Charge to Religious Educators

Excerpts quoted in the book

Gene R. Cook "Teaching by the Spirit and Learning How to Receive Blessings from the Lord" [address to religious educators, 30 Jun. 1989], pp. 2, 26.

If someone asked me, "What is the single greatest thing you know about teaching?" I think I'd be quick to respond that it must be done by the Spirit. And I believe I would add to it this, "That which has the most effect upon teaching and learning by the Spirit is that when one is teaching or being taught, one's heart must be in tune with the Lord, largely through prayer, if he really wants to teach or to understand."

. . .

May the Lord bless you above all else to be great teachers everywhere you go. I think one of the greatest tributes that could be paid to a teacher might be a statement like this, "Within all of his teaching He magnified the Lord in the eyes of the people."

. . .

Henry B. Eyring. "Prepare Your Heart" [address to religious educators, 22 Aug. 1987], pp. 2-3.

When we prepared well, we were observing, pondering, and meditating much of the time. That raises a practical problem for all of us. Whether we are teaching early morning seminary or have been a professional teacher for years, our lives are crowded. Time is in short supply. Most of us have a feeling that we haven't enough time to meet our family obligations, let alone finding blocks of time to prepare.

My father taught me long ago that finding time to seek is a matter of preparing the heart. One evening he was helping me with some physics or math problems in the basement of our home. I was in college and he had high hopes for me, as he did for my brothers, that I would follow him in science. He looked up as he saw me stumbling on a problem and said, "Hal, didn't we work on a problem just like this a week ago?" I said, "I think we did." He said, "Well, you don't seem to be any better at it this week than you were last week." I didn't say anything to that. Then he looked at me with a shock of recognition on his face and asked, "Hal, haven't you been thinking about it during this last week?" I looked a little chagrined and said that I hadn't.

He put down the chalk, stepped back from the blackboard on our basement wall, and looked at me. He then taught me something, with sadness in his voice, I will never forget. I am just beginning to understand what he meant. He said, "But, Hal, what do you think about when you are walking down the street or when you are in the shower? What do you think about when you don't have to think about anything?" I admitted that it wasn't physics or mathematics. With a smile, but I think with a sigh, he responded, "Well, Hal, I don't think you'd better make a career of science. You'd better find something which you just naturally think about it when you don't have to think about anything else."

I realized that my father was right about physics or mathematics or anything else that I might seek to learn. But I have come to understand that he was even more right about seeking to learn the law of the Lord. My preparation for teaching has only been effective when my mind naturally turned to seeking the law of the Lord, as I walked down the street, or did anything that didn't require all my attention.

. . .

Marion D. Hanks. "An Attitude: The Weightier Matters," Ensign, July 1981, p. 70.

Don't be unwilling to say, "I do not know," because in truth there is much we do not know. Teach principles that have consequence in salvation. Avoid judging the faith of others on the basis of our own strong personal opinions in matters that may not, in fact, significantly relate to salvation.

It is of great consequence for us to know that God created man and that he created the earth. Is it of equal importance to know the method or methods and the time involved? I do not think so. I know that God created the earth and I know why.

. . .

Gordon B. Hinckley. Four Imperatives for Religious Educators [address to religious educators, 15 Sept. 1978], p. 3.

It is imperative that we as teachers in the seminary and institute of religion program of the Church read constantly the scriptures and other books related directly to the history, the doctrine, and the practices of the Church. But we ought also to be reading secular history, the great literature that has survived the ages, and the writings of contemporary thinkers and doers. In so doing we will find inspiration to pass on to our students, who will need all the balanced strength they can get as they face the world into which they move.

Brethren and sisters, grow in the knowledge of the eternal truths which you are called to teach, and grow in understanding of the great and good men and women who have walked the earth and of the marvelous phenomena with which we are surrounded in the world in which we live. Now and then as I have watched a man become obsessed with a narrow segment of knowledge, I have worried about him. I have seen a few such. They have pursued relentlessly only a sliver of knowledge until they have lost a sense of balance. At the moment I think of two who went so far and became so misguided in their narrow pursuits, that they who once had been effective teachers of youth have been found to be in apostasy and have been excommunicated from the Church. Keep balance in your lives. Beware of obsession. Beware of narrowness. Let your interests range over many good fields while working with growing strength in the field of your own profession.

