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Last Sunday my HP Group Leader said he wanted me to teach the HP’s. I can choose my own topic. To give you some background, our ward was reorganized about a year ago. Within our ward, we have a mixture of people from various walks of life. We have young married students, older retired members, single adults, large young families, inner city members & high income suburban. We have former SP’s, Bishops, High Council members & Stake RS Presidents. We have new converts & families who are related to GA’s.
We have some members that have never given a talk or had a calling (as best as I can tell.) As a result, there is very little discussion in class, or a meeting of the minds or sharing of personal experiences or personal opinions. I don’t think any of this is unusual. Many of you on this site probably have similar situations.
Before I give you some of the topics I’ve been considering,
What would you do?
What topic would you present for discussion?
I can’t give specific topics with any confidence, but whatever you present should be something you feel strongly about, have very good, and hopefully practical ideas to go with it, and that you are comfortable sharing. I have a few ideas
Wirthlin’s talk on Concern for the One
Uchdorfts talk on doubting your doubts
Talks about building community in the church that transcends activity, status, and other personal differences
Just a few ideas. I personally would try to make people think that’s for sure, and would try to rock the boat without sinking the ship.
I think it is good to find out what is relevant to the class, to the ward members themselves. WHat I may find interesting and we talk about in this forum may be blah or stupid to those sitting there. And you aren’t the kind of person to use the mic as a time for advancing your own agendas, knowing your personality.
So…with that…
Have you found any particular topics at church that were only one-sided and you could sense the other group didn’t have a voice? You could draw more people in if you gave them that voice.
I would probably try to find a couple of the quiet ones, or maybe less active ones…and just ask them what are some good topics they care about.
When I taught Gospel Principles class…I actually passed around a clipboard to solicit topics for future lessons. It wasn’t often filled out…but I did get people request we talk about obedience and the November policy towards LGBT children. And that was good to incorporate into future lessons.
I just asked them…”What topics are you interested in discussing in future classes?” …and that gave some quiet people the opportunity to anonymously voice some questions they had on their mind.
Having said that…I had to find tactful ways to respond to topics like “Trump” or other political issues, maybe still address and not dismiss it, but also explain the class did have boundaries of topics.
If you don’t know from anyone else what they are thinking or wanting…I would just do some trial and error and see what gets the most reaction and discussion in class.
For me, it was talking about divorce families in the ward. We have several, and of course, my own experience, and many have brothers or sisters divorced and feel awkward in a family centered church. We talked about love and acceptance, while also talking about strengthening families.
That is one topic.
Another relevant one is a discussion like Reuben’s class…on why some fall away, and how we should view them as faithful members. Most wards have many inactives…we should be asking ourselves…why do they not come? How can we make them feel more comfortable or more relevant to their lives?
How do we make church less boring? I think by focusing on true gospel principles…we need to dive deeper into true learning principles…and avoid skimming the surface with regurgitated stories that are plain vanilla and boring.
Other topics can be from the recent general conference talks. They are fair game. Even the ones that bug you (if there are any like that). Because they are new and relevant and fresh.
As always…the topics should be things that help class members and things they can apply to their lives. With such diversity in your ward…you probably can’t miss.
Most of the time, I found people don’t care too much…they just want to come to church, have a half-way decent class, and go home. They aren’t sitting and thinking about wanting a whole lot. For those…I just find they like personal stories to show how these church things really apply to our lives today…and makes them think a little about it. But…mostly…they just want some positive and uplifting thoughts and stories…and then go home. Authenticity is key when teaching.
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