At a Global Faculty Meeting, Chad H. Webb, Administrator for Seminaries and Institutes of Religion, announced additional changes to the seminary program coming in 2022 and expounded on the changes coming in 2020.
On March 22, 2019, the First Presidency shared a letter announcing changes to the seminary program.
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According to the letter, students will begin studying the first half of the New Testament in June 2019 and will follow the same books of scripture studied in Come, Follow Me curriculum for each year, beginning January 2020 with the Book of Mormon.
Webb explained these changes, adding that students will study the Doctrine and Covenants throughout the 2021 academic year using the current written curriculum. However, in 2022, students will begin studying the Old Testament from new manuals with a new format.
According to Webb, the change in curriculum will be towards a home-centered, seminary-supported program. It will not be the use of the Come, Follow Me curriculum in seminary.
"However, the seminary curriculum will be supportive of the home," Webb explained. "Students sometimes will have read and studied relevant scriptures at home first and will bring those family or personal study experiences seminary. Sometimes they will have studied these truths in seminary first and then what they learn will then go into their home study and bless their families."
The new manuals will be doctrinally based and "firmly rooted in the scriptures," Webb says. "They'll teach the principles the Lord has couched within the stories of the scriptures. They'll provide the context in which those principles are taught and draw on the power that comes only through the word of God."
The new manuals will also focus on sequential teaching but also provide a thematical approach.
"Certainly, there is some benefits from studying the major themes of scripture, of identifying patterns and making connections," Webb says. "We'll now be able to gather different sermons, examples, illustrations of particular points of doctrine and give it the necessary time that it takes for a student to learn deeply. We hope that this will free teachers up from the pressure of covering everything and allow them to focus on what their students need the most."
Webb says that the new curriculum will also be learning-outcome based, with experiences provided that will help students prepare for the future.
"We all hope our students will prepare to missionaries and fathers and mothers and serve in the Church as disciples of Jesus Christ," Webb says. "We hope to provide experiences that deepen faith, help them explain gospel principles to others, and prepare them for all the Lord would have them accomplish."
Webb also provided the names and scriptures 2022 through 2025.
2022—Old Testament: Jesus Christ and the Everlasting Covenant
2023—New Testament: The Ministering and Teaching of Jesus Christ and His Apostles
2024—Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ
2025—Doctrine and Covenants—Church History: Jesus Christ and the History of His Restored Church
Watch Webb's full presentation below:
