I think you nailed it. It’s not just that some of those topics aren’t foundational, it’s that some are just plain obvious. I mean, who doesn’t think they should develop their talents to bless the lives of others?

And I’d move “Charity”—currently lesson 30—up to lesson 4 or 5. Why not place the most important topics first?

How about splitting the “Scriptures, Ch 10″ into 3 lessons: Bible, BoM, D&C/PGP?

I would lean toward being more inclusive on topics as JKS points out, these manuals are made for the least knowledgable. I think tailoring, as you mention, is more critical. Throw out what you feel your class knows is a good idea.

A brief summary of my views are as follows. Teaching manuals in the Church by their very nature can never be written to satisfy the needs of every teacher and every classroom in the Church. It is much easier and more effective for an instructor to tailor his or her lesson rather than get a manual rewritten. The solution is the instructor not the manual.

Brian–I like that idea to break down the scriptures. I feel one of my main duties in teaching this class is helping people learn to use the scriptures for themselves.

jks–like I said, I think there are ample other places to discuss personal development. The Gifts of the Spirit topic, for example, will naturally surface in NT study, BoM study, and D&C; it also was taught 2 years ago in the prophets manual. I am not suggesting we never talk about it, I just don’t view it as a fundamental. Frankly, making the lifestyle changes necessary to join the Church seem like plenty during your first year of membership; they’ll have plenty of time to practice the piano later.

Devyn–yeah, I need to talk to the SS people and see if I can skip some lessons. As I mentioned, they avoid talking to me.

John Mansfield–as noted, that lesson is repeated MANY times throughout our curriculum, and appropriately so. But is it foundational? RE: Jesus–I would definitely break down the Jesus lessons and expand. Perhaps one on prophecies of a savior, the life of Jesus, his ministry, the physical and spiritual aspects of the atonement, and his Church after his death.

aquinas–agreed.

Dan–I don’t use the text in class, but I do think it is a useful resource for people to have for personal study.

I would eliminate the signs of the second coming lesson. I heard that one recently in Gospel Essentials, and it wierded me out, even though I am a lifetime member and none of the info was new to me. It sounded like God has no better way to communicate with us mortals other than to terrorize us with scary weather patterns. And then one mormon deviant in the room (that was me) suggested that maybe God wasn’t causing the wierd weather, but just accurately forecasting that wierd weather would happen in the last days because greedy and thoughtless humans would mistreat the Earth with carbon emissions. The teacher didn’t know how to handle such blasphemy, and I was left wondering if this topic was a little too deep for a new member class. I favor the talents lesson for gospel essentials. People feel the Spirit when motivated to improve themselves.

I would like a gospel essentials class to include more practical advice. Where are the tithing slips, how do you fill it out? What does the ward clerk do? What can he do for me? Who can do baptisms for the dead? How do I do it? What is a High Councilor? Who is getting relief from the Relief Society? Etc, etc.

It absolutely does matter that investigators and new members adopt the attitudes of being Mormon. I don’t mean that in a negative sense. I mean, investigators and new members need to be taught correct principles so that they don’t bring old social attitudes from their previous religious background and push it on people.

And I wholeheartedly agree with KLC assessment, Except, I would add, not only who is getting relief from Relief Society, but, how does one get help from Relief Society and Bishop Warehouse.

If anything, I’d like to see the manual be more basic and less geared toward people who were Christian before they were baptized. But the manual tries to be too many things for people in too many different situations. Members in Utah, for example, in general need a far different manual than do members whose only gospel instruction comes from that book and the scriptures.

April–I wholeheartedly agree.

annegb–not going to happen, but thanks.

KLC–all good ideas. I would hope that missionaries would cover much of this ground (I did), but I can certainly see how repetition would be useful.

Amira–very good point.

chris–how about teaching that in the previous lesson on The Gift of the Holy Ghost?

Diane, every church is indeed welcome to claim them. Only one has the authority to bestow the Holy Ghost so you can receive them.

Diane,
I understand you’re not LDS… but you’re debating on an LDS site about things that LDS believe. That’s the nature of the post. Of course a Buddist can come in here and tell me we’re all misguided or an Atheist can come in here and tell us we might as well believe in the flying spaghetti monster. I think it’s great that you’re out there reading and commenting and learning about other faiths. But it seems strange to dig around the comment boards and tell everyone what the “reality” is when it’s own your own version of it. I freely admit this is an LDS truth claim and thought I did so by quoting two people only LDS members would recognize as an authority. I suppose every sentence ever written on this blog could theoretically end with “, of course Catholics believe otherwise. But Lutherians think different. And Buddists disagree with them all…etc. ad naseum”. But I figured it was a given! This is not written in spite or with any hard feelings on my part, but clearly discussing things on a Mormon site you have to take some things for a given — and the big one is we are going to write about our perspective and beliefs without making sure to qualify how everyone else thinks differently at every possible opportunity.

Thanks for making it clear you disagree though, I already figured that :)

I seriously believe Diane has been planted here to thread jack every post. Kind of hilarious. Think I’ll go do that on BCC.

#25 – Bookslinger – Thank You for that link. It brought tears to my eyes and was exactly what I needed today. I love your choice to share.