Michael Finlinson Moody is a composer and former chairman of the General Church Music Committee of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; he was appointed in 1977. He served as chairman of the Hymnbook Executive Committee for the 1985 Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He composed and distributed a number of songs in place of Christmas cards, such as “The Babe of Bethlehem,” “Gentle Jesus,” and “Lullaby for Jesus.”
Moody was born in Payson, Utah, in 1941, and grew up in nearby Spanish Fork. He earned his master’s degree in music from Brigham Young University and his doctorate in church music from the University of Southern California.
