Question: Could you inform me as to the advisability of the use of maps, as listed by the Deseret Book Company, in teaching Book of Mormon classes?
Answer: You probably know that there are no Book of Mormon maps approved by the Church.
However, the Sunday School and Primary general boards of the Church have a project now underway to provide some Book of Mormon pictures. Eight such paintings have been executed by the eminent Latter-day Saint artist, Arnold Friberg. They will be reproduced in The Instructor during the months of September, October, November and December, 1954. Watch for them.
Question: A member from a ward outside Nyssa Stake recently suggested to one of our wards that the policy of the congregation’s observing a moment’s silence (with devotional music) following the closing prayer would probably improve the reverence. Should this be encouraged?
Answer: There is no provision for such a pause in the Sunday School order of exercises. The prayer itself should invoke reverence, making such a pause unnecessary.
Question: We are a little branch. Our Sunday School has mostly children. We find that the hymns in the regular Church hymn book are not suitable for little children. Could we not use The Children Sing for our Sunday School?
Answer: In wards and branches where Junior Sunday School must meet with Senior Sunday School, use of Hymns – Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and The Children Sing is desirable. Both are intended for use by the chorister. Children as well as older folks should learn to sing our hymns. However, there are songs found in The Children Sing that are not found in the adult hymn book; songs that are excellent in teaching Gospel principles and are worded to appeal to children.
Question: When we separate for class work in Sunday School, does the General Board approve of having opening and closing prayer in the classrooms?
Answer: Opening prayers in classrooms for younger groups should be encouraged to give pupils more participation and the greater strength of their own prayers. However, there is no established order regarding prayers in the classroom.
Question: Is the enlistment director supposed to attend prayer meeting?
Answer: Yes.
Question: Should Sunday School always be held on quarterly conference Sunday?
Answer: Yes – in every ward except possibly the ward in whose meetinghouse stake conference is held. This is the recommendation of the General Authorities of the Church. A special lesson for teaching Senior Sunday School classes is published quarterly in The Instructor. All Senior department classes may be combined to receive this lesson on quarterly conference Sunday.
Question: Should the sacrament be distributed to the Junior Sunday School on Fast Day?
Answer: That is the General Board’s recommendation.
Question: May friends of investigators be permitted to attend the Investigators’ class in our Sunday School?
Answer: Yes, if the Sunday School superintendency feels that an individual investigator will be strengthened through attendance with a friend. Certainly the member husband of a non-member wife (or vice versa) should be allowed to attend. But caution should be exercised in permitting Church members generally to attend this class. Its purpose will be defeated if too many Church members are permitted to attend.
Question: Which is the right practice: to stand or remain seated while singing Sunday School songs?
Answer: The recommendation is to remain seated, unless standing wile singing is desirable as a rest exercise in the middle of a lengthy service.
Question: Is it all right to have an assistant coordinator of Junior Sunday School?
Answer: The General Board recommends that there be no assistant or assistants. often when there is an assistant, there is a temptation to “you take charge this Sunday, and I shall next Sunday,” with absenteeism sometimes resulting. There is also the tendency for the Junior Sunday school to become an independent organization rather than a part of the whole Sunday School as it should be. Rather than having an assistant, it is recommended that the coordinator appoint one of the Junior Sunday School teachers to take charge when the coordinator must be absent.
Question: Who should interview a prospective Sunday School teacher after his name has been approved – the ward bishop (or branch president) or Sunday School superintendent?
Answer: It is the bishop’s as well as the Sunday School superintendent’s responsibility. The superintendent might help the bishop in making the initial call by providing him with a list of responsibilities of Sunday School teachers, such as: systematic use of the lesson manual, teacher’s supplement, The Instructor, and be a regular attender at union meeting, faculty meeting, prayer meeting, and Sunday School, and be an exemplar of Latter-day Saint living to his people.
Question: With which hand should we partake of the sacrament?
Answer: Wile it is customary to partake of the sacrament with the right hand, there is no scriptural word concerning it. Should a person take the sacrament with the left hand, it is not advisable for the deacon passing the sacrament to make any comment.
Question: Is it all right to invite teaching specialists who are not members of the Church to give presentations at a special institute we are organizing in our stake?
Answer: The General Board certainly does not believe that Latter-day Saints have a monopoly on all teaching knowledge. Much help can be gleaned from others. However, experience leads the General Board to recommend that non-members of the Church be not invited to give presentations at special institutes, union meetings, or faculty meetings. While such specialists may be well versed in teaching techniques, they are not familiar with Latter-day Saint Sunday School procedures. As a result, sometimes suggestions have been given by non-member instructors that have been contrary to our procedures.
Question: Please let me know by return mail whether on January 1, when we take the 4- and 5-year-olds out of the Nursery and form a new Kindergarten class, whether the break-off point should be January 1 or July 1. In other words, should we take out those whose birthdays fall between July 1, 1950 and July 1, 1948, or between January 1, 1950 and January 1, 1948?
Answer: Since January 1 is the promotion date, children in Course No. 1 (Nursery) who have reached their fourth birthday by that date, January 1, should be promoted to Course No. 2 (Kindergarten).
