New Member-Missionary Sunday School Class

“How am I doing as a member-missionary?”

“Am I truly a friend to my nonmember neighbors?”

“Do I know how to begin a gospel conversation?”

“How can I invite my neighbors to listen to the missionary discussions?”

Church members are asking themselves these and other questions in a new class now offered during Sunday School. The “Member-Missionary Class” is a six-week course designed to help members learn the doctrines and principles of missionary work, develop member-missionary skills, and gain commitment and self-confidence.

Weekly discussions and assignments help participants fulfill the three major goals of the course, which are to—

“1. Invite someone into their homes to hear the missionary discussions, if possible, before the end of the class.

“2. Submit one referral for a nonmember who has agreed to accept a visit from the missionaries.

“3. Plan to continue in missionary service.”

Elder Carlos E. Asay, Executive Director of the Missionary Department, says that the class is intended to help Church members “understand not only their responsibilities relating to missionary service, but also how they can fulfill their responsibilities. Many people have fears and they wonder if they can really be missionaries. Hopefully this class will help people overcome those fears and enable them to share the gospel with their friends and neighbors.”

In a letter introducing the new course of study to Church leaders, President Ezra Taft Benson said: “We are confident that members who conscientiously participate in this class will find greater success and joy in fulfilling their missionary responsibilities.”

A fourteen-page instructor’s guide provides class instructions, lesson outlines, and suggested assignments. (Stock no. PBMI8574, $.35 each.) In addition, each participant should have a sixteen-page personal study outline for taking notes during class and completing assignments before and after class. (Stock no. PBMI8585, $.15 each.)

Lesson 1 gives an overview of the member’s role in the conversion process and of the blessings of missionary service. Class members identify nonmember friends and assess their relationships with them.

During lesson 2, class members discuss ways to be good examples of LDS principles, build genuine friendships with nonmember acquaintances, and introduce them to other Church members.

The third lesson discusses how to introduce nonmember friends, neighbors, and relatives to the gospel—how to know when they are ready, how to begin a gospel conversation, and how to invite them to hear the missionary discussions.

Lesson 4 gives ideas on how to introduce casual acquaintances or strangers to the gospel—how to meet nonmembers, how to guide conversations comfortably toward gospel topics, how to invite acquaintances to listen to the missionaries, and how to submit referrals.

The objective of the fifth lesson is to learn how to strengthen nonmember friends while they are being taught the gospel, and how to encourage new converts after baptism.

During the final lesson, participants review the principles and skills taught in the class, share missionary experiences they’ve had as a result of the lessons, and discuss ways to continue their friendshipping and missionary efforts.

Six to ten ward members—selected and called by the bishop—are invited to attend each six-week series of classes. Anyone with a desire to do missionary work may be invited to attend—especially families with children actively preparing for missions, families who have close nonmember friends or relatives, prospective missionaries, and new converts.

The six-week course is hosted by the Sunday School and is taught by a member of the Sunday School faculty. It may rotate during the year with the Genealogy and Family Relations classes, which are also offered during Sunday School time.

The Sunday School now offers classes on all three parts of the threefold mission of the Church. The new Member-Missionary class helps members fulfill their duty to “proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.” The Genealogy class prepares them to “redeem the dead by performing vicarious ordinances of the gospel for those who have lived on the earth.” Other classes such as Family Relations and Gospel Essentials help “perfect the Saints by preparing them to receive the ordinances of the gospel and by instruction and discipline to gain exaltation.” (The threefold mission of the Church is listed by President Spencer W. Kimball in Ensign, May 1981, p. 5.)

New course will teach members missionary principles.