Church Educational System

In the LDS Church, the word seminary refers to religious education programs designed for secondary students. These are programs of religious education for youth aged 14–18 that accompany the students' secular education. In areas with large concentrations of Latter-day Saints, such as in and around the Mormon Corridor in the United States, instruction is offered on a released time basis during the normal school day in meetinghouses, or facilities built specifically for seminary programs, adjacent to public schools. Released-time seminary classes are generally taught by full-time employees. In areas with smaller LDS populations early-morning or home-study seminary programs are offered. Early-morning seminary classes are held daily before the normal school day in private homes or in meetinghouses and are taught by volunteer teachers. Home-study seminary classes are offered where geographic dispersion of students is so great that it is not feasible to meet on a daily basis. Home-study seminary students study daily, but meet only once a week as a class. Home-study classes are usually held in connection with weekly youth fellowship activities on a weekday evening.[7] The church is piloting an online version of home-study seminary which allows for more student participation and communication. This helps provide a greater sense of community and connection as well as a chance to learn the gospel in a similar way that students do in areas with a larger concentrations of LDS youth.[8]

The seminary program provides extensive study of theology, using as texts the church's "standard works" (Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants) throughout the school week, in addition to normal Sunday classes. The four courses are taught, one per year, on a rotating basis.[7] Historically, seminary students were encouraged to study each scriptural text on their own time and to memorize a total of 100 scriptural passages or "scriptural mastery" verses during their participation in the four-year program. In 2016, the focus turned from scripture mastery to doctrinal mastery.[9] For many years, the curriculum has followed the standard school year for most seminary students. However, in March 2019, the LDS Church announced that the curriculum would be changed to align with the home-centered, church-supported curriculum changes announced in the church's October 2018 general conference.[10]

Students who enroll in post-secondary education and young adults ages 18–30 receive religious education through institutes of religion.[11] CES Institutes served over 350,000 students worldwide in 2005.[12] Many colleges throughout the United States either have institute buildings or active programs near their campuses. Sometimes classes occur in ward buildings, office buildings, or private homes. Teachers can be either volunteers or paid employees.[11]

The first Institute of Religion was established in northern Idaho at Moscow, adjacent to the University of Idaho. Currently the largest enrollment is at Utah State University in Logan, Utah. The largest enrollment outside the state of Utah is at Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho.

In 1886, the Mexican state of Chihuahua housed an outpost for Latter-day Saints fleeing anti-polygamy laws in the US.[6]^: 389 In an attempt to escape persecution, more than three hundred Latter-day Saints settled in nine different communities in Chihuahua and Sonora.[6]^: 390 The Academia Juárez was opened in 1887.[6]^: 389

The Juárez Stake Academy was first established in September 1897 with 291 students. Located within the church's Colonia Juárez in Chihuahua, the school was similar to academies in the Utah territory and provided English-language instruction intended for "an Anglo population."[6]^: 391 The school was not closed when other academies were closed in the 1920s and 1930s, likely because public school education in Mexico during the Mexican Revolution was inadequate.[6]^: 392 Settlers from Utah Territory remained isolated and aloof from native Mexicans, celebrating American holidays and teaching in English.[6]^: 393 Moises de la Pena, a Mexican academic, declared that the school was an "illegal privilege" in 1950.[6]^{: 394–395} The school is still in operation, with 418 students as of the 2012–2013 school year, and approximately 80% of the students are members of the church. The school now utilizes a unique dual-language program beginning in kindergarten and continuing through high school.

The internationalization of the LDS Church in the 1950s and 1960s corresponded with an increase in native Mexican membership. Scholarships for these members to Juárez Academy encouraged its diversification. Additionally, the Church expanded its educational program. It ran elementary schools in various places in Mexico and opened a high school in Mexico City, Centro Escolar Benemerito De Las Americas, in 1964.[6]^: 395 The curriculum changed in accordance with Mexican law, with off-campus religious instruction. Campus culture changed as schools celebrated Mexican holidays and included Mexican culture in its curriculum.[6]^: 396 In 1967, Hispanic students made up 50% of the student body.[6]^: 397 Benemerito De Las Americas closed in 2013 when the campus was converted into a Missionary Training Center.[14] As of 2014, 400 students attended Juárez Academy. Most students are Latin American, and about seventy-five percent are LDS.[6]^: 389

Initially, schools in the Pacific Islands were run by missionaries and directed by mission presidents. The Pacific Board of Education was organized in June 1957 to oversee the schools in the Pacific Islands.[15] Wendell B. Mendenhall was the first chairman of the board, with Owen J. Cook as executive secretary. The Pacific Board of Education approved faculty, wrote policies, and defined budgets. Each school in Pacific Islands has its own president/principal and administrative board.[16] The schools under the Pacific Board of Education were transferred to the Church Board of Education in 1964. In the 1970s, under the leadership of Neal A. Maxwell, church schools in the Pacific started to hire administrators from local members, in contrast to the previously American administrators.[17]

Schools established in Chile in the 1960s; at its largest, church schools had 3,000 students across eight elementary schools and one secondary school. The schools closed in the 1980s.[13]^: 97–98 Church-sponsored elementary schools opened in Lima in 1966. Over the next five years, elementary schools opened in La Paz, Bolivia and Asuncion, Paraguay.[13]^: 116

