![\"\"](\"http:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/This-Way-Up-800x600.jpg\")
I\u2019m excited about this new meeting. I’ve created a sample teaching outline for Primary presidencies below, so if that’s what you’re mainly here for, scroll down. For those who are interested, though, here’s how I’m thinking at this early stage about the deeper structure and future possibilities for this meeting.<\/p>\n
The pairing of priesthood power with temple proxy ordinances has intriguing theological implications. It effectively shifts the locus of priesthood in the children\u2019s minds from the chapel (where the deacons pass the sacrament, the focus of the old Priesthood Preview) to the temple. I find this quite significant. It has the potential to recenter our discourse of priesthood away from the male-only administrative hierarchy evident in sacrament meeting and toward the more collaborative, expansive and inclusive vision of priesthood we glimpse in the temple.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m thinking here of the interesting work done by scholars like J. Stapley, Sam Brown and Kathleen Flake on what they call the \u201ccosmological priesthood\u201d, a picture that is still coming into focus but seems to center on kinship structures (broadly conceived) that endow men and women with power and priestly authority. Granted, I won\u2019t be doing a rigorous survey of cutting edge Mormon history with my 11 year olds! But this is the frame I\u2019ll be working from as I try to devise an empowering, equitable, and age-appropriate experience for the children.<\/p>\n
(True, the temple baptistry is not a place where that female priestly power and collaborative function is on display, which is unfortunate. Our young women need to see women acting with priestly authority. And yes, the temple, obviously, is complex and full of contradictions for women. Some of the most troubling language about gender is present there. Still, the temple baptistry is closer to those sites of female authority than is the chapel, and women exercise priestly authority in the temple more forthrightly than in any other Mormon context. I see this as an important if incremental shifting of the discourse.)<\/p>\n
Pairing temple baptisms with priesthood ordinations also allows the former to become a kind of rite of passage for the girls comparable to ordination for the boys. The lack of both a sacred rite for girls and an avenue for them to serve in dignified and priestly ways is a major problem with our program for teen girls. Performing temple baptisms for the first time at age 12 and assuming family history and proxy temple responsibilities can be framed as girls\u2019 priestly debut and duty. No, it is not equivalent in every way to boys\u2019 ordination to the Aaronic priesthood. But I believe it could be framed in language that makes it meaningful for girls.<\/p>\n
Thinking concretely about the event, there are lots of ways it could be executed badly. I can picture sessions where detailed emphasis on Aaronic priesthood responsibilities, for instance, inadvertently highlights girls\u2019 non-participation. Dubious rationales for our gender segregated priesthood thrown around. Condescending head-patting or consolation-prize thinking directed toward the girls.<\/p>\n
I take it that the word order of title of the meeting–\u201cTemple and Priesthood Preparation\u201d–suggests a strong emphasis on gender-inclusive temple service, with priesthood being discussed primarily as it ties into the temple context. I don\u2019t see this meeting as the place to discuss detailed Aaronic priesthood responsibilities or procedures, or to drill down into concepts of priesthood keys and hierarchies; save that for quorum meetings. Instead, I see this as a high-level inspirational overview of the important new responsibilities for 12 year olds in the temple, and an introduction to the way that concepts of ordinances, priesthood and proxy service work together.<\/p>\n
My aim will be for every station to be relevant to both girls and boys and to highlight their shared involvement in the work of salvation. I\u2019d like girls and boys to leave with a sense that they have something exciting to celebrate soon and important responsibilities that will follow. My instinct would be to acknowledge matter of factly in passing that the boys will receive priesthood ordination and duties, but to direct all of the discussion to both girls and boys. I will not present temple baptisms as a simplistic girls\u2019 substitute for priesthood ordination (along the lines of \u201cmen have priesthood, women have motherhood\u201d), but will instead try to show how closely the two practices work together and inform one another, and how important both are to the Lord\u2019s purposes.<\/p>\n
Meeting Outline<\/strong><\/span> Rotate the children and their parents through three or four 12-15 minute stations\/presentations in different rooms around the church building (but not the chapel, if possible). Moving from room to room will break up the verbal monotony and make the experience more memorable. Place posters on each door to reinforce the related themes of each station. If you’re really ambitious, you could create a sticker or other small token for the children to collect at each station, so they can see visually how the stations work together. The structure could be something like the following:<\/p>\n Close with final thoughts by the Primary president reviewing the message of each station (level up, link up, lift up, and lead up). Close with song and prayer, and refreshments, of course! A small gift like a carabiner might reinforce the overall message of \u201clinking up\u201d toward spiritual maturity through temple and priesthood service.<\/p>\n I welcome other thoughts and ideas in the comments, bonus points if they are constructive. How do you think this new meeting can be most effectively framed?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019m excited about this new meeting. I’ve created a sample teaching outline for Primary presidencies below, so if that’s what you’re mainly here for, scroll down. For those who are interested, though, here’s how I’m thinking at this early stage about the deeper structure and future possibilities for this meeting. The pairing of priesthood power with temple proxy ordinances has intriguing theological implications. It effectively shifts the locus of priesthood in the children\u2019s minds from the chapel (where the deacons pass the sacrament, the focus of the old Priesthood Preview) to the temple. I find this quite significant. It has the potential to recenter our discourse of priesthood away from the male-only administrative hierarchy evident in sacrament meeting and toward the more collaborative, expansive and inclusive vision of priesthood we glimpse in the temple. I\u2019m thinking here of the interesting work done by scholars like J. Stapley, Sam Brown and Kathleen Flake on what they call the \u201ccosmological priesthood\u201d, a picture that is still coming into focus but seems to center on kinship structures (broadly conceived) that endow men and women with power and priestly authority. Granted, I won\u2019t be doing a rigorous survey of cutting edge Mormon history with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":37452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-politics"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/This-Way-Up.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37449"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37459,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37449\/revisions\/37459"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nOpen with a brief welcome introducing the theme, \u201cThis Way Up.\u201d<\/strong> This meeting will help the children prepare to take the next step UP in their lives, as they grow and mature into young adults. Introduce the idea of \u201clinking up\u201d<\/strong>: in the gospel, the way we move up toward our Heavenly Parents is by linking with other people and lifting each other together. Temple ordinances and priesthood service are those links. Perhaps include a brief object lesson to visually demonstrate links forming a network that gathers and protects: a simple crochet demonstration, for instance, could show how links form chains, and chains double back to form networks of links, resulting in a strong and protective fabric.<\/p>\n\n