The official purpose of Primary is to help parents in teaching their children to learn and live the gospel of Jesus Christ.[3] The official objectives of Primary are to:
help children grow in their understanding of the gospel plan and provide opportunities for them to live gospel principles;
help boys prepare to receive the priesthood and be worthy to use this power to bless and serve others; and
help girls prepare to be righteous young women, understand the blessings of the priesthood and the temple, and serve others.[3]
The Primary theme is "All thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children" (Isaiah 54:13).[3][4]
Format
While Primary classes will differ slightly in different regions, most meetings are standardized. For the second half of Primary, children are separated into age groups with names for each group (see below).
Where participants, classrooms or teachers are limited, multiple age-grouped classes may be taught together. In most congregations, Primary classes are co-ed.[5]
Primary begins with a prayer, scripture (or Article of Faith), and a short talk, all of these given by Primary children. About 20 minutes are then spent on music, primarily from the Children's Songbook. After music time, children are then sent to their individual classes where they are taught lessons from Come, Follow Me - For Primary.
Class names
The names of the classes in Primary have varied over time. The following is a partial list of names that have been applied to different age groups in Primary. In January 2010, the names of the classes were changed to the age of children entering the class, i.e., 4-year-olds are in the class CTR 4. Previously, names were indicative of the age children would turn the coming year, (4-year-olds in CTR 5).[5]
Age (on January 1)
Present Class Name
Past Class Names Used
3
Sunbeams
Moonbeams
4
CTR 4
Sunbeams Stars CTR 5
5
CTR 5
Stars CTR 6
6
CTR 6
Rainbows CTR 7
7
CTR 7
Zion’s Boys Zion’s Girls CTR Pilots Co-Pilots Top Pilots Targeteers CTRs CTR 8
8
Valiant 8
Zion’s Boys Zion’s Girls CTR Pilots Co-Pilots Beacons Top Pilots Targeteers CTRs Valiant 9
9
Valiant 9
Girls:
Larks Gaynotes Home Builders Lihomas Merry Miss Valiant 10 Boys: Hatchets Trail Builders Blazers Valiant 10
10
Valiant 10
Girls:
Bluebirds Firelights Hearths Home Builders Lihomas Merry Miss Valiant 11 Boys: Wagon Wheels Trail Builders Trekkers Valiant 11
11
Valiant 11
Girls:
Bluebirds Merrihands Home Builders Lihomas Merry Miss Valiant 12 Boys: Arrows Guides Trail Builders Blazers Valiant 12
A separate class, known as nursery, is held for children ages 18 months to 3. It is led under the direction of the Primary presidency by at least two people, a nursery leader and assistant nursery leader(s). Nursery leaders are required to be the same gender unless they are married.
Nursery classes have a lesson, free play time, snack time, and music time primarily using the Children's Songbook. Additionally, two prayers are given by children with help from the adult leaders. While no particular order is required, it is recommended that the order be the same every week.
Teachers use the "Behold Your Little Ones: Nursery Manual" for lesson plans and other resources.[6]
History
Primary was first organized in 1878 by Aurelia Spencer Rogers in Farmington, Utah, and adopted church-wide in 1880 under the direction of Louie B. Felt, who served as the president of the organization through 1925. Rogers was concerned because younger Latter-day Saint children had too much unsupervised time due to the long hours that fathers and older sons kept on the farms and mothers and older daughters in the home. In particular, Rogers felt that the younger boys in the community were becoming unruly and mischievous. With permission from church leaders and under the initial direction of General Relief Society President Eliza R. Snow, Rogers organized a Primary Association for her local Farmington congregation on August 11, 1878. Two weeks later, the first meeting was held on August 28, with 215 children in attendance. That day, boys were specifically taught not to steal fruit from orchards and girls were taught not to hang on wagons. In addition, they were given lessons on faith, manners, obedience, and other principles.