. . .

Spencer W. Kimball. "Circles of Exaltation" [address to religious educators, 28 June 1968], pp. 2-3, 6; full talk printed in Charge to Religious Educators, 2d ed. [1982], pp. 9-12.

I use the blackboard as I go into the stakes of Zion to dramatize some of the things that seem to me to be very, very important. To the stake presidency, high council, and bishoprics, I draw on the blackboard a series of circles, and in the top one I write "Eternal Life or Exaltation." That is our ultimate goal for everyone, of course.

As we follow down the line--the strait and narrow way which leads to life eternal which few find--the second circle has in it "Eternal .Marriage." That is the gateway to exaltation, and the Lord says through John, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way the same is a thief and a robber." (John 10:1.) In fact, there is only one door. You all know it. I hope you are indoctrinating each and every boy and girl that comes into your presence. Only one door--no other--and that is eternal marriage, for no soul will enter the portals of exaltation alone. There will be no singles. There will always be doubles, and those doubles will be a man and a woman who will love each other intensely and who will have adjusted themselves to each other in a totaling perfection--nothing short of that!

Then I generally draw a third circle on the blackboard and ask these leaders which of all the agencies in the Church that make the most immediate and most important contribution to eternal marriage as an intermediate goal to eternal life--our final goal--will best fill this circle. It is interesting to hear their many answers. They suggest almost everything you can think of. They name all of the auxiliary organizations, and we make little circles around the big circle to indicate that each makes a contribution. They name the Primary, Sunday School, Relief Society, MIA, Scouting, priesthood meetings, sacrament meetings, conferences---everything you can imagine. Finally we settle on the one agency that brings us to what they all agree has the most important impact upon eternal marriage. That, of course, is a mission. . . .

We make another circle down this strait and narrow way that leads to life eternal. The question then arises, What would you put in the next circle? The top circle is exaltation, the second is eternal marriage, and the third is a mission. . . .

. . . What shall we put in it? Well, there is only one thing to put there, isn't there, and that is the seminary and institute program. I never fail to give this program that important place, because I am convinced that the seminaries and institutes can do much to get young people into the mission field and into temple marriage and, finally, into exaltation. This program is that perfect agency in the Church--all the others, of course, make impressive contributions.

. . .

This boy finally said, "Is it true that the Brethren are all divided?" (That's the only question I will touch upon today because of limited time.)

I said, "Yes, they are. Some of them are Democrats and some are Republicans. Some of them drive a Lincoln and some drive a Rambler. Some of them like red ties and some like blue ties.

"But I want to tell you, my boy, that when the Brethren approach anything that is important--that is vital--they are one. They all would die for the cause. They all know with absolute certainty that God lives. They all know that Jesus is the real Christ and that he is the Savior of the world and that he lives and reveals his program to the world. They all know--and all of the Brethren are unified in this--that revelation is a reality today."

. . .

Dean L. Larsen. "'According to His Desires,"' New Era, Oct. 1984, pp. 4-6.

For many years I have been haunted by an experience that occurred in my own life. I was working in a community where a full-time seminary was operated adjacent to the local high school. Part way through one school year, a teaching vacancy occurred at the seminary because of a health problem experienced by one of the teachers. I was invited to assume several of his classes each day over a period of time until a replacement could be found. In most respects it was a delightful experience and one that carried fond recollections for me. In one of the classes, however. there was a young man who proved to be a real challenge. He was in his final year of high school. He was bright and talented. It was obvious that he was popular with the other students and had a considerable influence with them. However, his conduct in the seminary class was generally disruptive. He sought for attention and usually got it as a result of his misbehavior in class.

