“Epilogue, 2013–2015,” By Study and Also by Faith—One Hundred Years of Seminaries and Institutes of Religion (2015), xxx
“Epilogue,” By Study and Also by Faith, xxx
Epilogue
2013–2015
As seminary and institute programs move into their second century, adaptation, innovation, and revelation continue to serve as hallmarks for Church education. Administrators and teachers continue to refine policies and programs to bring about greater learning and conversion in the lives of students.
One of the biggest catalysts for Seminaries and Institutes of Religion reacting quickly to the need to improve teaching and learning came during the October 2012 general conference. At that conference, President Thomas S. Monson announced a change in the age for eligibility to serve missions, lowering the age from 19 to 18 for young men and from 21 to 19 for young women.1 This change immediately signaled change throughout the Church Educational System as students and teachers moved to adjust. “That wave of missionaries that went out certainly affected our institute enrollment,” Brother Webb recalled. “As they come back, we have [many] more returned missionaries in our institute [classes]. … Institute is becoming more and more a post-mission experience.” The age change also affected the work of seminaries in a positive way. “The change in missionary [age] changed seminary. Young men … are now much more engaged in the seminary discussion because the urgency of knowing the gospel and being able to share it with others is very evident. … They feel an urgency to prepare to be missionaries,” Brother Webb said. He also added, “Missionary prep classes are filled with [many more] young women.”2
The missionary age change affected the global role of the Church Educational System as well. In January 2013 Elder Daniel L. Johnson, Area President of the Mexico Area, announced that at the end of the school year the Benemérito School in Mexico City would be closed and converted into a missionary training center to help accommodate the flood of new missionaries. In that emotional meeting Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles addressed the crowd, saying, “I believe God knew this day would come the day we broke ground for this school. … This is a dramatic moment in Church history.” Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the concluding speaker, added, “Today we’re in the middle of this story. … Instead of a few hundred being educated here at Benemérito, many thousands will be trained. Many of them will come from other countries. … They will be leaders throughout the entire world.”3
A new curriculum cycle for seminary rolled out in 2013, starting with a new Book of Mormon course that year, followed by Doctrine and Covenants and Church History in 2014, with Old Testament and New Testament scheduled to follow in 2015 and 2016, respectively. These new courses were intended to make more effective use of the Fundamentals of Gospel Teaching and Learning.
After several years of course design, pilot study, and testing, the Church Board of Education evaluated the positive results of the piloted program and approved the phased implementation of online seminary on January 9, 2013. S&I used this time period to develop teaching and learning abilities among full-time and called teachers working in the online environment. The pilot study included no more than 100 classes, but by the fall of 2014, after the phased implementation, classes served 3,013 English-speaking students. Although not intended to replace a face-to-face classroom experience, the online possibility provides an option for the seminary experience for students who cannot meet each weekday because of limiting factors. To participate, students must have approval from their stake president, parents, and seminary principal and have access to the required technology.
In refining the functions of the seminaries and institutes programs, S&I administration decided to identify priorities to help the department fulfill the Objective of Seminaries and Institutes of Religion. They eventually narrowed their thoughts to focus their training on a series of priorities each year.4 Some of the first priorities included strengthen unity, elevate learning, seek truth, and reach one more.
The priority to elevate learning includes helping students develop confidence in the scriptures and the Holy Ghost, preparing the student to share the gospel, and following the Savior’s example. As part of the effort to elevate learning, in May 2014 S&I introduced new requirements for seminary graduation: attend classes consistently, read the text for each course, pass a midyear and an end-of-year learning assessment for each course, and receive an ecclesiastical endorsement. Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; Elder Paul V. Johnson of the Seventy, the Commissioner of the Church Educational System; and Brother Chad H Webb, the administrator of Seminaries and Institutes of Religion, introduced these new requirements in a global faculty meeting. Elder Johnson explained, “We believe that as we elevate learning for all students, they will have more confidence in the word of God and in their ability to feel the influence of the Holy Ghost. They will be better prepared to share what they believe and to follow the Savior’s example.” Along with the new requirements came an awareness that some students would be concerned about the additional expectations and would need more encouragement and support. Brother Webb recalled, “In that board meeting with President Thomas S. Monson, as this was discussed, he said multiple times, ‘Please make sure that in doing this, that we won’t push away any student or lose even one student.’”5
The institutes of religion continue to make adjustments to meet the understanding and spiritual needs of students as well. In 2014, the institute saw the publication of new teacher and student manuals for Religion 211–212, New Testament, and Religion 130, Missionary Preparation. During the summer of 2014, four new required courses, referred to as “Cornerstone courses,” were introduced for all institutes and Church colleges to be implemented beginning in the fall of 2015: Jesus Christ and the Everlasting Gospel, the Teachings and Doctrine of the Book of Mormon, Foundations of the Restoration, and the Eternal Family.6
The teaching force in seminaries and institutes continued to change as well. In November 2014 a new policy was announced allowing women with young children at home to be eligible to serve as full-time teachers. Brother Webb said, “While we continue to recognize [the] contribution that [mothers] make in their homes, we also recognize that sometimes their personal and family circumstances require them to work.” At the same time a new policy was announced allowing divorcees to be eligible for employment. Commenting on these changes, Brother Webb said, “Our programs exist to help our students in their efforts to follow Jesus Christ. … We do that by providing excellent teachers who love young people and love the Lord and the scriptures, and so our goal, as has always been the case, is to hire the very finest teachers, male and female, that we can find for our students.”7
Looking back on his administration and forward to the second century of seminaries and institutes, Brother Webb remained optimistic about the future: “I hope collectively we have listening ears, that we follow the Brethren, that we love our students and try our best to serve them and remember that they are why we exist as an organization. … On a personal level, I hope that our teachers know how much we love them and appreciate them.” Brother Webb reflected on the role of religious education to provide a rock of stability amidst rapid changes in the world and in the Church. “The heart of what we do will never change. … We will always strive to love our students and teach them the scriptures and … inspire them to live the gospel. While those most important things will never change, we’ll continue to try to seek inspiration as to how we might do it more effectively, to bless more young people and to impact them more deeply.”8