Double and Halve
The plan announced yesterday by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is that starting in September the ward Relief Societies, young women’s classes, priesthood quorums, and Sunday schools will meet twice as often for half as long. Motives for the change stated in the announcement are, “Gathering weekly in every [Sunday school] class helps deepen gospel learning by connecting it more closely to personal and family study,” and “There is additive strength that comes when we meet each week to counsel, learn, and support one another [in Relief Society].”
As I contemplate the change it is easy to turn to grumbling, murmuring mode, so I, and maybe you, will need to keep that in check as we consider what is going on and how this is going to work.
Seven Years of Two-Hour Church
We have had seven years now with the current Sunday arrangement, and a change from the top would indicate that the results of that could be improved upon. The twenty-year-olds of today, both missionaries and less active, were thirteen in 2019. Apparently they could have used “deepe[r] gospel learning” and “additive strength” from “counsel[ing}” and “support[ing] one another.” It is hoped the coming change will give the current youth more of that.
The Modal Church Unit is Weak
Central church leaders value uniformity throughout the church. A small ward or branch cannot function like a larger fully capable ward, but a capable ward can do less together and hope that families and individuals will use their reduced church involvement to do righteous good elsewhere on their own. That latter half is an aspiration that Bookslinger advocated at this web site whenever I would fret about a church with shrinking institutional aims.
The modal church unit has attending each Sunday: one teen-aged priest, one teacher, and one deacon. Two of them are brothers and the third lives eight miles from the other two. (Seven years ago in this modal ward you would see one priest, two teachers, and three deacons.) The three or five young men in the modal unit have said all they need to say with one another in less than half an hour. The modal teacher in the modal unit doesn’t have enough knowledge and experience in the gospel to keep a lesson going beyond half an hour.
Short Attention Span Theater
As part of the Spirit of the Age, gospel learning and supporting one another can only happen in small bites before boredom and scrolling for something else sets in. Worship in the House of Lord has adapted to this (pared down and down, and please come more frequently than before), and our Sunday second hour will too.
We all have some work ahead to make this work, many changes to figure out in September from how we are doing things now.
Sute
March 31, 2026
I’m still here thinking the real issue was a facilities management one. Some places are declining many are growing. The church throwing up buildings everywhere and having others get used less is hugely inefficient. Especially when you consider most of the time they aren’t used at all.
Two hour church absolutely allowed the church to cancel some construction projects
The issue with split weeks for the 2nd hour was few people knew what was going on, and fewer still cares what was going on. While this is no doubt better in some respects, better yet in my view to just combine RS and EQ and have them alternate weeks teaching. They should then be encouraged to have each have 1 meeting/activities separately during the month and 1 combined activity during the month..The Missionary and Temple Committees would be responsible for planning the activities under their direction.
That’s my operational management perspective. Not claiming revelation etc.
As far as the lessons in their future format with half as much time. I’m good with it. Personally, I think we throw too much content at people and expect it to stick. Distill the lesson down to what’s most important in your planning. In your teaching, provide the necessary foundation to build up to that main point, hit the main point. Discuss it. Remphasize it, and the close the meeting.
My primary lessons take a similar approach. We focus on a key scripture and point from the lesson after sharing the story to give context. We don’t need endless quotes and reading.
Ugly Mahana
March 31, 2026
In some respects (and, hopefully, in a good way) adult and youth Sunday School may end operating like sharing time in Primary, with one general theme, with more specific breakout groups able to make more specific applications.
Ugly Mahana
March 31, 2026
End= end up
John Mansfield
March 31, 2026
Yes, UM, Primary has been doing this already with two short segments. It will be something to see how adopting quick transitions will go. Seven years ago we were told to only pray together once for Sunday School or quorum meeting. About 90% of the time the teacher or person conducting would note, “Well, we’re not going pray.” I told my counselors in the elders quorum presidency when I was called in 2022 to not say that. Half a year later, the chuch surrendered and reinstated opening prayer for second hour following the Sacrament Service.
After September will we pray together five times within 63 minutes?
My elders quorum stopped singing together in 2019 when we no longer had an opening with the Aaronic priesthood quorums. In 2022 my quorum started singing a hymn together in our meeting again. Will that have to be given up after September?
John Mansfield
March 31, 2026
Sute, thanks for sharing your views. I don’t share some of them, so they are useful to hear.
It is a long time since I was in a ward that shared a building with more than one other ward. Four in a building seems pretty rough, not just because of Sundays, but also working out youth evenings, ward Christmas parties, and more. If we aim to do less and less together, maybe it works out. Maybe making it hard to work out is meant as a guide toward trying to do less and less together.
G.
March 31, 2026
All I want is priesthood opening exercises back
(And priesthood session, only available at the church)
Rozy
March 31, 2026
I’m so glad that we’ll have SS and RS each week. And NO, I don’t ever want to combine with the priesthood. I, and many other sisters won’t ever open up about challenges I’m having in front of men.
As far as lessons go, I would love to have lessons that distilled the subject, whether scriptures or conference talks, to the three points that Elder Bednar says should be in a good lesson: doctrine, invitation to act, and promised blessings for doing so. My thought is that we need more invitations to action, to be doers of the word not hearers only. We all should have studied the material before class and come to class prepared to share insights gained, or examples of the doctrine and principals in our lives, bear testimony and be done.
Perhaps the younger generation will embrace that model and the church can move forward. Our current Gospel Doctrine teacher gives a lesson like it’s still the 90’s. And the RS, although better, never invite us to act upon what we’re discussing. I just always feel that something is missing.
Marilyn
April 13, 2026
Not that this is the only okay way to respond, but I loved what our bishop said after reading the announcement from the church. “We’ve found that over and over, no matter what we think at first, these changes the church makes have blessed our families as we follow them.”
It was just such a contrast from another forum I ran across where everyone was scoffing, saying what a waste of time this would be, it would never work, now sunday school would be even more pointless, etc. (And this isn’t some sideways swipe at anything here. I appreciate the faithful discussion here.) But I was just struck by and could FEEL the difference between saying, “Huh, interesting, I wonder why the church is making this change but okay! It’s gonna be great!” and saying “Ugh, what are they thinking”. Made me love my bishop for saying that
G.
April 14, 2026
Your Bishop, and you, are a breath of fresh air.