In my desire to establish an atmosphere in the class where we could discuss and learn about things of a spiritual nature, I was repeatedly frustrated by the antics of this young man. He craved the attention of the other students. Several private consultations with him brought no improvements. In our interviews he was amiable enough, but he reverted to his disruptive behavior as soon as the next class convened.

I spoke with the counseling staff at the high school across the street from the seminary and learned from them that the young man came from a single parent home and that he was a constant problem in his classes at the high school, even though his aptitude test scores showed above average ability and talent.

There finally came a day when I knew I must do something decisive if I were to maintain some sense of order and direction in the class. After a typical outburst I invited the young man to step outside the classroom with me. There I told him that I could no longer sacrifice the opportunities of the other students in order to accommodate his whimsical behavior. I told him that he was no longer welcome in the class until he could control his conduct and contribute to the spiritual atmosphere necessary in a seminary classroom. He spun on his heel without comment and left the building. I never saw him again.

His mother called me that afternoon and expressed her displeasure and distress over what I had done. She warned me that the expulsion of her son from the seminary class would come back to haunt me.

The mother's prediction has been correct. I have never been able to completely free my mind of that experience. Within a week or two of these events, my work was changed, and I was moved to another part of the country. I have no idea whether the young man ever returned to seminary. I don't even remember his name now because it has been more than 20 years. I have sometimes wondered if there is a father of a large family out there somewhere who blames his estrangement from the Church on the action of an unsympathetic seminary teacher many years ago.

I am sure I have learned some things in the intervening years that would have helped me handle the situation more competently. Perhaps there are some things I could have done that I did not do to help the young man change his attitude and conduct. I am sure there were. However, as I look back upon those experiences, I recall vividly the concern I felt for the other students in the class and the intense desire I felt to somehow bless their lives. As my mind runs back over that episode, I inevitably come to the same dilemma I faced the day when I invited the young man to leave the seminary class. In addition to my responsibility for his spiritual opportunities, what was my responsibility to the other class members whose opportunities were being jeopardized by the conduct of the young man? What were his responsibilities?

. . .

Harold B. Lee. "Loyalty" [address to religious educators, 8 July 1966] pp. 7, 9; full talk printed in Charge to Religious Educators, 2d ed. [1982], pp. 61-66.

As teachers of our youth, you're not supposed to know anything except Jesus Christ and him crucified. On that subject you're expected to be an expert. You're expected to know your subject. You're expected to have a testimony. And in that you'll have great strength. If the president of the Church has not declared the position of the Church, then you shouldn't go shopping for the answer.

Now sometimes we have someone in your position write a number of letters to the General Authorities, and if it happens to be anyone less than the president of the Church, he'll get just about as many answers as he sends letters. And then he has a Roman holiday. He parades this, "Why here, the General Authorities are split wide open because they don't agree." Now all of that can be construed in the communities where you are as the rankest kind of disloyalty to the General Authorities. Remember that. That's an important matter. . . .

. . . So we come to conference after conference not bringing forth new doctrine. Now you as teachers are not being sent out to teach new doctrine. You're to teach the old doctrines, not so plainly that they can just understand, but you must teach the doctrines of the Church so plainly that no one can misunderstand .

. . .

Harold B. Lee. "Objectives of Church Education" [address to religious educators, 17 June 1970]; full talk printed in Charge to Religious Educators, 2d ed. [1982], pp. 13-18.

It is not beyond the realm of possibility, don't you see, that if the full program of the Church were inaugurated in the hearts of all our people, all the people of the world could be reached. That would be the happy day when we could expect that the Millennium would be ushered in; that's exactly what the Millennium is expected to be. So I come to you teachers today feeling a kinship to you as I think I feel toward no other body of men and women. You who are vested with and charged with a great responsibility; I have an affection for you. In my heart I have only one desire--to draw close to you, to strengthen you, to help to prepare courses of study that are of a high quality, courses with aids to put into the hands of our teachers and our administrators the best possible things we can in order to guarantee the best possible equipment for you to teach our youth, where you have them on a regular basis. The best-taught youth we have in the mission field are those who have gone through the seminary and institute programs. But unfortunately there have been a few, and thankfully only a few, who are struggling to try to overcome some of the false notions that are put into their minds by teachers who didn't have faith.