Shortly after the first mission was organized in Chile in 1961,[13]^: 102 Dale Harding became the superintendent of two elementary schools in La Cisterna and Vina del Mar, which were opened in March 1964.[13]^{: 103, 106} Rather than use the traditional lecture-exam format, teachers varied their teaching methods to include group work and in-service training.[13]^{: 111–112} After the first year, all the children passed their government-administered end-of-year exams, with many performing very well.[13]^{: 110–111} In 1967, Lyle J. Loosle became the new superintendent. Under his leadership, volunteers supported new elementary schools in Nunoa and Talcahuano.[13]^{: 114–115}

In 1970, the Church Board of Education approved the purchase of a Catholic school near Santiago.[13]^: 117 Later that year, Salvador Allende, a Marxist, was elected as president, and Church members were uncertain about the future of the LDS Church and Church schools.[13]^: 118 The minister of education requested using a church building for another session of schooling.[13]^: 120 In response, Loosle increased enrollment to ensure that the schools were always operating at full capacity. Kindergartens operated in LDS chapels in Arica, Inquique, and La Calera to keep them from being used by the government for other purposes.[13]^: 121 After Allende was overthrown, the kindergartens closed.[13]^: 129

In 1972, Jorge Rojas, the new superintendent from Mexico,[13]^: 123 dismissed two non-member teachers and made other reforms. Other teachers formed a union to protest new policies. Loosle was asked to return as superintendent after Church headquarters reassigned Rojas to a school in Mexico. Loosle dismissed teacher's union leaders when they refused to resign.[13]^: 124 The union leaders demanded reinstatement.[13]^: 125 Loosle asked teachers to repent of their unionization; some union members left the school, while others left the union. Loosle rehired some of the union leaders.[13]^: 125 In 1973, Beningno Pantoja Arratia became the new superintendent, and he made several reforms, including requiring ecclesiastical interviews.[13]^: 129 In 1970, Neal A. Maxwell became the Church Commissioner of Education, a new position overseeing Church schools, seminaries, and institutes.[13]^: 129 A 1971 policy from Maxwell stated that non-religious education should only be provided by the Church when "other educational systems are nonexistent, seriously deficient or inaccessible to our members."[13]^: 130 Chilean church schools started to close in 1977, with the Church's growth and adequate public schools given as reasons for closure.[13]^: 130 By 1981, Church schools had completely closed in Chile, Peru, Bolivia, and Paraguay.[13]^: 131

Oneida Stake Academy, Preston, Idaho

Some of academies remain historical landmarks, such as the Oneida Stake Academy and the Big Horn Academy. The Juarez Academy in Colonia Juarez, Mexico, is still operated as a secondary school by the LDS Church today.

A few church academies eventually evolved into colleges or universities. These include:

• Brigham Young Academy (founded 1875), now Brigham Young University [18]
• Salt Lake Stake Academy (founded 1886), spawning Ensign College (extant) and McCune School of Music (closed 1957) [19][20]
• Bannock Stake Academy (founded 1888), now Brigham Young University–Idaho [21]
• Sanpete Stake Academy (founded 1888), now Snow College[22]
• Weber Stake Academy (founded 1889), now Weber State University[23]
• St. Joseph Stake Academy (founded 1888), now Eastern Arizona College[24]
• St. George Stake Academy (founded 1911), now Utah Tech University.[25]

The LDS Church also established formal colleges and universities:

• University of Nauvoo was a community resource for academic learning established by the Nauvoo charter.
• University of Deseret (1850), now the University of Utah[26]
• Brigham Young College in Logan, Utah (1877–1926)
• The Church University, also called Young University, (1891–94), absorbed into the University of Utah and LDS University[20]
• Church College of Hawaii (1955), now Brigham Young University–Hawaii

In the mid-20th century, the church established secondary schools outside of the United States to provide education where it was not fully available. These include:

• Church College of New Zealand (1958–2009)[27]
• Benemerito De Las Americas (1964–2013) (Mexico City) — On January 29, 2013, the LDS Church announced the school would be closed and converted into a Missionary Training Center (MTC) at the end of the 2012–13 school year. The new MTC opened in June 2013.[28][29]

• BYU Salt Lake Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
• BYU Jerusalem Center, Jerusalem, Israel
• BYU Barlow Center, Washington, D.C.
• BYU London Centre, London, England

NOTE: Individuals with an asterisk (*) by their names serve as members of the Executive Committee of the Board. The senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve, currently Christofferson, serves as the committee's chairman. Rasband, as the only other member of the Twelve currently serving on the board, is the vice chairman of the executive committee.[31]

The office of Church Commissioner of Education was suspended in 1989, when trustees decided to deal directly with individual administrators. The position was reinstated in 1992.[33]^: 173

• Arrington, Leonard J. (Summer 1967). "The Founding of the L.D.S. Institutes of Religion." Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 2, 137-47.
• Berrett, William E. (1988). A Miracle in Weekday Religious Education: A History of the Church Educational System. Salt Lake City, UT: Salt Lake Printing Center.
• Berrett, William E. (1992). "Church Educational System (CES)". In Ludlow, Daniel H (ed.). Encyclopedia of Mormonism. New York: Macmillan Publishing. pp. 274–276. ISBN 0-02-879602-0. OCLC 24502140.
• Church Educational System (2005). Church Educational System Annual Information Update. Salt Lake City, UT: Intellectual Reserve, Inc.