Recently in Elders Quorum, we discussed ministering (I know, shocking). As I sat there listening to various views and opinions about ministering, a thought entered my mind: “For me, has ministering become higher and holier or lower and lazier?” As I pondered this thought, I thought “Higher than what? Holier than what?” The first step to answering this question was ensuring I had an accurate baseline to compare against!
We have been asked to be higher and holier than Home Teaching, but I don’t think most members even understood what Home Teaching was. I’ve even heard a visiting Seventy explain Home Teaching in a highly inaccurate manner that more closely described Ward Teaching, the predecessor to Home Teaching.
Because we are called to minister in a higher and holier way compared to Home Teaching, I want to first establish what Home Teaching was meant to be, so that we can accurately ask ourselves, “Is my ministering higher and holier than that?” or am I merely being lower and lazier?
Ward Teaching/Block Teaching
But before I can accurately explain what Home Teaching was, you need to know a bit about its predecessors Block/Ward Teaching. Almost every single member, including visiting Seventies (both Area and General), I’ve heard talk about “what Home Teaching was” were actually describing these predecessors of Block/Ward Teaching and not Home Teaching at all!
Block Teaching is the earliest form of Ministering we had in the Church. It was an attempt by the Church to put into place a system to carry out the priesthood mandate from D&C 20:47 that the Priesthood holders were to “visit the house of each member, and exhort them to pray vocally and in secret and attend to all family duties.” It was a simple program. Visit every family in your geographic area or city block and fulfill D&C 20:47 then return and report to your priesthood leaders. This is where the name “Block” teachers came from.
In 1912 they renamed Block Teachers, Ward Teachers. But otherwise, the program was basically the same. This is the era of the horror stories. The era of men showing up on the last day of each month to get their “visit” in. This is where the checklist mentality became engrained in our culture. You made your monthly visit, and you DID your ward teaching.
Home Teaching
In 1963 the Church announced the launch of a new program to replace Ward Teaching, this program was called Home Teaching and was to take effect on January 1st, 1964. At the core, Home Teachers were told they still had the scriptural mandate from D&C 20:47, but that they were being asked to do so much more than merely stop by once a month and “do” their Home Teaching, instead, they were to become Home Teachers, and that their work was far more than the once a month visit of Ward Teachers. Harold B. Lee said that Home Teaching was “an enlargement of the scope of responsibility.” (CR: Apr. 1963 Page 86). David O. McKay was the Prophet in 1963 when Home Teaching was rolled out, he explained what the enlarged scope of a Home Teacher was as follows:
“Home Teaching is one of our most urgent and most rewarding opportunities to nurture and inspire, to counsel and direct our Father’s children in all that pertains to life. Through the priesthood quorums, and under the Bishop’s direction, Home Teaching takes the message of the gospel, the message of life and salvation and brotherly love, into the home, wherein lies the first and foremost opportunity for teaching in the Church.
Three things should be kept in mind in thorough preparation for Home Teaching:
First, a knowledge of those whom you are to teach. As each family is different from another, so each individual in the family differs from others. Methods and messages should vary according to each individual, and according to his problems and needs.
To perform fully our duty as a Home Teacher we would need to be continually aware of the attitudes, the activities and interests, the problems, the employment, the health, the happiness, the plans and purposes, the physical and temporal and spiritual needs and circumstances of everyone — of every child, every youth, and every adult in the homes and families who have been placed in our trust and care as a bearer of the priesthood and as a representative of the bishop.
Second, is a knowledge of what you are to teach. It is the Home Teacher’s duty to teach that Jesus the Christ is the Redeemer of the World, and that Joseph Smith and his successors are prophets of God, and that the gospel has been restored, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is being divinely led and offers happiness eternal life and exaltation for all who are willing to learn and to live its principles. The earnestness of your testimony and the sincerity of your service will help give life and purpose and a desire for full fellowship in the Church to those whom you teach.
Third, is a knowledge of how we are going to teach. If we may take some language from the Doctrine and Covenants, and apply it to this purpose: The Home Teacher should ‘visit the house of each member’ and ‘teach, expound,’ and exhort them to pray vocally and in secret and attend to all family duties and ‘watch over the Church always, and be with and strengthen them’— and this means always — however and whenever and with whatever may be necessary.
Home Teaching is a divine service, a divine call. It is our duty as Home Teachers to carry the divine spirit into every home and heart. To love the work and do our best will bring the unbounded peace and joy and satisfaction of a noble, dedicated Teacher of God’s children.”
David O. McKay (As quoted by Harold B. Lee CR: Apr. 1963 pages 87-88
Harold B. Lee further taught that: “Home teaching, in essence, means that we consider separately each individual member of the family who constitutes the entire home personnel. Home teaching, as distinguished from ward teaching, is to help the parents with home problems in their efforts to teach their families the fundamentals of parental responsibility, as contrasted with merely bringing a message, a gospel message, to the entire family.” (CR: Oct. 1967 Page 100)
In essence, Ward Teaching was a practice meant to help us live the doctrines taught in D&C 20:47 “And visit the house of each member, and exhort them to pray vocally and in secret and attend to all family duties.” Home Teaching was a call to do so much more than merely a once-a-month visit. It was a call to be Priesthood guardians. The doctrinal duty in D&C 20:47 still stood, but we were being asked to do more than the minimum of ward teaching. Elder James A. Cullimore declared this when he said, “We need, at once, to catch the spirit of what President Lee has said and become priesthood guardians, priesthood watchmen, rather than teachers of the gospel only. We need to make sure home teachers are not guilty, after having made the one visit a month to each family, of relaxing, feeling good about it, and declaring our home teaching done for the month. Remember, home teaching is never done.”