. . .

Bruce R. McConkie. "The Foolishness of Teaching" [address to religious educators, 18 Sept. 1981], pp. 4, 6-7, 10.

The Teacher's Divine Commission:

We are commanded to teach the principles of the gospel.

We are to teach the principles of the gospel as they are found in the standard works.

We are to teach by the power of the Holy Ghost.

We are to apply the gospel principles taught to the needs and circumstances of our hearers.

We must testify that what we teach is true.

. . .

David O. McKay. "'That You May Instruct More Perfectly'" Improvement Era, Aug. 1956, p. 557.

There are three things which must guide all teachers: first, get into the subject; second, get that subject into you; third, try to lead your pupils to get the subject into them--not pouring it into them, but leading them to see what you see, to know what you know, to feel what you feel.

. . .

David O. McKay. Pathways to Happiness, comp. Llewelyn R. McKay [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1958], p. 61.

The great influencing factor in the classroom is the teacher: his personality: what he thinks, not just what he says, but what he is, really and truly in his heart--this is what influences his students.

. . .

David O. McKay. "Guidance of a Human Soul--The Teacher's Greatest Responsibility." Instructor, Sept. 1965, pp. 341-43.

I believe that discipline in the classroom, which implies self-control, and which connotes consideration for others, is the most important part of teaching . . .

The best lesson a child can learn is self-control, and to feel his relationship to others to the extent that he must have respect for their feelings . . .

. . . Disorderly conduct should not be permitted in any class in the Church or in any class in public schools.

A disorderly environment, one in which disrespect is shown to the teacher and to fellow pupils, is one that will stifle the important qualities in character. . . .

. . . Any teacher can dismiss a boy; you should exhaust all your other sources before you come to that. But order we must have!--it is necessary for soul growth, and if one boy refuses, or two boys refuse to produce that element, then they must leave. Better one boy starve than an entire class be slowly poisoned.

Thomas S. Monson. Pathways to Perfection [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1973], pp. 92-93).

As teachers in this great Church we must hold to our one fundamental premise. We must never depart from it. We must hold to the one and only concept of the gospel and in it there can be no variance. We cannot take liberties with it, not even under the guise of academic freedom, for in teaching the gospel there is no academic freedom. I would like to repeat that in teaching the gospel there is no academic freedom. There is only fundamental orthodox doctrine and truth.

We must never forget that we have received a new revelation from God. It is not of man in any sense. We must obtain our knowledge of God and of the gospel only by means of this new revelation from God which was given in modern times and which also gives us a clear meaning of the old revelations.

As you counsel young people, you must be in the frame of mind to be receptive to the Spirit of the Lord if you are to help them in their decision making. There are no small decisions in the life of a young person. Remember that the power to lead is also the power to mislead; and the power to mislead is the power to destroy. You have the power to destroy the souls of the young men and women under your charge. Conversely, you have the power to lift them closer to God as you live righteously and as your teaching reflects that righteous life.

I bear testimony to you today that as you listen attentively as you evalute carefully, as you counsel wisely, as you pray fervently, as you live righteously, you will be the counselor our Heavenly Father would have bless the lives of his precious youth. Provide that word of encouragement, that interview with the bishop, that example to follow which will bring young people upward and onward toward the celestial kingdom of God. You are indeed shepherds watching over Israel, and you must not be found sleeping when your services are needed.

. . .

Boyd K. Packer. Equally Yoked Together [address delivered at Regional Representatives seminar, 3 Apr. 1975], pp. 1-3.

Several years ago with Bill and Allie Marriott, Donna and I went to a country fair in New Hampshire. It was a beautiful fall day and a delightful old-time country fair.

