Spiritual Anchor
S&I Annual Broadcast January 2024
Friday, January 26, 2024
My wife, Kristi, grew up near the coast in Southern California and has always loved the ocean. One of her favorite things is to visit lighthouses. Despite now living far from the ocean, we visited about 15 different lighthouses together, and I’ve learned why she loves them so much. I’m moved by the image of a lighthouse standing strong against winds and waves because it is anchored so deeply into bedrock and so securely that despite mighty storms, nothing can dislodge it from the foundation upon which it is fixed. In a similar way, our hope is that our students will be able to stand against any storms that may come in their lives. Thank you for providing the spiritual anchor they need and for helping them build their foundations on Jesus Christ.
Because of your incredible efforts over the last two years, institute has grown by 57,000 additional students, and seminary enrollment has grown by 22,000 despite having fewer potential students. We are now at the highest percentage of seminary students enrolled that we have ever reported. Thank you for responding to President Nelson’s invitation to help gather a generation. As he taught, anytime you do anything that helps anyone to make and keep their covenants with God, you are helping to gather Israel.1 In addition to increased enrollments, last year over 25,000 friends of other faiths attended classes and 9,000 of them were baptized.
Thank you for your personal invitations, for working with Church leaders and parents, and for encouraging your students to invite their friends. What you are doing is making a remarkable difference, and it’s not just in enrollment numbers. The real difference is in the impact you’re having. Every day, lives are changing as they attend your classes, as they feel of your love and faith, and as they accept your invitation to study the scriptures and hear the voice of God. Thank you for exercising your faith to the blessing of more and more of Heavenly Father’s children as you provide a spiritual anchor they so desperately need.
In an effort to continue to explore more and better ways to bless our students, a few years ago we tested a new course in seminary. For a semester we taught first-year seminary students a revised version of the institute course Scripture Study Fundamentals. After one semester, students in those classes were significantly ahead of their peers in their ability to have meaningful personal scripture study and to participate in classroom discussions. At about the same time, a program called Succeed in School was having great success helping students do better in school and be more prepared for future educational opportunities. Both experiences caught Elder Gilbert’s attention, and he began to strongly encourage us to consider what the Lord was teaching us.
While this was happening, discussions began with members of the Missionary Department about what more seminary could do to help prepare future missionaries. Other discussions were taking place with members of the Temple Department about helping first-time temple attenders have a meaningful temple experience and understand the covenants they would make. Others were talking with members of the Welfare and Self-Reliance Services Department about helping meet a growing need for emotional resilience and self-reliance. At the same time, a long-held desire of many to focus more on the teachings of modern prophets was also being discussed.
Like tributaries flowing into a river, many ideas were coming together which all seemed to be pointing us in a similar direction. As we considered the possibilities, we realized that seminary is in a unique position. Other good people, such as school counselors or family therapists, can help address topics of need and can be very helpful, but we are unique in our ability to address those topics through the lens of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. We also realized we’re unique even within the Church simply due to the amount of time we have with our youth each week.
We’re also in a unique position within our own history. Since aligning our schedule with Come, Follow Me, we’re now studying the same book of scripture as individual members, families, and other Church classes. This made us wonder if we might be able to free up some of our valuable time to directly address specific topics within the context of our study of the scriptures. With all of these tributaries flowing into our river of thinking, we continue to hold on to a few foundational ideas. We are committed to always be Christ centered, scripture based, and learner focused. We will always strive to invite the Holy Ghost and focus on our objective of deepening conversion to Jesus Christ and His restored gospel.
As we prayerfully considered what all of this had to do with our efforts to bless the youth, we were reminded that Elder David A. Bednar had taught the value of studying the scriptures in three ways: sequentially, topically, and thematically. He taught:
“Reading a book of scripture from beginning to end initiates the flow of living water into our lives by introducing us to important stories, gospel doctrines, and timeless principles. …
“… Studying by topic increases the depth of our knowledge.”
Elder Bednar added:
“Diligently searching to discover connections, patterns, and themes is in part what it means to ‘feast’ upon the words of Christ. This approach can open the floodgates of the spiritual reservoir, enlighten our understanding through His Spirit, and produce a depth of gratitude for the holy scriptures and a degree of spiritual commitment that can be received in no other way. Such searching enables us to build upon the rock of our Redeemer and to withstand the winds of wickedness in these latter days.”2
Knowing that we needed to stay true to our long and cherished history of sequential scripture teaching and to continue to benefit from our alignment with Come, Follow Me, and also knowing that our youth have specific challenges and the need to prepare for their futures, we took the following recommendation to the Board of Education. I now read from the board minutes.
“[The administration of Seminary and Institutes of Religion] recommended creating seminary curriculum that teaches the Come, Follow Me sequential approach to the scriptures 3–4 days each week, and thematic lessons 1–2 times each week (developed from topics such as mission, temple, and educational preparation; scripture study skills; emotional resilience; life skills; and teachings of latter-day prophets). Thematic lessons would also be rooted in the scriptures and focused on principles of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.”
The recommendation was enthusiastically approved to be implemented worldwide starting January of 2025.
Please note that each week we will continue to teach the scriptures sequentially. It’s imperative that we continue to help our students have confidence in their ability to study and understand the scriptures and to know and live the principles they teach. We will also continue to help youth find answers to their questions through principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge and to gain the benefits of doctrinal mastery. New topical lessons, referred to as “life preparation lessons,” will also be added to the new curriculum. These lessons will address specific needs of our seminary students in ways that will continue to be Christ centered, scripture based, and learner focused.
These lessons will allow you to use the skills, experiences, and gifts you have used as sequential scripture teachers. This is not starting over. We’re not asking you to be experts on any of these new topics. In fact, we hope none of you will take the role of parent or therapist, counselor, or specialist. We simply ask you to stay firmly rooted in the teachings of Jesus Christ as outlined in these new correlated and approved materials.
To help you prepare for 2025, new materials will be sent to you in July of 2024, which will include both the Come, Follow Me and life preparation lessons. We encourage you to review these lessons at that time and also encourage you to begin sharing this announcement with parents, local leaders, and school officials to help encourage more youth to enroll in seminary. By combining the approaches of sequential and thematic scripture study, we hope to unlock a spiritual reservoir unlike any we have seen before.
Our hope is to help prepare a generation of youth to know how to study the scriptures and to be riveted to the teachings of living prophets. A generation of emotionally resilient youth who have the skills and capacity to succeed in school and become righteous fathers and mothers and who will lead in the Church and in their communities. Our hope is to help a generation be prepared to understand the covenants of the temple, who are deeply committed to keep them, and a generation of missionaries who are worthy, qualified, spiritually energized, and prepared to represent the Savior in inviting the world to come to Him.
Our hope is to prepare a generation of disciples of Jesus Christ who are deeply converted to Him and His restored gospel throughout their lives. Thank you again for gathering a generation and for the remarkable impact you have on them. We know a lot is asked of you. Thank you for all you are doing so marvelously well. As you continue to exercise your faith, I believe you will see miracles, that the Lord is prepared to strengthen and protect our students and stand against the storms of these latter days. The Lord will continue to help you. That is what He does. That is who He is. I testify of Him in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.