Elder Quentin L. Cook (Apr. '21): "Bishops-- Shepherds of the Lord's Flock"

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 As I approached this talk to create a lesson for it, I focused on what lessons the average church member might take from this talk that would apply directly to their life.  And I remembered the Pres. Eyring (I believe it was him) gave a talk a number of years ago in conference where he spoke about how we could each assist the bishop in carrying out his work.  Thus, this activity was born.

The Activity:

  1. After talking about all of the duties of the Bishop, ask class members why an apostle might have chosen this topic to speak on in general conference-- especially since most of us will never serve as a bishop.
  2. Discuss the possible answers.  Direct the discussion to the idea that we can be a help to the Bishop in bearing his burden.
  3. Read par. 27 "In order to . . . maintain strict confidentiality"
  4. Ask the class members to silently consider how members can fulfill the direction in this passage.  Their thoughts could be specific to a certain situation/person or more generic.
  5. After a couple of moments of pondering, have the class members to share with a partner the ideas that they had.
  6. After some time for discussion, come back together as a class and talk about the thoughts shared by the class members with their partners.
  7. At the end, challenge the class members to write down one thing they felt inspired to do and then to act on it this week.

Using the Activity:

Beyond simply applying this talk to themselves (something that might be seen as challenging), this activity relies on a couple of principles of learning and doing to be meaningful.  First, by providing time to silently think about a topic, we are opening the door to revelation.  We often undersell the power of pondering in our efforts to hear Father's voice.  So, this activity starts by asking the class members to ponder a specific passage in this talk.  Then, they get to share and talk about this idea.  Talking about the gospel in a focused way is another form of pondering and further opens the door to personal revelation.  Finally, by asking the class members to set and record a goal for action, this activity is designed to help them follow through on the inspiration they receive.  

Thank you for visiting my blog.  I hope that you have found this idea helpful.  God bless.  

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