The center of attraction was the oxen pulling contest. Several teams of oxen with heavy wooden yokes were lined up to compete. A wooden sledge was weighted with cement blocks: ten thousand pounds--five tons--to begin with. The object was for the oxen to move the sledge three feet.

I noticed a well-matched pair of very large, brindled, blue-gray animals. They were the big-boned, holstein, Durham-cross, familiar big blue oxen of seasons past. Because of their size, of course they were the favorites.

Each team was given three attempts to move the sledge. If they were able to do so easily, more weight was added until the teams were eliminated one by one. In turn, each team was hitched to the sledge. The teamster would position his animals carefully, pat them, chortle to them, whisper to them, and then at a goad and a loud command they would slam forward against the yoke. Either the weight would move or the oxen were jerked to a halt.

The big blue oxen didn't even place! A small, nondescript pair of animals, not very well matched for size, moved the sledge all three times.

I was amazed and fascinated and turned to an old New Englander in the crowd and asked if he could explain how that could happen. He said, "E-yeh." (That means yes in New England.) And then he explained. The big blues were larger and stronger and better matched for size than the other team. But the little oxen had better teamwork and coordination. They hit the yoke together. Both animals jerked forward at exactly the same time and the force moved the load.

One of the big blue oxen had lagged a second or pushed a second too soon--something like a football player being off side--and the force was spent in a glancing blow. The yoke then was twisted and the team jerked to one side and the sledge hardly moved.

If I were to moralize, I would begin in typical Book of Mormon language, "and thus we see" that size and strength are not enough. It takes teamwork as well.

All that I have to say in my appointed time here about education can be demonstrated by the foregoing illustration of teamwork by those two oxen. In the Church we must have teamwork in education--not the kind of teamwork where two teams compete in an adversary relationship such as we see in athletics, but teamwork like oxen yoked together, side by side, pulling together.

In education we have two sides. On one side we have the professional, employed, and salaried teachers directed by supervisors and administrators. On the other hand we have the called, ordained, presided-over priesthood officers. They are to work side by side in the ward and in the stake and on a regional level. At the top both are presided over by the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve, which are represented by the Church Board of Education.

. . .

Boyd K. Packer. Conference Report, April 1983, p. 92; or "Agency and Control," Ensign, May 1983, p. 68.

I thank God for teachers in the Church, you who have chosen, and have been chosen for, the better part.

In those discouraging hours before immature, disinterested, and sometimes impudent students, may you hear a voice as well. That still, small voice of inspiration whispering, "Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you" (D&C 88:78).

The Lord was a teacher. I bear testimony of Him, and pray that He will bless all those who follow in His footsteps to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

. . .

Mark E. Petersen. "Avoiding Sectarianism" [address to religious educators, 22 June 1962], pp. 2-3; full talk printed in Charge to Religious Educators, 2d ed. [1982], pp. 113-19.

You and I must follow the revelations which God has given, because He has given revelation on the church doctrine which we teach. He may not have given revelations on atomic warfare, but he has given revelations on doctrine. Therefore, we are to follow the revealed word of God, you and I, in our teaching; and we must be very wary of the teachings of men so that the wisdom and the teachings of men do not take us off on a tangent that will get us into difficulty.

We must in our line of work avoid sectarianism--avoid the philosophies and doctrines of men which were so denounced by the Lord in the first vision to the Prophet Joseph Smith. Just because we have an avid desire for learning is no reason why we can set to one side any of the things which the Lord has said and decide that some worldly cleric is a greater authority. We must remember that the word of God is our great authority and we must determine to avoid bringing sectarianism into our instruction. That is vital . . .

. . .

Richard G. Scott. "Four Fundamentals for Those Who Teach and Inspire Youth," in Old Testament Symposium Speeches, 1987 [Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1988], p. 1.

You have come to know that your students learn from you in three ways: they learn from what they hear you say, what they see you do, and what they feel in your presence.

What they hear results from your painstaking preparation for each class encounter. Each skill you develop, each teaching capacity you exercise helps them benefit from what they hear.

