Question: What is the General Board’s attitude regarding field trips by classes to points of interest related to the lesson? Is it all right to make them during Sunday School?

Answer: Field trips should be encouraged. Further, teachers should be urged to make adequate preparation for them, by telling the class before the trip what to look for, and how it all ties with the lesson. The points should again be linked to the lesson after the field trip has been completed. But as desirable as field trips are, they should not be taken during Sunday School. The best time is during the week, preferably on a Saturday.

Question: Some of the classes, especially the teenage classes, are wanting a lot of parties. We realize that this planning detracts from the lessons. How often do you think they should have parties?

Answer: Certainly parties, properly planned and supervised, should be encouraged. They should not be overdone, however. The number during the year should be left to the discretion of the teacher. However, parties should not be planned during the Sunday School class period. Committees might be named and announcements regarding the socials can be given. But this should be done with a minimum loss of time. Planning of the parties can be done by committees meeting at a time other than during the class period.

Question: When should a child be allowed to go from Junior Sunday School to the class in the Senior Sunday School? Immediately upon being baptized, or should the child wait until the end of the year when class promotions take place?

Answer: The child should wait until the end of the year, to be advanced with the entire class.

Question: The teachers are giving presents on various holidays, such as valentine hearts, nuts and candy. is this the proper thing to do?

Answer: A number of complaints have been received from parents of children receiving candy at Sunday School. The parents say the children’s appetites are thus spoiled for dinner. Generally, giving food at Sunday School should be discouraged. On those rare occasions when such gifts are given, they should be distributed as the children leave their classes.

Question: Who is responsible for recruiting members for the Investigators’ class: the stake missionaries or the ward Sunday School enlistment director?

Answer: Members for the Investigators’ class are usually made aware of the class and warmly invited to attend it thorough visits of stake missionaries. Interested friends also bring in many. Congenial Sunday School greeters at the door do much I making them feel welcome and wanted and in bringing them back.

The teacher of the Investigators’ class also has a great responsibility. Investigators often have friends who are not members of the Church. if the lesson is made so alive and appealing be a well-prepared teacher, the investigators themselves become splendid recruitment officers.

The enlistment director’s primary job with this class is to follow up members as soon as they are baptized and keep them coming, though of course, he needs to be keenly and warmly aware of ll the members of the class.

Question: The Sunday School superintendent of one of our wards has asked if there is any material available for teaching a group of boys and girls, perhaps 12-14 years of age, a course in genealogy. he says they would like to teach such a course to these young people.

Answer: Nearly every course of study for classes above the Junior Sunday School contains some lessons on genealogical work. In addition, there is an excellent beginners’ course in genealogical work for young adults. The General Board recommends that all classes in the Sunday school study the prescribed courses of study. An alert teacher of any teenage class will weave the importance of genealogical work and temple marriage into lessons as they unfold.

Question: How long should class officers serve?

Answer: Class officers should serve at least three months, better six months and longer with average size or small classes. The Sunday School faculty should collaborate to see that every class member as far as possible gets the opportunity of such leadership sometime in the journey through the Senior Sunday School courses.

Question: Should class officers be set apart?

Answer: Class officers are not Sunday School officers, and therefore do not come under the instruction in The Sunday School Handbook, page 76, that “… all the officers in the auxiliary organization, stake and ward, should be set apart.” Rather it I left to “the discretion fo the bishop or other residing authority involved.”

It does something to the boy and girl to be set apart for any calling in the Church. They possibly might take their calling to be enlistment and fellowship officer for the class more seriously if set apart.

Question: Is it proper that the preliminary music be played after the congregation has been seated and brought to order by the conducting officer?

Answer: The devotional prelude is to begin approximately five minutes before the formal opening of the worship service. The prelude ends as the conducting officer begins the formal opening of Sunday School.

Question: Is it proper for anyone attending Sunday School (young or old) to open Sunday School with prayer when the priesthood is present?

Answer: The suggestion that only priesthood members be called upon to open or close sacrament meetings with prayer does not include auxiliary meetings such as Sunday School. You may, therefore, continue to call on women and children as well as priesthood members to offer prayers at Sabbath School.

Question: When we sing fewer stanzas to a hymn than those printed in the hymn book, should we always sing the first and last one?

Answer: You are at liberty to use your own judgment.

Question: Teachers in our stake feel that pupils will lose interest in Course No. 15, “Life in Ancient America,” since many of them are studying the Book of Mormon in seminary. What can we do about it?

