A remarkable "season of revelation" highlights the general conference of the church

SALT LAKE CITY – The same day, divided senators voted in favor of Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation at the United States Supreme Court in Washington, DC. Unified leaders of Latter-day Saints in the shadow of Utah's mountains have announced an important adjustment aimed at creating a more home-centered environment. church."

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will reduce traditional Sunday meetings from three to two o'clock starting in January 2019 to strengthen the commitment of our members to Jesus Christ through the study of the gospel and home service, according to the leaders who spoke at the beginning of Saturday. first session of the 188th biannual General Conference of the Faith.

The news book proposed six dizzying months that an apostle on Saturday called "a remarkable and revealing season". In six months, President Russell M. Nelson and the Council of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles renewed the Sabbath practices, redeveloped its official name, reorganized its ministry program, and revised the priesthood colleges in the 30 500 congregations worldwide. .

The juxtaposition of the day was hard.

As protesters put pressure on the police in the Supreme Court, about 60,000 people gathered in three peaceful sessions at the conference center opposite Temple Square, then returned home to reflect on a redone church.

"As Latter-day Saints, we are used to thinking of" the church "as what happens in our meeting rooms, supported by what is going on here. an adjustment to this model, "said President Nelson. "The time has come to have a church centered on the house, supported by what is happening in our branch, ward and stake buildings."

The weekly sacrament meeting will increase from 70 minutes to 60 minutes starting in January. The second hour of religious services will also change. Brother Quentin L. Cook, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, abolished the traditional third hour of religious service. It has been replaced by flexible learning and worship that focuses on individuals and families.

"Our goal is to balance the church and the home experience in a way that will greatly increase faith, spirituality and deepen conversion into Heavenly Father and Lord Jesus Christ." , did he declare.

President Nelson, Brother Cook and other church leaders said the announcement was inspired by divinity and that the First Presidency Council and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles unanimously approved this change.

"We live in a remarkable time and revealing of the restored Church of Jesus Christ," said David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. "The historical adjustments announced today have only one purpose: to strengthen faith in Heavenly Father and His plan as well as in His son Jesus Christ and His atonement."

The changes include a new "integrated program" to strengthen members through both home study and targeted church worship. Since 1980, church Sunday services include weekly Sunday school classes and a third hour separate instruction for men and women.

From now on, the second and last hour of the new schedule will vary from week to week, with Sunday School classes taking place on the first and third Sundays and priesthood quorum, Relief Society and Young women organized on the second and fourth Sundays. When there is a fifth Sunday of the month, instruction will be under the direction of the bishop or branch president of each congregation, church leaders said.

The teaching for young children in the primary program will take place every week during the second hour.

A revelation

President Nelson has called this divinely inspired and necessary adjustment in a complex world.

"The adversary is intensifying his attacks on faith and families at an exponential rate," he said. "To survive spiritually, we need counter-strategies and proactive plans, and as a result, we now want to put in place organizational adjustments that will further strengthen our members and their families."

Brother Cook echoed this concern.

"The conditions of the world are increasingly demanding increased individual conversion and strengthening of faith in Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and His atonement," he said.

Brother Cook said that the church was successfully testing the new program in congregations around the world. A pilot program was in Brazil.

Leaders also envisioned a study that revealed that individual scripture study and prayer helped most to help young Latter-day Saints feel the influence of the Holy Spirit, said Brother Cook.

"As leaders have sought revelation, the advice they have received in recent years is to strengthen the sacrament meeting, to honor the Sabbath, and to encourage and help parents and individuals to make their homes a source of healing. spiritual strength and increased faith – a place of joy and happiness. "

Family learning

The church had been preparing for the announcement for some time.

"For many years," said President Nelson, "church leaders are working on an integrated program to strengthen families and individuals through a home-centered and supported plan. by the church, to learn the doctrine, to strengthen the faith, and to foster greater personal worship, these adjustments that we are now going to introduce will complement these last Sabbath years – to make it a delight and a sign personal to God of our love for him -.