What they see is more than the visual aids you use within the classroom. Paramount and predominant in what they observe is the example of your own life--how you work; how you react to challenges in and out of the classroom; for those of you with families, how you treat them. How you live is constantly under observation. It impacts the lives of your students even in moments when you are least aware that you are being an example.

But the greatest impact of all is what they feel in your presence in the classroom and elsewhere.

. . .

Joseph Smith. Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1976], p. 21.

I will inform you that it is contrary to the economy of God for any member of the Church, or any one, to receive instruction for those in authority, higher than themselves: therefore you will see the impropriety of giving heed to them; but if any person have a vision or a visitation from a heavenly messenger, it must be for his own benefit and instruction; for the fundamental principles, government, and doctrine of the Church are vested in the keys of the kingdom.

. . .

Joseph F. Smith. Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed. [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1939], p. 373; or "The Truth--the Truth Only," Juvenile Instructor, 15 Mar. 1906, p. 178.

Among the Latter-day Saints, the preaching of false doctrines disguised as truths of the gospel, may be expected from people of two classes, and practically from these only; they are:

First--The hopelessly ignorant, whose lack of intelligence is due to their indolence and sloth, who make but feeble effort, if indeed any at all, to better themselves by reading and study; those who are afflicted with a dread disease that may develop into an incurable malady--laziness.

Second--The proud and self-vaunting ones, who read by the lamp of their own conceit; who interpret by rules of their own contriving; who have become a law unto themselves, and so pose as the sole judges of their own doings. [These are] more dangerously ignorant than the first.

Beware of the lazy and the proud; their infection in each case is contagious; better for them and for all when they are compelled to display the yellow flag of warning, that the clean and uninfected may be protected.

. . .

N. Eldon Tanner. "Leading As the Savior Led," New Era, June 1977, p. 5.

To be an effective leader or teacher one must show love and actually feel love for the person he is trying to instruct. No power is as motivating as the power of love. Christ loved everyone--the weak, the sinner, the righteous.

. . .

A. Theodore Tuttle. "Teaching the Word to the Rising Generation" [address to religious educators, 10 July 1970], p. 9; full talk printed in Charge to Religious Educators, 2d ed. [1982], pp. 129-32.

As I was thinking about how to deal with the problem of mysteries, I couldn't help but notice the great example of a wise teacher during the recent mission presidents' conference. One of the greatest teachers of this Church, President Harold B. Lee, was teaching all the new mission presidents who were going into the mission field. He had been asked to talk about some rather delicate matters. He could have expressed his opinion. But the thing I noticed was the method he used. He quoted entirely from the scriptures. Whenever he gave the answer of the Church on a particular thing, he quoted either directly from the scriptures or, just as well, from a statement of the President of the Church. Brethren, if you want to know how to stay on solid ground, I suggest you use this system. It doesn't call forth opinion; it doesn't permit, readily at least, getting into the mysteries and into areas where each has an opinion to express.

. . .

Brigham Young. Journal of Discourses, 7:333.

Do you read the Scriptures, my brethren and sisters, as though you were writing them a thousand, two thousand, or five thousand years ago? Do you read them as though you stood in the place of the men who wrote them? If you do not feel thus, it is your privilege to do so, that you may be as familiar with the spirit and meaning of the written word of God as you are with your daily walk and conversation, or as you are with your workmen or with your households. You may understand what the Prophets understood and thought--what they designed and planned to bring forth to their brethren for their good.

When you can thus feel, then you may begin to think that you can find out something about God, and begin to learn who he is.

Partial list of talks relative to religious educators

M. Russell Ballard

"Respond to the Prompting of the Spirit" (address to religious educators 8 Jan. 1988).

Ezra Taft Benson

"Beware of Pride," in Conference Report, Apr. 1989, pp. 3-7; or Ensign, May 1989, pp. 4-6.

"Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet," in 1980 Devotional Speeches of the Year [Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 1981], pp. 26-30.