Answer: Such situations occur with some Sunday School courses in many places in the Church. If both the seminary and Sunday School courses are well taught, they should help add extra interest in both classes, with students enthusiastically familiar with the subjects. A wise teacher will capitalize on the students’ knowledge of the subject to enliven the class with demonstrations, dramatizations, short talks, and other means of student participation. The more Latter-day Saints know about the Church, its history and its doctrines, the more enthusiastic they become about it and them.

Question: In payment of the Budget Fund, is it all right for wards to collect only the amount of the general or stake board quotas of the Budget Fund or to get it from the ward budget?

Answer: Some stakes are paying their Budget Fund quotas from the ward budget rather than take a separate collection. This is their prerogative if the bishop so elects.

It takes money to buy song books, supplies, library copies of The Instructor and other aids. Suggesting that wards collect as much more than their general and stake board quotas as they need for operating expenses was the General Board’s way of helping wards meet such expenses. The General Board does need every penny of its 80 per cent of the ward’s quota to meet te costs of conventions, institutes and conferences and publications and supplies incident to them.

Question: How many songs should be sung in Junior Sunday School on a given Sunday? Someone has indicated no more than four.

Answer: Since the children usually sing but one stanza of a hymn while the grownups sing as many as 12 stanzas, and many of their songs with several stanzas are short, more songs will be sung in the Junior than in the Senior Sunday School.

A workable guide would be to follow the approximate time allotment as provided in Senior Sunday School and fit into this time the necessary number of songs.

Question: The General Board has suggested that the Nursery Class meet with other Junior Sunday School children in their general assembly. In our ward there is not enough room for all the children to meet together in such an assembly. Should we include the Nursery group, and have one of the others meet separately.

Answer: In case of overcrowding, it is felt that it is the Nursery rather than one of the other Junior Sunday School classes that should meet separately.

Question: Meetings in our stake, such a for stake missionaries, are being held during Sunday School. Is there any Church instruction about holding meetings that conflict with Sunday School?

Answer: Years ago when the Sunday School was expanded to include and take in the entire Church membership, it was with the thought that the best study time in the week should be reserved for the study of the Gospel.

The Sunday School time, 90 minutes, was reserved and held sacred for that worship and study period. Oral instructions were given and have been repeated from time to time wit regard to keeping this period sacred to such worship and Gospel study.

The assignment by the First Presidency to the Sunday Schools is to teach the Gospel to every member of the Church.

The Sunday School has felt that it is not its place to be a policeman to see that the worship and study hour is conformed to by all non-Sunday School groups, and, therefore, it has not been printed in The Sunday School Handbook The desires of the First Presidency, however, have been complied with rather generally throughout the Church.

Question: Should the Gospel Doctrine class always be taught by a member of the High Priests Quorum?

Answer: No. The superintendency should be free to recommend for appointment by the bishop the best available man or woman to teach this or any other class.

Question: Is it all right to have prayer and dismiss the students from the classroom?

Answer: Permission has been granted, when closing services are difficult because of double occupancy of the ward building. In such case, there should be a dismissal prayer in each class, and all classes should dismiss simultaneously, on signal.

Question: Should stake Sunday School superintendents and board members, when attending regular Sunday School meetings in their own wards, unofficially be honored by sitting on the stand?

Answer: It would be a very good thing to have stake Sunday School board members especially when invited to do so, to sit on the stand even in their home ward when they are not on an official visit. This, we believe, however, can be left up to the judgment of the stake board member. It is well to have the ward superintendents educated as to the importance of a stake board member and therefore it might be best whenever they are invited to occupy seats on the stand to do so.

Question: In organizing the Gospel Doctrine class, what is the proper procedure?

Answer: Class officers should be selected by the Sunday School superintendency in collaboration with the ward bishopric (or branch presidency) and the class teacher. Names so selected should then be presented to members of the class for their sustaining vote. Officers should include: president, two counselors, secretary and librarian.

As to duties, “The teacher should have the class officers assist him in this enlistment work, etc.” The Sunday School Handbook.

Question: Do classes go by number alone or are they still named, and if so, what are the names?

Answer: Courses are listed by their number and by the name of the lesson manual studied. We continue to refer to Junior Sunday School classes as Nursery, Advanced Nursery, Kindergarten, and Primary if desired; but generally we use the title of the course. Course No. la, if referring to it by other than “Beginnings of Religious Praise,” might be referred to as Advanced Nursery. We also refer to the adult classes as Gospel Doctrine, Genealogical Training, Family Relations, Investigators, etc., as well as by the number and title of the course. Senior Sunday School classes including and below Course No. 19 are referred to by course number and/or name of manual only.