That shouldn’t require any effort at all, given the topic. Now philosophy–we go for interesting and inaccessible.

I have to say that the trend in some wards to hold sacrament meetings last is very poorly thought out, to say the least.

By the time you get to sacrament meeting, the kids have been sitting for two hours already and are just wired. The noise level triples, half the parents are forced to leave with screaming kids, and the spirit just leaves the building.

For the love of everything holy … Please hold your sacrament meetings first!

EQ members are young and male. Meaning, they like to hear themselves talk. You get off on a tangent and they’ll probably REALLY run with it. They’ll keep beating the topic to death until their young primary aged children start hanging on the doors of the cultural hall.

yddy42, You need some real vowels in your name. Otherwise I feel like I’m talking to somebody slamming their head on their keyboard. But no, I think that one can do a lot in a lesson but still not list the dos and don’ts of Sabbath worship.

Derek,
I am not sure I agree. One personalizes the message, but the message must be the same message. Thus a missionary finds personalized ways to teach faith, but they must teach faith. The teacher does the same. And just as the missionary should always steer back to the scriptures, teachers are supposed to steer back to scriptures and the manual.

ukann, the YW manual sounds like a loser (not that I know). Maybe somebody should send a letter off to the curriculum department. I would guess they already know it is time for a revision, but you never know. EQ can probably get by on 20 year old materials, but YW?

“First, seek to obtain my word, then shall your tongue be loosed…”

As first-order sources for lesson materials, the manuals ARE terrible. In the past, using the manuals in this way may have been the generally understood and accepted pattern. However, I do not believe that this is the way it should be. As second-order, supplemental resources, the manuals are adequate. The new Presidents of the Church manuals are especially good for this purpose – I believe they are the best innovation in Church curriculum in a long tme. Ultimately, whether we are teaching about the Godhead or hygiene, our first-order sources should be the scriptures.

The real purpose of the manuals should be to help the instructor prepare him or herself. By providing a home-study option to help the instructor obtain the Word, to understand the principle to be taught, and hopefully even receive some personal insights and growth. This should occur days, perhaps even weeks, before a lesson is scheduled to be given. If an instructor has obtained the Word, s/he will be able to teach with the Spirit, by not looking down at the manual but by up at the class, and listening to their comments as well as to the promptings of the Holy Ghost.

Frank mentions that the teacher is a guest, which is the salient point to remember when teaching the Gospel. No mortal man or woman should have the hubris to expect that s/he can unilaterally teach any Gospel principle in a way that will change hearts or inspire testimony. That is the mission of the Holy Ghost, and man or woman should not seek to elevate him or herself to that level.

To be honest, I am not one who usually criticizes the Sunday School manuals. I generally think the Gospel Doctrine manuals are organized well and include enough interesting material for most classes (EQ on the other hand, I think is much harder to teach). When I taught GD, I followed the manual pretty closely, though I would often add my own personal touches.

The YW manual, however, seems to be the exception to this rule. No matter what year you are teaching, many of the lessons border on the bizzare. Someone really needs to update those manuals. Meanwhile, I think the teachers have no choice but to pick and choose among the available material and supplement where needed.

This statement appears to conflict with what they teach at the MTC, to “personalize the message” to your audience. But now I’m talking about missionaries, not sunday school teachers, so maybe the two roles each have their own set of rules?