"The Gospel Teacher and His Message" (address to religious educators, 17 Sept. 1976).

William E. Berrett

"Teaching by the Spirit" (address to religious educators, 27 June 1966).

Hugh B. Brown

Untitled talk on the value of preparation (address to Ogden District Seminary Youth Leadership Seminar, 31 Oct. 1964).

Victor L. Brown

"Except He Be a Man of God" (address to religious educators, 9 Sept. 1983).

John K. Carmack

"Do Well" (address to CES area directors, 12 Apr. 1985).

Joe J. Christensen

"Religious Education: A Latter-day Saint Point of View" (address to religious educators, 1974).

Church Board Of Education

"Basic Doctrine" (approved by the Church Board of Education, 5 Mar. 1971).

J. Reuben Clark Jr.

"The Charted Course of the Church in Education" (address to religious educators, 8 Aug. 1938).

"When are the Writings and Sermons of Church Leaders Entitled to the Claim of Being Scripture" (address to religious educators, 7 July 1954).

Alvin R. Dyer

"Education: Moving Toward and Under the Law of Consecration," Brigham Young University Studies, Autumn 1969, pp. 4-16.

Henry B. Eyring

"'And Thus We See': Helping a Student in a Moment of Doubt" (address to religious educators, 5 Feb. 1993).

"The Book of Mormon will Change Your Life" (address to religious educators, 17 Aug. 1990).

"We Need a Miracle" (address to area directors, 6 Apr. 1981).

"Prepare Your Heart" (address to religious educators, 22 Aug. 1987).

James E. Faust

"A Legacy of the New Testament," in New Testament Symposium Speeches, 1988, pp. 1-3.

Marion D. Hanks

"An Attitude--The Weightier Matters," Ensign, July 1981, pp. 67-72.

"Good Teachers Matter" (address to religious educators, 6 July 1970).

"'It Speaketh of Jesus, and Persuadeth them to Believe in Him,'" in Book of Mormon Symposium Speeches, 1986, and An Evening with Elder L. Tom Perry, pp. 3-9.

Gordon B. Hinckley

"Counsel to Religious Educators" (address to religious educators, 14 Sept. 1984).

"Four Imperatives for Religious Educators" (address to religious educators, 15 Sept. 1978).

"What Shall You Teach?" (address to Brigham Young University faculty and staff, 17 Sept. 1963).

Howard W. Hunter

"Eternal Investments" (address to religious educators, 10 Feb. 1989).

Spencer W. Kimball

"Circles of Exaltation" (address to religious educators, 28 June 1968).

"Jesus: The Perfect Leader," Ensign, Aug. 1979, pp. 5-7.

"Men of Example" (address to religious educators, 12 Sept. 1975).

"A Message to Seminary Students" (address to seminary students, 20 Nov. 1977).

"Peter, My Brother" Brigham Young University Speeches of the Year (Provo, 13 July 1971).

"What I Hope You Will Teach My Grandchildren and All Others of the Youth of Zion" (address to religious educators, 11 July 1966).

Dean L. Larsen

"'Prepare Ye for That Which Is to Come,'" in Doctrine and Covenants Symposium Speeches, 1989, pp. 1-6.

Harold B. Lee

"Loyalty" (address to religious educators, 8 July 1966).

"Objectives of Church Education" (address to religious educators, 17 June 1970).

"The Mission of Church Schools" (address to religious educators, 21 Aug. 1953).

"The Place of the Living Prophet, Seer, and Revelator" (address to religious educators, 8 July 1964).

"Viewpoint of a Giant" (address to religious educators, 18 July 1968).

Neal A. Maxwell

"But a Few Days" (address to religious educators, 1982).

"The Challenge of Democracy" (address at the Commissioner's Lecture Series, 24 Feb. 1972).

"The Gospel Gives Answers to Life's Problems" (address to religious educators, Summer 1970).

"'If Thou Endure Well'" (D&C 121:8) (address delivered at a BYU fifteen-stake fireside, 2 December 1984).

