Pres. Dallin H. Oaks (Oct. '21): "The Need for a Church"

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 President Oaks is becoming one of my favorite speakers.  I have always enjoyed his talks, but lately I feel like he has spoken some powerful truths.  One of the interesting things in his talk, this conference (although I am not focusing on it in the activity) was the mention that he (and the other general authorities?) is concerned about flagging attendance at all churches, including Jewish synagogues and mosques-- that the drop in attendance at these institutions will also lead to a reduction in the blessings of the nations in which those drops occur.  I believe this and may even have said it before, but it was interesting to hear a member of the First Presidency value these things.

The Activity:

  1. Make sure that everyone has a copy of the talk either digitally or physically.
  2. Explain that Pres. Oaks outlined several reasons why attendance at and participation in churches, in general, and the Restored Church of Christ, in particular, are vital to our spiritual lives in these times.
  3. With that in mind, draw a circle in the middle of the board and write in it "church."  Then, draw several lines coming out of the circle.
  4. Ask the class members to skim the talk and identify these blessings.  As they are identified, write them on the board at the end of one of the lines coming from the circle.  
  5. Discuss the ideas as they are written on the board
    1. Make note of the sheer number of blessings that come from church attendance.  You may want to ask questions such as the following to highlight this:
      1. What blessing surprised you to realize?
      2. What blessing(s) would you have not remembered without this talk?

Using the Activity:

The idea behind this activity is to encourage the class members to really look at the words that Pres. Oaks used.  This is a topic that, I feel, I can take for granted and maybe brush past some of this talk feeling like I have it in the bag, since I go to church consistently.  However, Pres. Oaks's list is complete and contains things that I don't believe I would have thought of prior to hearing him speak.  Again, there is great power in the exact words used in scriptures and scriptural teaching (teaching inspired by the Spirit).  So, by asking the class members to read over the talk with special attention to exactly what he says, we are inviting them to read carefully.  When we read carefully, we are more likely to be taught by the Spirit.  

As always, thank you for visiting my blog.  I hope you find it helpful.  

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