Last Saturday was the annual all day Seminary Training. This school year we'll be studying Church History (which includes studying the Doctrine and Covenants).
I'm a avid history fan (American, European, World, you name it) so I'm excited about helping the kids understand things more contextually by framing some of the church history with other events that were taking place in the country, world, etc.
I've often been an unfair critic of past events, projecting my 21st century mindset onto history without acknowledging that I can't accurately relate to the social mores and cultural context of a time that I didn't actually live in myself. Any historian would attest to the folly of using present knowledge to make assumptions about former times.
Church history has a lot of similarities to American history; neither are perfect! But, warts and all, they are both filled with drama; amazing stories and heartbreaking ones as well. I hope I can teach our church history in a way that is faith promoting and testimony building!
I've been a little sullen about finishing The Book of Mormon year and returning to Church History. If I had my druthers I'd probably repeat The Book of Mormon annually! Luckily, the inservice training helped me quit brooding and get more pumped about the the upcoming curriculum. So, it seems the training was a success since I am now getting pretty excited about the shift!
