Landmark talk by President J. Reuben Clark set standard for church education

After working for a year as a substitute, Brad Howell was hired as a full-time LDS seminary teacher in 1987. During summer training, he was introduced to President J. Reuben Clark’s classic 1938 address, “The Charted Course of the Church in Education,” which charged teachers to take students into the scriptures every day. Initially, Howell balked. It sounded good on paper, but he had his doubts.

“I remember reading it for the first time and checking the date. When I saw 1938, I said, ‘This is out of date. This has no relevancy. These aren’t the kids in my classes,’” a smiling Howell said. “I just didn’t believe that the students would really want to involve themselves in the scriptures every day. I thought, ‘You don’t understand kids.’”

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