Young Men (organization)

The Young Men (often referred to as Young Men's) is a

History

The first official youth association of the church—the Young Gentlemen's and Young Ladies’ Relief Society—was formally organized by youth in

A central committee of the YMMIA, led by Junius F. Wells, was formed in 1876 to oversee the organization, conduct missionary work, and issue general instructions. A YMMIA general superintendency (later renamed "general presidency") was formed by church John Taylor in 1880.

In 1901, the YMMIA was divided into junior and senior classes. In 1911, the church followed the pattern developed by the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) and created the YMMIA Scouts. The organization was officially integrated into the BSA on May 21, 1913.

In the 1970s, the YMMIA was briefly merged with the church's Aaronic priesthood and young women's organizations and officially renamed the

Aaronic Priesthood MIA Young Women was the name of the LDS Church's official young men organization between 1972 and 1974. It was formed by consolidating the YMMIA and the YWMIA into one organization. Leadership of the auxiliary was shared between the presiding bishopric and the Young Men General Presidency. The combined organization was short-lived, and in 1974 the organization was again divided into the renamed Young Men and the Young Women. Between 1979 and 2004, the Young Men General Presidency had been composed of seventies, who were church general authorities. In the church's April 2004 general conference, Thomas S. Monson, a counselor in 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."^[2]

The Young Men organization was involved in

In the Aaronic priesthood, the young men are sub-divided into three aged-based priesthood offices, which also serve as classes on Sunday:

• Deacon
  (turning ages 12 or 13)
• Teacher
  (turning ages 14 or 15)
• Priest (turning ages 16 to 18)

When a young man reaches the age of 18, he is normally encouraged to begin attending the elders quorum. In certain instances, such as when a young man turns 18 but is still in secondary school, he will be encouraged to continue to attend the priests quorum.

Generally, each age group will hold a separate class for instruction during Sunday meetings. The teachers and deacons classes have a quorum president drawn from the members of the class, who in turn may choose two counselors and a secretary to assist him. The bishop or branch president is the president of the priests quorum and may choose two young men to assist him in this role, along with another young man to serve as secretary.

The Aaronic priesthood is supervised by the presiding bishopric, and the church has Young Men presidencies at the general and stake levels.^[7]

In addition to Sunday meetings, the members of the Young Men meet on a weekday for youth activities, an hour to ninety minute activity. Once per month, a combined activity is held with the members of the Young Women organization. Most congregations or stakes also organize annual or biannual youth camps, and beginning in 2020^[9] eligible young men may attend regional For the Strength of Youth conferences every other year.^[10]

Chronology of the general superintendencies and presidencies of the Young Men

See also

• Anticipatory socialization
• The Contributor (LDS magazine)
• Improvement Era
• New Era (magazine)
• Worship services of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

References

• Brown, Victor L. (April 1973), "The Aaronic Priesthood MIA", General Conference.
• Peterson, Janet (2011), "Young Women of Zion: An Organizational History", in
  ISBN 978-0-8425-2785-9
  .