Cook - Deep and Lasting Conversion to Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ - October 2018

Elder Cook addresses the changes made at the beginning of conference by President Russell M. Nelson about the new curriculum and shortened meeting schedules for church worship. He begins by telling us that there has been consideration of these changes for some time.

• Church leaders have been working for a long time on “a home-centered and Church-supported plan to learn doctrine, strengthen faith, and foster greater personal worship.”
  

He explains the new Sunday meeting schedule.

• The Sunday Church meetings will consist of a 60-minute sacrament meeting each Sunday, focused on the Savior, the ordinance of the sacrament, and spiritual messages. After time for transition to classes, Church members will attend a 50-minute class that will alternate each Sunday:
  • Sunday School will be held on the first and third Sundays of the month.
    
  • Priesthood quorums, Relief Society, and Young Women meetings will be held on the second and fourth Sundays.
  • Meetings on the fifth Sunday will be under the direction of the bishop.
  • Primary will be held each week during this same 50-minute period and will include singing time and classes.

Elder Cook discusses the reason for the adjustment and what is hoped will be accomplished by this change.

• The purposes of the adjustment are to help each of us. The purposes include:
  • Deepening conversion to Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and strengthening faith in Them.
  • Strengthening individuals and families through home-centered, Church-supported curriculum that contributes to joyful gospel living.
  • Honoring the Sabbath day, with a focus on the ordinance of the sacrament.
  • Helping all of Heavenly Father’s children on both sides of the veil through missionary work and receiving ordinances and covenants and blessings of the temple.

The Come, Follow Me family resource will be used to bring greater harmonization to church teachings and teachings in the home. The lessons and discussions will be coordinated and helpful topic discussions will be provided in the teaching curriculum.

• Family and individual gospel study at home will be significantly enhanced by a harmonized curriculum and a new Come, Follow Me resource for individuals and families that is coordinated with what is being taught in Sunday School and Primary.
  
• The new home-study resource provides “Ideas for Family Scripture Study and Family Home Evening.” The outlines for each week contain helpful study ideas and activities for individuals and families.
  

Elder Cook outlines that the world is getting more difficult to live in and these changes will serve several purposes. The First Presidency in recent years has focused on four key areas to help us in these times of difficulty.

• World conditions increasingly require deepening individual conversion to and strengthening faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and His Atonement. The Lord has prepared us, line upon line, for the perilous times that we now face. In recent years, the Lord has guided us to address related core concerns, including:
  
  • Honoring the Sabbath day and the sacred ordinance of the sacrament has again been emphasized for the last three years.
    
  • Under the bishop’s direction, strengthened elders quorums and Relief Societies are focused on the purpose and divinely appointed responsibilities of the Church and helping members make and keep sacred covenants.
  • Ministering in a higher and holier way is being joyfully adopted.
  • Beginning with the end in mind, temple covenants and family history service are becoming a purposeful part of the covenant path.

He reemphasizes that these changes are meant to provide guidance in our times today.

• The adjustment announced this morning is yet another example of guidance for the challenges of our day.

One of the main areas of concern by the First Presidency is personal religious observance. They are aware that personal righteousness is a great strength to the family and individual. This change will help strengthen those that commit to learning.

• The new home-centered and Church-supported curriculum needs to influence more powerfully family religious observance and behavior and personal religious observance and behavior.
  
• Our purpose is to balance the Church and the home experiences in a way that will greatly increase faith and spirituality and deepen conversion to Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
  

Finally, Elder Cook concludes with his final thoughts that Sunday worship will be enhanced if we choose to make the Sabbath Day family time and meaningful to our worship.

• We are confident that members will be blessed in extraordinary ways. Sunday can be a day of gospel learning and teaching at church and in the home. As individuals and families engage in family councils, family history, ministering, service, personal worship, and joyful family time, the Sabbath day will truly be a delight.

As these changes were announced I was happy to see more emphasis on the family unit. Our church leaders have changed from providing the needed spiritual guidance on the Sabbath to providing necessary support to families growing more in the gospel. I have several friends with small kids that welcome this change as it will be more effective to have gospel learning in the home rather than in a classroom setting. One put it to me as it will be easier to teach my kids the gospel in my living room rather then in the hallways at church. I am so excited to see this change as I believe it will enhance the spirituality of our families and of each of us. But we must commit to making these changes work for our families. One less hour of church doesn't mean one more hour of Netflix each week. If that is all we get out of this change, we will miss the point of what our church leaders are directing us to do.