"The Old Testament: Relevancy within Antiquity," in Symposium on the Old Testament [1979], pp. 8-18.

"Teaching by the Spirit--'The Language of Inspiration,'" in Old Testament Symposium Speeches, 1991, pp. 1-6.

"Those Seedling Saints Who Sit before You," in 1983 Old Testament Symposium Supplement, pp. 1-6.

Bruce R. McConkie

"And Are Alike unto God," in Charge to Religious Educators, 2d ed. [1982], pp. 152-55.

"The Bible, a Sealed Book," in Supplement, a Symposium on the New Testament, 1984, pp. 1-7.

"The Book of Mormon--Its Eternal Destiny," in Symposium on the Book of Mormon [1978], pp. 1-2.

"Finding Answers to Gospel Questions" (letter dated 1 July 1980).

"The Foolishness of Teaching" (address to religious educators, 18 Sept. 1981).

"The Seven Deadly Heresies," in 1980 Devotional Speeches of the Year (Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 1981), pp. 74-80.

Thomas S. Monson

"Only a Teacher," in Conference Report, Apr. 1970, pp. 97-100; or Improvement Era, June 1970, pp. 90-91.

"True Shepherds after the Way of the Lord," in Charge to Religious Educators. 2d ed. [1982], pp. 77-79.

Russell M. Nelson

"Jesus the Christ--Our Master and More," in New Testament Symposium Speeches, 1992, pp. 1-6.

"Twenty Questions" (address to religious educators, 13 Sept. 1985).

Dallin H. Oaks

"Reading Church History," in Doctrine and Covenants and Church History Symposium Speeches, [1985], pp. 1-5.

"Revelation," in 1981-82 Fireside and Devotional Speeches (Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 1982), pp. 20-26.

"Sins, Crimes, and Atonement" (address to religious educators, 7 Feb. 1992).

Boyd K. Packer

"The Candle of the Lord," Ensign, Jan. 1983, pp. 51-56.

"Equally Yoked Together" (address delivered at a Regional Representatives' seminar, 3 Apr. 1975).

"The Great Plan of Happiness" (address to religious educators, 10 Aug. 1993).

"The Ideal Teacher" (address to religious educators, 28 June 1962).

"The Mantle is Far, Far Greater than the Intellect" (address to religious educators, 22 Aug. 1981).

"Problems in Teaching the Moral Standard" (address to religious educators, 15 July 1958).

"Self Reliance," in Speeches of the Year, 1975 (Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 1976), pp. 343-60.

"Teach the Scriptures" (address to religious educators, 14 Oct. 1977).

"To Those Who Teach in Troubled Times" (address to religious educators, Summer 1970).

L. Tom Perry

"'If Ye Receive Not the Spirit, Ye Shall Not Teach,'" in Book Of Mormon Symposium Speeches, 1986, and an Evening with Elder L. Tom Perry, pp. 33-37.

Mark E. Petersen

"Avoiding Sectarianism" (address to religious educators, 22 June 1962).

"Revelation" (address to religious educators, 24 Aug. 1954).

Marion G. Romney

"The Charted Course Reaffirmed" (address to religious educators, 12 Sept. 1980).

"The Message of the Old Testament," in A Symposium on the Old Testament [1979], pp. 1-7.

Richard G. Scott

"Four Fundamentals for Those Who Teach and Inspire Youth," in Old Testament Symposium Speeches, 1987, pp. 1-6.

Joseph Fielding Smith

"Fall--Atonement--Resurrection--Sacrament" (address to religious educators, 14 Jan. 1961).

Untitled talk on patriarchal blessings (address to religious educators. 15 June 1956).

A. Theodore Tuttle

"Men with a Message" (address to religious educators, 1958).

"Teaching the Word to the Rising Generation" (address to religious educators, 10 July 1970).

Charge to Religious Educators

3rd EditionThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1994.

Contents

Excerpts quoted in the book

Partial list of talks relative to religious educators

3rd Edition
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1994.