Stokes Sounds Off: 12/15/20

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Tuesday, December 15, 2020

BREAKING NEWS: Further Adjustments Announced to More Fully Align Seminary and Institute with the "Come Follow Me" Curriculum

Hello again, everyone! As some of you might recall, in March of last year, Church leaders announced that  the seminary curriculum schedule would be adjusted to align with "Come Follow Me" starting this year. Fast forward to today. The Church just announced a short while ago that additional adjustments are on the way for seminary students in 2021. Previously, the seminary study involved a 9-month schedule aligned with corresponding reading assignments for other Church Sunday School classes and home study schedulee, with students essentially being placed on the honor system to continue their personal study of the applicable book of scripture when school was not in session during the summer months.

In order to ensure greater accountability in personal study with the seminary curriculum, Church leaders today unveiled new requirements that are consistent with standards that existed when I was in seminary 16-19 years ago (Has it really been that long? Apparently so.) During the period of time when school is not in session, seminary students will be responsible for reading through the curriculum and essentially learning the lessons personally when they are not being taught in class (that had only been optional wihen last year's announcement was made.)

Additionally, a new reading requirement will go into effect, In order to obtain seminary credit for any given academic semester, students will need to read in the relevant book of scripture 75% of the days in each semester. With a school year in the United States lasting roughly 180 days, each semester is roughly 90 days, which means that, in order to obtain seminary credit for any 90-day semester, students in the United States will be required to read from the relevant book of scripture 67-68 of those days.

Despite the relatively minor adjustments made to the seminary curriculum and requirements, this is another example of the Church taking action to place more responsibility for spirtual growth and progression on the shoulders of seminary students in this particular case, which is similar to individual and familial responsibility that has been put into place in conjunction with the "Come Follow Me" curriculum. Any additional details on this development can be found in the official notice that was released in conunction with this announcment. I am grateful to have been able to learn of and pass along this news.

I continue to monitor all other Church news and temple developments, and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as they occur. That does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

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