger but his path to “heal and return to love.” Daniel shares his love for his Latter-day Saint roots and his community. Daniel talks about his journey to find love, self-acceptance, grace, peace, and respect for others—incredible moving insights. Devan talks about his support for his friend and their work together to create this song. This episode is really twofold: The inspiring story of the creation of a new hymn that will bless many lives Daniel’s deeply personal journey toward hope, acceptance, and peace—and their lasting friendship Thank you, Daniel and Devan, for your music, your honesty, and your example of being peacemakers. Your story helps us stay connected as one human family. Links: Link to hymn: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/music/songs/long-ago-within-a-garden?lang=eng About the hymn: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/sacred-music-gospel-study-resource-pilot/1210-long-ago-within-a-garden?lang=eng Elder Gérald Caussé: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8Lvr2sFzDE Daniel’s YouTube on “Psalms from the Ruins: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnLqw5DBApQ&list=RDbnLqw5DBApQ&start_radio=1 Daniel's bio page: https://www.danielcartermusic.com/bio Daniel’s earlier podcast (episode 299): https://soundcloud.com/user-818501778/episode-299-daniel-carter-lds-composer-and-music-department-employee-same-sex-marriage Devan’s inspiration for the hymn: https://devanjensen.blogspot.com/2016/02/long-ago-within-garden.html Devan’s earlier podcast (episode 446): https://soundcloud.com/user-818501778/episode-446-devan-jensen-latter-day-saint-media-and-publishing-association Devan’s upcoming Latter-day Saints in Publishing, Media and the Arts conference (Oct 15-17, 2026): https://ldspma.org/2026-ldspma-conference/ (use discount LISTENLEARNLOVE26 for a 20% discount)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, welcome listeners to another episode of Listen, Learn, and Love, hosted by Richard Osler.
0:09.4	My guest on today's podcast, joining me via Zoom are two friends that have collaborated on wonderful music in our faith.
0:18.3	My friend Devin Jensen and my friend Daniel Carter, welcome to the podcast.
0:25.1	Well, I thank you very much, Christian.
0:26.6	Pleasure to be here.
0:28.1	Honor.
0:29.3	Daniel has been on the podcast before.
0:32.0	He was on episode 299.
0:34.5	That's like 600 episodes ago.
0:43.1	We recorded that during COVID in August of 2020. And Daniel shares a story of he was 27 years. He worked for the church in the music department. And he is a
0:51.7	gifted composer and contributed to a song in our hymn book, which we're going to talk about that theme in general, as now we take the sacrament and also two songs in the children hymn book.
1:02.6	In that podcast, we'll link it in the show notes, if you want to go back and listen to Daniel's really brave story, talks about a failed suicide attempt in 2005, which led to him really
1:13.5	rebuild and reconnected. And part of that was, you know, accepting his sexuality as gay.
1:21.4	Daniel has since married his husband, Gail. They are celebrating 10-year anniversary later this
1:27.0	year in 2026.
1:28.7	Daniel is no longer a member of the church, but has great love and respect for the community
1:34.6	is very much of a bridge builder.
1:37.1	In fact, he kind of framed up his whole mission with music is to heal and return to love.
1:44.6	And Daniel was role modeling that in his own personal life.
1:48.0	And Devin is a great friend and ally and fellow music composer is role modeling that too.
1:54.6	So that's a little bit about Daniel.
1:58.6	Daniel's just turned 70, so that's great. And that's a young guy. Devin is,
	...

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