However, if the stake board in a particular stake elects to so direct, the age determination date may be the same as that used by the local public school system. This is the practice in some stakes and eliminates conflicts of children being separated from their school companions after they reach school age.
Question: Will it ever be possible to purchase at the Deseret Book Company individual pictures – such as Junior Sunday School and Church History pictures – without the entire set?
Answer: Yes. Beginning January 1, 1954, single pictures will be listed on our regular order forms and price sheets. Single colored pictures 8x 10 inches will sell for 10 cents each, single black-and-white pictures at 5 cents each. Pictures 3×4 inches will cost 25 cents a dozen or two for 5 cents.
These should be ordered from our agent, The Deseret Book Company, 44 East South Temple Street, Salt Lake City, 1, Utah.
I had to smile at the question about using both the hymnal and ‘The Children Sing’ when Junior and Senior Sunday School are combined, because when you review ‘The Children Sing’ you realize that probably half of it is hymns that were also in the hymnal. (I just thumbed though my old copy to make sure I was remembering correctly.) Back then, children were thought of as perfectly capable of singing hymns. But, as the reply states, the songs written specifically for children had their messages, too, and I imagine there were adults in that branch who enjoyed the opportunity to sing them along with the Junior Sunday School students.
Sorry, one more comment. The question about maps of the Book of Mormon geography. As far as I know, there has probably only been one map created that was ‘approved’ by the church, and it was part of our Seminary study material the year I studied Book of Mormon (1972 or 3), and even it carried a disclaimer that was wasn’t to be thought of as literal or correct but was only provided to show the ‘possible’ geographical relationship between cities and places. As far as I know, it was not used again. When I was a ward seminary teacher in England in the 1980’s, there was no map included in the material. I know that you can buy them through many LDS-themed outlets, but as far as I know, none of them are ‘approved’ by the church curriculum department.
I have never heard of an enlistment director but I can guess what that person would do.
And having Sunday School on Stake conference Sunday is hard core.
No specific comments this time, but I love this series.
There are two different kinds of maps: Ones which show relative location of features (City X was north of River Y), which have been more or less acceptable, if not official. The ones they have regular disapproved of, and distanced the Church from, are those that claim to map the Book of Mormon directly onto the known physical map of (usually) Central America — identifying Zarahemla, for instance, as being the predecessor of some existing/ruined city marked on a current map. I’m looking forward to Christopher Blythe’s work on the appeal of Book of Mormon geographies through the years.
In case others haven’t guessed, Bruce, I’ll tell it: Through most of the 20th century, Church members were not automatically enrolled in any of the Church auxiliaries. They were all voluntary, and most required some form of dues or other financial contributions to keep them running. The enlistment director was the recruiter who coaxed ward members into joining the auxiliary he or she was stumping for.
I’m glad you do, HokieKate. I think I’m at the end of this particular series (there may be one more in my file, but I don’t think so). I really enjoy looking at history of the fairly recent past, where things were almost-but-not-quite what they are today, as well as the more “exotic” earlier eras.
I was interested in the backstory of the Friberg paintings — I guess because they caught my imagination as a child, but now I’m also a little amused by how well-muscled everyone (but Abinadi) seems to be.
I found a BYU Studies article indicating that they were commissioned for The Children’s Friend by Primary General President Adele Cannon Howells, who sold her own property to pay for them. The answer here seems to be giving the Sunday School and Primary general boards little too much credit.
So I guess the Enlistment Officer went around the Ward recruiting Saints to the Sunday School. I thought we followed the hymn that says “We are All Enlisted”.
I love the comments about which hand to use to take the Sacrament. I was taught that you use the right out of respect. I was a little afraid to use my natural hand (left) thinking the metal tray was charged and it would zap me. Kind of like the Indiana Jones thing.
Ardis — per your comments in post #5: as I am remembering it, it was when the Correlation Committee was created and the auxiliaries were brought under the priesthood direction of the bishop that the dues were discontinued and members were automatically enrolled in the correct auxiliary. Auxiliaries and quorums began to be funded by the ward budget instead of a membership fee. I want to say it was the early 1960’s, but you’d probably know better than I’m remembering.
I liked that members could stand during singing as a brief relief from over-long services. (I try to envision one tired member standing …)
Also, that deacons were not to give people a hard time if they happened to use their left hand in taking the sacrament. (There’s got to be a backstory to that.)
Thanks, Ardis.
1971, Bruce. And there are widespread misunderstandings about Correlation that tend to oversimplify or even distort history whenever the topic comes up in the Bloggernacle …
Gary, if standing is good enough for General Conference, it oughta be good enough for the ward, right? All rise!
My husband, as organist, was present for a vigorous discussion over whether it was acceptable to stand during a hymn in the middle of Sacrament meeting. Several people were worried that it was ‘improper.’ He pointed out that when we stand in the middle of a general conference session, no warning flashing across the screen to say, “Don’t try this at home.” So we should be fine.
The arguers were finally convinced.
I’m actually a little surprised by the lack of right-hand orthodoxy for the period.
“A member from a ward outside Nyssa Stake”
What?