Concerns about assigning General Conference talks as sacrament meeting topics

20 September 2017

Bishops and Branch Presidents…

(If the following applies to your bishopric or presidency, please forward this email to your counselors)

General Conference talks are excellent material for classroom study and discussion, as we do regularly in the third-hour instruction for adults. 

However, assigning someone to speak about a General Conference talk does not make for a good sacrament meeting topic.  

If you are doing this in your ward or branch, will you please discontinue the practice? 

If you want to know the reasons why we ask this and the alternative for you to consider, see below.

Thank you very much,

President Lewis

WHY WE ASK YOU NOT TO ASSIGN GENERAL CONFERENCE TALKS TO SACRAMENT MEETING SPEAKERS 

Brethren,

Thank you for your many efforts to make sacrament meetings a spiritual feast. However, we’ve noticed lately a tendency in some wards/branches to assign General Conference talks to speakers. This is understandable because General Conference talks are obviously messages worthy of being heard again, and it lightens the burden on the priesthood leader who assigns speakers to come up with topics.

However, the downside is significant because members speaking about a General Conference talk will often…

 ….turn their talk into a “book report” about the General Conference message instead of preparing through their own study of the gospel;

….read large portions of the talk making it difficult for the congregation to follow;

…reflect the General Authority’s feelings and not the feelings of their own heart. 

When assigning talks, you may want to give the members several references, including General Conference talks, to help guide them in their study. We realize this puts an added burden on the priesthood leader who assigns the talks.

That burden can be reduced greatly by sharing the responsibility with others, such as…

...invite ward or branch council members to come up with sacrament meeting topics—topics that are timely to meet the needs of the ward or branch;

…invite council members to identify references in the scriptures, General Conference talks, etc. applicable to each topic to be assigned;

…invite council members to recommend those who could be blessed to speak on which topic.

Assigning sacrament meeting speakers ultimately is the responsibility of the bishopric or branch presidency. But please involve the ward or branch council in: (1) helping to identify the topics;  (2) developing references in support of each topic; and (3) recommending the names of those who could be blessed by the opportunity to speak in sacrament meeting.

There’s another way the ward or branch council can help: when a member is terrified by the thought of speaking in sacrament meeting, invite a ward/branch council member (or a counselor or anyone he or she chooses to assign) to serve as a personal coach or mentor.

Thank you for giving this your immediate attention and for all that you do to make sacrament meetings the spiritual feast—the healing balm—for all who come each Sunday to feel again the Lord’s love and seek His miraculous hand in their lives.

Gratefully,

The Stake Presidency