The new Sunday schedule gives families more time to host a home evening and study the gospel at home. The family activity evening can always be held on a Monday, but it is up to each person or family to determine what is best for them.

Learning the gospel at home will be strengthened by a harmonized curriculum that includes "Come, Follow Me" for the home – organized on a weekly schedule – adult classes, Aaronic Priesthood, Young Women, and Primary. The manual for the house, "Come, follow me – for individuals and families" will be provided to each member at home.

The new plan begins in January to give the church time to distribute the manual and allow local leaders to change the meeting room hours. One of the goals is that more parishes start serving earlier in the day, church leaders said.

Brother Cook said that leaders should think about how to focus on spiritual priorities before the administrative functions in condensed Sunday meetings.

When considering this change, he also stated that church leaders were aware that the current three-hour service block could be difficult for older members, parents with young children, children in the Primary, new converts and others.

Elder Bednar cited Handbook 2, a policy manual for church leaders, which stated: "Church organizations and programs exist to bless individuals and families and are not a end in itself ".

The move had been long rumored due to several years of pilot programs.

Spiritual autonomy

"I think many of us have seen this coming," said Terryl Givens, co-author with his wife Fiona Givens of "Christ Who Heals: How God Restored the Truth That Saves Us."

He said that this seemed inevitable given the emphasis on Sabbath observance, the change of home schooling and educational visits to the ministry and to the ministry. regular teaching on spiritual autonomy.

"Sabbath observance has become the temporal locus and the physical locus, and this change facilitates this synthesis," Givens said.

This is also a sign that, as Givens has said, church leaders, as they did with the exercise of the ministry, trust members more to that they "rise to this challenge. Some will do it, some will not.

First reaction

Saturday's reaction was largely positive.

"To be honest, who will complain about a two-hour church?" said Christopher Schuman of West Jordan. He attended the morning session at the conference center with his wife, Rebecca.

She felt that the change was inspired because "it works for all families". Schumans can not have children.

"For me, it was difficult because I was trying to find my place and if I can not have children, what does it look like?" she says. "It's not because my husband and I can not (have children) that we can not have a family and help inspire those around us who have children and give birth to children." # 39; s example. "

Some members of a single church have accessed social media to say that they would miss long church meetings for social reasons. However, Brother Cook addressed this topic in his speech:

"It would be quite appropriate for single young people, single adults, single parents, families of partial members, new members and others to gather in groups outside the normal Sunday offices to enjoy evangelical sociality and be strengthened by studying together the church-backed resource, "said Brother Cook.

"Having more time to stay with our families and reinforce each other will be a good thing," said Carlos Anugulo, who works in a bishopric in Venezuela and is married with two children.

He said that it was nice to know that President Russell M. Nelson envisions families and homes as holy places.

"I think it's inspired and I'm really grateful," he said.

Royce Rhead, the father of a family of six from Boise, Idaho, said he would not miss the afternoon church meetings, but that he was planning a new effort to organize a family evening.

"I think this will give everyone more opportunities to make family home evening," Rhead said. "With everyone's busy schedule, it has been (a) difficult to do it."

Meeting history

The worship of Latter-day Saints has evolved over the years.

Since 1980, Sunday meetings have been held in the current three-hour block, with sacrament meeting, Sunday School and a third hour for priesthood, Relief Society and Youth meetings. women.

In the decades before the three o'clock hour, church meetings were spread between Sunday and various days of the week. Primary, Young Women, and Relief Society meetings all took place during the week. Priesthood and Sunday School were held on Sunday morning and sacrament meeting on Sunday evening.

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In 1960, the church had set up a weekly family evening program. Then he coordinated all his helpers, manuals and publications.

The late President Boyd K. Packer often reflected the belief of church leadership and his teaching that the church supported the house. At his final conference before his death three years ago, President Packer said that the role of the church was to strengthen the home.

"We do not build the church with parishes, branches, stakes and districts," he said. "We build the church from families and individuals."