Beginning in April 2021, Camille N. Johnson was the Primary General President, with Susan H. Porter as First Counselor and Amy Wright as Second Counselor.[7]
In the church's April 2022 general conference, it was announced that Johnson would become the new Relief Society General President on August 1, 2022. As a result, on that date, Porter became the new Primary General President, with Wright serving as First Counselor and Tracy Y. Browning as Second Counselor.[8][9]
Chronology of the general presidency of the Primary
Primary provides Sunday teachings and church-related activities to approximately 1.1 million Latter-day Saint children.[1] In most congregations, a nursery class is available for children from 18 months to age 3. Classroom instruction begins for three-year-olds and continues to age 11, with classes grouped by age. At the beginning of the year they turn 12, children begin to attend Sunday School and the Young Men or Young Women programs. The Primary has its own songbook, made up of original songs and hymns modified for children.
Child safety
All members called to serve in a position that deals with youth or children are required to take the Church's "Protecting Children and Youth" training module which is provided on the church's website.[12]
Nursery and Primary leaders are required to release children only to members of their immediate families unless permission has been granted for someone else to pick the child up.[6]
↑ Although children had, by long-standing practice, participated in Primary until their 12th birthdays, on December 14, 2018, the First Presidencyannounced that children would advance from Primary as a group in January of the year in which they would turn 12.
In the Latter Day Saint movement, the President of the Church is generally considered to be the highest office of the church. It was the office held by Joseph Smith, founder of the movement, and the office assumed by many of Smith's claimed successors, such as Brigham Young, Joseph Smith III, Sidney Rigdon, and James Strang. Several other titles have been associated with this office, including First Elder of the church, Presiding High Priest, President of the High Priesthood, Trustee-in-Trust for the church, Prophet, Seer, Revelator, and Translator. Joseph Smith was known by all of these titles in his lifetime.
The Aaronic priesthood is the lesser of the two orders of priesthood recognized in the Latter Day Saint movement. The higher being the Melchizedek priesthood. Unlike the Melchizedek priesthood, which is modeled after the authority of Jesus and the Twelve Apostles, the Aaronic priesthood is modeled after the priesthood of Aaron the Levite, the first high priest of the Hebrews, and his descendants. The Aaronic priesthood is thought to be a lesser or preparatory priesthood and an "appendage" of the more powerful Melchizedek priesthood.
The Relief Society is a philanthropic and educational women's organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was founded in 1842 in Nauvoo, Illinois, United States, and has more than 7 million members in over 188 countries and territories. The Relief Society is often referred to by the church and others as "one of the oldest and largest women's organizations in the world."
A ward is a local congregation in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with a smaller local congregation known as a branch.
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Sacrament meeting is the primary weekly Sunday worship service in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In most denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement, a high priest is an office of the priesthood within the Melchizedek priesthood. High priests are typically more experienced leaders within the priesthood. The term derives in part from the Epistle to the Hebrews, which describes Jesus as "a high priest after the order of Melchizedek". Movement founder Joseph Smith ordained the first high priests on June 3, 1831.
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The Young Women is a youth organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The purpose of the Young Women organization is to help each young woman "be worthy to make and keep sacred covenants and receive the ordinances of the temple."
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Within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, an organization is a secondary body of church government that is "established for moral, educational, and benevolent purposes." Prior to October 2019, the church's organizations were called auxiliary organizations. As the term suggested, the LDS Church's organizations are ancillary to the governing power of the priesthood in the church. The LDS Church's five organizations are Primary, Relief Society, Sunday School, Young Men, and Young Women.
Stake and ward councils are meetings of local congregations within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints focuses its doctrine and teaching on Jesus Christ; that he was the Son of God, born of Mary, lived a perfect life, performed miracles, bled from every pore in the Garden of Gethsemane, died on the cross, rose on the third day, appeared again to his disciples, and now resides, authoritatively, on the right hand side of God. In brief, some beliefs are in common with Catholics, Orthodox and Protestant traditions. However, teachings of the LDS Church differ significantly in other ways and encompass a broad set of doctrines, so that the above-mentioned denominations usually place the LDS Church outside the bounds of orthodox Christian teaching as summarized in the Nicene Creed.
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President is an honorific title in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints given to members who hold certain leadership positions.
In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, marriage between a man and a woman is considered to be "ordained of God". Marriage is thought to consist of a covenant between the man, the woman, and God. The church teaches that in addition to civil marriage, which ends at death, a man and woman can enter into a celestial marriage, performed in a temple by priesthood authority, whereby the marriage and parent–child relationships resulting from the marriage will last forever in the afterlife.
Apostolic succession in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the process of transition to a new church president when the preceding one has died.
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