Sunday School (LDS Church)

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Sunday School
Formation11 November 1867
PurposeReligious instruction
Headquarters
Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Membership
12 million; ages 12 and older[citation needed]
General President
Mark L. Pace
Main organ
General presidency and general board
Parent organization
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
WebsiteChurchOfJesusChrist.org
RemarksNamed "Deseret Sunday School Union" until 1971

Sunday School (formerly the Deseret Sunday School Union) is an

organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
(LDS Church). All members of the church and any interested nonmembers, age 11 and older, are encouraged to participate in Sunday School.

Purpose

According to the LDS Church, the purposes of its Sunday School program are to:

  1. "Strengthen individuals' and families' faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ through teaching, learning, and fellowshipping, and
  2. "Help Church members 'teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom' (D&C 88:77) at church and at home."[1]

History

Early LDS Sunday Schools

Historical records indicate that some form of Sunday school was held by Latter Day Saints in

Mormon exodus
from Nauvoo.

The first formal Sunday School in the LDS Church was held on December 9, 1849, in

Presbyterian Church in Scotland. Lacking a suitable building to hold the meeting in, Ballantyne invited his students into his own home; approximately thirty Latter-day Saint children between the ages of 8 and 13 attended. The local congregation that Ballantyne belonged to—the Salt Lake City Fourteenth Ward—quickly adopted Ballantyne's Sunday school program and integrated it with regular Sunday meetings. Other LDS Church congregations followed the Fourteenth Ward's example and adopted Sunday school programs based on the Ballantyne model. At this stage, each Sunday school was completely autonomous and under the sole direction of the local bishop
.

Deseret Sunday School Union

Pioneer Day
celebration.

Anxious to bring a standard structure and organization to the over 200 independent Sunday schools that had been created, LDS Church president Brigham Young ordered that a union of the Sunday schools be carried out. On November 11, 1867, Young and church leaders Daniel H. Wells, George A. Smith, Wilford Woodruff, George Q. Cannon, and Brigham Young Jr. met and organized the Parent Sunday School Union. Young appointed Cannon as the first general superintendent of the Sunday School, a position he would hold until his death in 1901. In 1872, the Sunday School organization was renamed the Deseret Sunday School Union.

The organized Sunday School addressed lesson topics and source materials, grading, prizes and rewards, use of hymns and songs composed by members of the church, recording and increasing the attendance, developing an elementary catechism, and libraries. It also sponsored the publication of administrative guidelines and materials for classroom use, resulting in increased uniformity lesson content.

Until the turn of the century, only children were taught by the Sunday School. Eventually, classes were added for the youth of the church; in 1904, an adult Sunday School class was created.

Priesthood Correlation Program changes

The 1970s saw dramatic change within the Sunday School. In 1971, as part of the church

sacrament
during its classes, a practice that Brigham Young had begun in 1877.

Sunday School periodicals

In 1866, just prior to the formal organization of the Sunday School Union, Cannon had begun publishing the

The Instructor, which was published until 1970. The Sunday School currently does not have an official periodical, but information that may be used in Sunday School appears in the Ensign (now the Liahona) and the New Era
(now the For the Strength of Youth) magazines.

