It still amazes me how timely these talks are, in regard to what we’re experiencing today. The session this week covers the General Relief Society meeting in October 1981, and guess what the first talk is about? Transition!

As we all look forward to next year’s new schedule, we are going to be adapting to a major transition. I have full confidence in what the Brethren are asking us to do, but I worry about those we will lose in the process.

Looking back to how Pres. Nelson presented all these changes, first, we transitioned to Ministering, then to “No lesson, more discussion,” now to Home-centered gospel study.

Ministering

Barbara B. Smith talks about the importance of sisterhood. She says, “Secure friendships and faith can make good transitions possible.” What is ministering, but a place to strengthen friendships, help one another discuss the changes, and even figure out how to transition our thinking, and action, in the best way?

I worry about those people who are being forgotten because of this change from Visiting Teaching/Home Teaching to Ministering. Because there is no “lesson” to give, people are finding it difficult to offer anything. As we can see, the church is pulling out of the spoon-feeding business. It’s our turn to develop ways to reach/love people best.

No Lesson, More Discussion

We’ve now had some time to figure out how best to teach on Sunday. Again, this is a slow transition into a new concept. A teacher simply needs to understand the doctrine(s) to be addressed in class and open the room up to a discussion of the doctrine(s). There is no longer any need for “lesson prep,” because we are talking about doctrines we should already be familiar with. Now we simply open up a discussion to share deeper, or more personal, understandings from one another.

Sister Smith urged, 37 years ago, “every position in Relief Society should help a sister not only to serve but to grow.” We grow through personal experience or hearing someone else’s personal experience. That is a great way for the Holy Ghost to actually be the teacher.

I might also label this section, “Less Lesson, Act on Action.” With the new two-hour block, we are definitely going to lose the sisters who still believe Relief Society is only a Sunday class. Relief Society presidents will need to make sure all sisters know they are a part of the Relief Society and that means Relief Society needs to become an Action Group. Again, Sister Smith says something of note. “We can heighten our sensitivity to our neighbor’s needs, increasing our capacity to serve. And perhaps we may need to draw back a bit from other preoccupations that may not be as worthy of our time.”

If Relief Society offers less activity, sisters will fill it with more worldly activity. Don’t let that happen! Involve sisters with opportunities for more discussion, more service, and more action. (And please don’t interpret this “time” as creating busy time. I have some ideas I’ll offer in a future post.) 

Home-Centered Gospel Study

Home-centered teaching is not new. This is how Abel was taught the gospel; Isaac and Jacob, Nephi, Jacob, the Stripling Warriors, and countless others learned the gospel from their parents. In most of these cases, there was no church organization to do the teaching.

This idea harkens back to a Patriarchal society, where fathers preside over the home and both fathers and mothers teach with power. In this same session, Ezra Taft Benson said,

“Woman was given to man as an helpmeet. That complementary association is ideally portrayed in the eternal marriage of our first parents—Adam and Eve. They labored together; they had children together; they prayed together, and they taught their children the gospel together. This is the pattern God would have all righteous men and women imitate.”

Of course, not every home has a father or mother. That’s when Relief Society hovers over to offer ministering opportunities, where sisters can still support this pattern.

Don’t be afraid of the transitions that are being asked of us. Do you see how a pattern is developing? This is all part of a grand plan.