The new third hour curriculum

[sparky]

So I thought I was up on the changes, but apparently I missed something. EQ Pres just said that the topic for the fourth Sunday will be determined by Salt Lake leadership, and it will be the same topic until the next conference. So between now and April conference we're going to have three EQ lessons on Sabbath Day, then they'll switch the fourth Sunday topic until the next conference.

As if the lessons weren't boring and repetitive enough. This is entering Poe's Law, self-parody territory.

[Hagoth]

Ugh. Sounds dreadful. I'm sure tithing will be high on the list of topics.

I was tempted to hang around for HPG today to see what the new 1st Sunday council, which our group leader promised would be "historic," would be like. I bailed out before Sunday school. I guess I'll have to let that piece of history pass me by.

[lostinmiddlemormonism]

I was going to take popcorn, but then thought better of it. I reasoned that like everything else Moron it would be all hat, and no cattle. I was right, much ado about nothing. 14 old guys in a room trying to figure out how to fill 45 minutes without even a conference talk to read. Booooooorrrrriiiiinnng!

[nibbler]

So I thought I was up on the changes, but apparently I missed something. EQ Pres just said that the topic for the fourth Sunday will be determined by Salt Lake leadership, and it will be the same topic until the next conference. So between now and April conference we're going to have three EQ lessons on Sabbath Day, then they'll switch the fourth Sunday topic until the next conference.

Yes, it's going to be this. SLC sets the topic for most lessons. SS? All correlated in a manual, no outside material please. PH/RS? 2nd and 3rd Sunday is conference talks and the 4th is also set by church leaders, no outside material please.

I'm super curious as to how everyone's first council meeting went. In the one I attended we took turns reading directly from some church materials. No different than what we do every Sunday. Part of me wants to say that this was the first attempt and these councils will become more councily over time. The other part of me says, "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss." Old habits...

But given the curriculum for the new year and how I imagine councils working out I think my new years resolution will be to cut church down to two hours.

[Just This Guy]

So the church has found a way to be even lazier in their correlation committee. Instead of having to come up with a different lesson each week, now they only need e repeated every week for months. Hours and hours of labor saved by LDS Inc.

[Just This Guy]

So the church has found a way to be even lazier in their correlation committee. Instead of having to come up with a different lesson each week, now they only need one repeated every week for months. Hours and hours of labor saved by LDS Inc.

[Red Ryder]

I managed to skip EQ every week in 2017. I planned the same for 2018.

Nope. Surprise visit by parents this weekend resulted in taking my HP father to EQ.

5 minutes in the EQP was explaining what the councils were all about and then suggested everyone look around and see who is not there. Then he asked why they weren't there? Yup, the inactive are offended, uncomfortable because they don't know anyone, and possibly sinning. Then it turned into a home teaching lesson and why 60% was not good enough.

I'm going back to my SM only schedule immediately for the rest of the year.

New program; same stupid results.

[Mormorrisey]

I was planning on going to the meeting just to ensure they weren't talking about me specifically, and then I thought, "why do I even care?" So I enjoyed not going to the last meeting, which was the right choice. Made my Sunday.

[MoPag]

I'm super curious as to how everyone's first council meeting went.

Meh... my RSP had visiting teaching as the focus for our council. It turns out a big reason our numbers are so low is because lots of sisters loose the little slips that have their vt assignment on them. Who knew?

[Corsair]

So the church has found a way to be even lazier in their correlation committee. Instead of having to come up with a different lesson each week, now they only need e repeated every week for months. Hours and hours of labor saved by LDS Inc.

They are no longer distributing those "Teachings of the Living Prophets" manuals. It's funny to think about the mine field of information they left out of those books.

I have to give some credit to my EQ president yesterday. He openly stated that 3rd hour might be the most boring and awkward experience we have had in church. But he did a surprisingly good job going over the recommended format of this new meeting. Then he got us to put our chairs in a circle and had a borderline useful discussion about mentoring and retaining youth.

Usually I attend with the Priests quorum, but I wanted to see how this would proceed today. It's clear that a monthly opening for the Gospel Topic Essays is now on the agenda in my ward. I will probably stick with EQ during 3rd hour for the impending awkwardness of seeing a look of panic on the face of the EQ Presidency when "someone" (yes, probably me) brings up the Gospel Topic Essays as both the problem and a mixed-bag of solutions for members of the LDS church today.

[Jeffret]

Then he got us to put our chairs in a circle and had a borderline useful discussion about mentoring and retaining youth.

Did you come up with any solutions, particularly on that latter part. I'm curious on that one.

[shadow]

I've had very spotty attendance to EQ over the past couple years, but I was curious how this new format would be in practice. And also wanted to make sure I wasn't being discussed.

Our EQ meets in the gym and is relatively small, so we already commonly put the chairs in a circle, so that was familiar. We spent time going over how the new councils would work. They actually did a really good job as describing the meeting as a safe space. That just as there are no stupid questions, there are no stupid comments. That we will not be discussing any individuals. After spending a fair amount of time going over the ground rules, they presented the topic for this month - pornography.

I was ready for it to turn south, but it actually turned out pretty well. There were a few people who dominated the discussion and the early parts of the discussion were about web filters and laptop rules and public spaces, etc. But then another brother started talking about how all that is fine, but we need to be able to talk to our kids, have open communication, and teach and trust. Then I made a comment about how the constant focus by the church may contribute to any problem because it creates a culture of shame that can lead to a negative shame cycle.

We didn't have a lot of time for the discussion, which was fine with me, but I was impressed with how my EQ presidency handled the new format.

[Corsair]

Then he got us to put our chairs in a circle and had a borderline useful discussion about mentoring and retaining youth.

Did you come up with any solutions, particularly on that latter part. I'm curious on that one.

No, the discussion ended before it could interesting, unfortunately. But the seeds of controversy have been planted. My EQ Pres made an honest effort to get other quorum members to suggest topics and this was not suggested by me. But, I do approve and expect things to get interesting over the next few months. The EQ president is a good friend of mine and I may make some creative suggestions going forward when we talk outside the meeting.