Chronology of the general superintendency and presidency of the Sunday School

No. Dates General President
(General Superintendents in Italics)
(Church general authorities in bold) 		First Counselor
(First Assistants in Italics)
(Church general authorities in bold) 		Second Counselor
(Second Assistants in Italics)
(Church general authorities in bold)
1 1867–1901 George Q. Cannon George Goddard (1872–99)
Karl G. Maeser (1899–1901)
John Morgan (1883–94)
Karl G. Maeser (1894–99)
George Reynolds
(1899–1901)
2 1901 Lorenzo Snow George Reynolds Joseph M. Tanner
3 1901–18 Joseph F. Smith George Reynolds (1901–09)
David O. McKay (1909–18) 		Joseph M. Tanner (1901–06)
David O. McKay (1907–09)
Stephen L Richards (1909–18)
4 1918–34 David O. McKay Stephen L Richards George D. Pyper
5 1934–43 George D. Pyper Milton Bennion George R. Hill
6 1943–49 Milton Bennion George R. Hill A. Hamer Reiser
7 1949–66 George R. Hill A. Hamer Reiser (1949–52)
David Lawrence McKay (1952–66) 		David Lawrence McKay (1949–52)
Lynn S. Richards (1952–66)
8 1966–71 David Lawrence McKay Lynn S. Richards Royden G. Derrick
9 1971–79 Russell M. Nelson Joseph B. Wirthlin (1971–75)
B. Lloyd Poelman (1975–78)
Joe J. Christensen (1978–79)
William D. Oswald (1979) 		Richard L. Warner (1971–75)
Joe J. Christensen (1975–78)
William D. Oswald (1978–79)
J. Hugh Baird (1979)
10 1979–86 Hugh W. Pinnock Ronald E. Poelman (1979–81)
Robert D. Hales (1981–85)
Adney Y. Komatsu (1985–86) 		Jack H. Goaslind (1979–81)
James M. Paramore (1981–83)
Loren C. Dunn (1983–85)
Ronald E. Poelman (1985–86)
11 1986–89
Robert L. Simpson
 		Adney Y. Komatsu (1986–87)
Devere Harris (1987–89) 		A. Theodore Tuttle (1986)
Devere Harris (1987)
Philip T. Sonntag (1987–88)
Derek A. Cuthbert (1988–89)
12 1989–92 Hugh W. Pinnock Derek A. Cuthbert (1989–91)
H. Verlan Andersen (1991)
Hartman Rector Jr. (1991–92) 		Ted E. Brewerton (1989–90)
H. Verlan Andersen (1990–91)
Rulon G. Craven (1991)
Clinton L. Cutler (1991–92)
13 1992–94 Merlin R. Lybbert Clinton L. Cutler Ronald E. Poelman
14 1994–95 Charles A. Didier J Ballard Washburn F. Burton Howard
15 1995–2000 Harold G. Hillam F. Burton Howard (1995–97)
Glenn L. Pace (1997–98)
Neil L. Andersen (1998–2000) 		Glenn L. Pace (1995–97)
Neil L. Andersen (1997–98)
John H. Groberg (1998–2000)
16 2000–01 Marlin K. Jensen Neil L. Andersen John H. Groberg
17 2001–03 Cecil O. Samuelson John H. Groberg Richard J. Maynes (2001–02)
Val R. Christensen (2002–03)
18 2003–04 Merrill J. Bateman John H. Groberg Val R. Christensen
19 2004–09 A. Roger Merrill
Daniel K Judd
 William D. Oswald
20 2009–14 Russell T. Osguthorpe David M. McConkie Matthew O. Richardson
21 2014–19 Tad R. Callister[3]
John S. Tanner (2014–15)
Devin G. Durrant
(2015–19) 		Devin G. Durrant (2014–15)
Brian K. Ashton (2015–19)
22 2019– Mark L. Pace Milton Camargo Jan E. Newman

Sunday School in the church today

Curriculum

Sunday School focuses on a study of the

scripture
. The main class in Sunday School for those 18 years of age and older is called "Gospel Doctrine". In general, the Gospel Doctrine curriculum follows a four-year cycle:

However, there are also a number of "generalist" and "specialist" classes that may be taught in Sunday School. For example,

family history, temples, marriage
and family relations, and teacher training.

In most church congregations, Sunday School is a 40-minute class which is held either immediately after or immediately prior to Sacrament meeting. Everyone 11 years of age and older are encouraged to attend; children under age 11 have Sunday School-style classes taught to them in Primary, with those classes administered by the Primary organization.

Structure of Sunday School

Local structure

Each congregation (ward or branch) has an adult male priesthood holder who serves as the local Sunday School president. The president is called by the local

stake (or district
) Sunday School presidency provides support and training to the local Sunday School presidents.

Church-wide responsibility

Under the direction of

general authorities, the church's three-man Sunday School General Presidency oversees the program throughout the church. From 1979 to 2004, members of this presidency were general authority seventies of the church. In the church's April 2004 general conference, Thomas S. Monson of the First Presidency, announced that "a recent decision [has been made] that members of the Quorums of the Seventy [will] not serve in the general presidencies of the Sunday School and Young Men."[4]
Since that time, church general authorities have no longer served as members of the presidency.

Since April 2019, the following men have comprised the Sunday School General Presidency: Mark L. Pace, President; Milton Camargo, First Counselor; and Jan E. Newman, Second Counselor.

The Sunday School General Board also assists in the leadership of the church's Sunday School programs and in the development of guidelines, policies, and materials.[5][6][7]

See also

Notes

  1. Handbook 2: Administering the Church
    (Salt Lake City, Utah: LDS Church, 2010) at § 12.1.
  2. ^ "Things forgotten about Sunday school". Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  3. ^ Former general authority.
  4. ^ "The Sustaining of Church Officers", Liahona, May 2004, p. 24.
  5. Macmillan
    . Retrieved 2009-12-31. Today, a presidency and board or staff are called ... at the general Church level to establish program guidelines and policies, develop materials and provide leadership.
  6. ^ Lloyd, R. Scott (April 18, 2009). "Sunday School meet reunites leadership". Church News. Deseret News. Retrieved 2009-12-31.
  7. ^ Poelman 1992

References

External links

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