church sunday school come follow me question

[josesinrra]

Hello,

My name is Jose Rivas and I am the sunday school president in my stake, and I have the following question.

I was reading some of the material for 2019 and realized that the "come follow me - Sunday School" Manual has a lesson per week in order to follow what is being taught in the family and as individual, then I realized that the manual follows week after week and not every other week lesson, for example it goes like feb 4-10 and the next lesson is for feb 11-17 and so on, but since sunday school will be held the first and third sunday of the month, shouldn't be for example feb 4-10 and the next lesson feb 18-24, taking off the week in between? should we just jump that week for ourselves? or should we have two lessons per sunday in order to catch up with the program? or what should we do?

Thanks in advance

[nmecantwin73]

The information about the Sabbath Day changes on ComeFollowMe.lds.org includes information about Sunday School lessons.

See number four on this page: https://www.lds.org/bc/content/ldsorg/g ... 00_FAQ.pdf

With Sunday School classes held every other week, leaders and teachers will need to adapt their materials, which currently include lessons for each week of the year. While individuals and families continue reading at home according to the weekly schedule in Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families, Sunday School leaders and teachers will need to select material from one or more lessons in order to stay aligned with the individuals and families resource...

[josesinrra]

Thank you!

[sbradshaw]

The 2019 Come Follow Me manuals were prepared before it was decided, or before it was announced, that the Sunday meeting schedule would be changing. I wonder if the 2020 manual will be adjusted to accommodate the meeting schedule better. That said, if weekly study at home is to become the focus, with the classes at Church only to support study at home, maybe there's no need for an adjustment.

[lajackson]

I wonder if the 2020 manual will be adjusted to accommodate the meeting schedule better.

We will only know when the 2020 materials are published, but my opinion is that they will be adjusted. In the meantime, we have been given latitude to discuss any or all parts of the two weeks of study in our classes on Sunday.

[SwitzerJR]

I so wish that someone would have identified the reason for having a lesson for every week of the year in the Come Follow Me - For Sunday School manual up front, when the manual was identified for use. Not identifying that reason (and the reason for the fifty lessons in the For Individuals and Families manual has unnecessarily confused a lot of people.

[lajackson]

I so wish that someone would have identified the reason for having a lesson for every week of the year in the Come Follow Me - For Sunday School manual up front, when the manual was identified for use. Not identifying that reason (and the reason for the fifty lessons in the For Individuals and Families manual has unnecessarily confused a lot of people.

It is really quite simple. When the study guide was being developed and published, Sunday School was still a weekly meeting. There were 50 lessons instead of 52 to account for two general conferences during the year.

After the manual was developed and published, the two-hour meeting decision was announced and Sunday School became a twice a month meeting. I am confident that manuals in the future will only have 24 lessons (or perhaps 22 since general conference is usually held on the first week in April and October. Although the manual for next year may again be weekly, since we are supposed to be studying the gospel each day in our homes. Sunday School is intended to supplement our gospel study, not provide it.

The lead time to develop study materials is lengthy. Revelation comes much more frequently, especially lately with President Nelson as our new prophet.

And as a matter of full disclosure, I have no special insight into these things. I know about them because I read the Church News each week, which anyone is able to do because it is online. Many of these things are also in the Come Follow Me materials themselves, and at the website discussing the new program.

[aebrown]

I am confident that manuals in the future will only have 24 lessons (or perhaps 22 since general conference is usually held on the first week in April and October. Although the manual for next year may again be weekly, since we are supposed to be studying the gospel each day in our homes. Sunday School is intended to supplement our gospel study, not provide it.

I wouldn't be surprised if we continue to have 50 Sunday School lessons. This is perfectly aligned with home-centered gospel study. The lessons in Come, Follow Me—For Sunday School exactly correspond to the lessons in Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families. That fits perfectly with the philosophy of home-centered, Church-supported gospel instruction.

Sunday School teachers will need to seek inspiration to choose which parts of the lessons to address in the class which does not meet every Sunday. But many weeks could pass between Sunday School classes. As an extreme example, a stake conference could occur on the 3rd Sunday of September, which has a 5th Sunday, followed by general conference in October. In that case, a Sunday School class would meet on the first Sunday of September and the next class would be on the third Sunday of October -- a full 7 weeks later. Gospel learning in the home would continue unabated, covering 6 weeks of material during that time. But no matter what happens with the schedule, it's clear that gospel study by individuals and families is the primary focus and should never be interrupted by what may happen with Sunday meeting schedules.

[sbradshaw]

Add in a temple dedication and/or regional conference and it could be 9+ weeks.

[donasp]

I have read the posts here as well as additional information from the church on LDS.org after these posts and must say I am very confused regarding Sunday school lessons. Study at home is very easy to follow. The LDS.org web site article at https://www.lds.org/study/manual/come-f ... 39PP-D5D1w ends with a chart that details lessons listed under Sunday school and under EQ Relief society. Are these the lessons to be given in those meetings. That is to say, is one lesson from the Sunday school manual to be given in Sunday school and then the next lesson in the Sunday school manual to be given in EQ relief society. Or does the Sunday school teacher utilize information for two lessons from the manual for one lesson presentation as directed by the spirit. The fact that all students are reading from what obviously was intended to be the teacher's manual and that there is no student manual and that the manual does not reflect the change to the two hour block has made this very confusing. Looking forward to your response as soon as possible so I can provide this information to our teachers and students.