Higher and Holier or Lower and Lazier
With the above context establishing a baseline of what we were expected to do as home teachers, how are you doing with ministering? How is your ward? Would you define your ministering efforts as “higher and holier” than what was expected of you as a home teacher? Or have you taken the relaxation of reporting as an excuse to become lower and lazier falling below even the old ‘ward teaching’ minimum of visiting the homes of those you are assigned to?
Now you might be asking, “Wait, I thought we don’t need to do home visits anymore? I thought I could just text people and that was enough?” Well, if you think that, and I know MANY People who have/do think this, you are mistaken. I am not sure where the myth came into being, but the idea that ministering signaled the end of needing to make home visits is simply not true. The duty to make home visits as outlined in D&C 20:47 is even listed in the Official Church Handbook under the duties of ministering. Being MORE than just home visits does not mean we are no longer doing them. Remember, ministering, like its predecessors is a program designed to help us fulfill our duties, duties outlined in the scriptures such as D&C 20:47.
Therefore What?
If you are ministering in a higher and holier way congrats! Please comment sharing your secrets to success. Many of us, myself included, would love to be better minstering brothers/sisters! If you are not ministering in a higher and holier way, I invite you to start trying today. This is a gospel of new beginnings, so let’s become a ministering people.
Let us unlearn the lies regarding both home teaching and ministering that we have falsely believed. Let us learn our duties and magnify them! Of this need Elder Stapley taught, “Slothfulness in one’s duty isn’t acceptable to the Lord. He further requires that men must ‘do many things of their own freewill, and bring to pass much righteous.’ (D&C; 58:27) There is unlearning to do to adjust from the previous ward teaching program to the present home teaching plan to Church families. The new plan is much superior to the older method and has far greater potential for effective results.” (CR: Apr. 1967, page 33) This applies just as much to ministering as it did to home teaching.
Lost Faith
Tuesday 1st of April 2025
I can attest to the accuracy of this article and the "lowest and laziest" title many Home Teachers that came to my home as a youth, and assigned as my companion, over the years. I am 53 and still believe the core truths of the Church, but not of most of the members.
I background is not dissimilar from many born into the Church. Oldest of 11. Abused mentally, verbally, emotionally, sexually, and physically. The latter is where it does differ. Because it was extremely brutal. I won't describe it or give the statistics regarding my case or the state of occurred in a that can be researched/ Googled and defeat the purpose of posting this anonymously.
I tried killing myself 3 times between the ages of 12-14. I reported the abuse to the state and the Church at least 50 times during that time showing my numerous bruises, battered and broken bones and body that could not have happened in any other way. I had become a master in being able to redirect my father's ire and rage from my siblings and mother onto myself. Something inside me told me that I was strong enough to take that damage, those beatings, for them. One Thanksgiving, I was beaten so severely that I was paralyzed for 17 hours. I was never taken to a hospital, to a doctor, nothing. It was the only time I ever saw my father's face turn white with fear. And it wasn't fear because he realized what he had done to his son. A child that God had entrusted to be in his care (and I selected in the pre-existance). It was fear because he could lose his job. He was a very high ranking military officer with a very classified line of work where he only reported to the pentagon and the President.
Did that job carry extra stress? Sure. Is that an excuse? No. Like everyone asks: Did he drink/ smoke/ do drugs/ etc? No. He had no vices to blame. He would rarely take an aspirin for a headache. He was "old school." "Pain is weakness leaving the body," mentality.
When I was 14, after my father kicked my mother over a sofa, I hit him hard enough to knock him down and I took off running out the from door as best I could. I had a broken foot (unknown to me at the time, and for the next 40+years) and finally stopped about 30 minutes later. I called my Bishop. Told him what happened. My father had already called him and given his lie to the Bishop. When the Bishop (our new one, as our Ward had recently split) came to pick me up and take me home, I showed him my swollen foot, the bruises all over my body, most of them fresh. My face was bloody. He realized that my father was lying and refused to take me home. FINALLY! SOMEONE WAS LISTENING!
My father was never arrested. The police believed his lies. Even though I maintained perfect grades through school, he claimed that he only lightly punished me for bad grades. The police accepted that. Even though they brought me in and even took pictures of all the bruises that covered my entire body.
The Church held Council and Court and Excommunicated him. 15 years later (until the day of his death he never admitted he did what he had done), it was still eating at me and I knew I could not get past it without forgiveness. We were at my youngest sisters softball game. Coming home, we stopped to get something to eat. I went to the restroom to wash my hands. He came in. As I was trying to leave, he blocked me trying to exit. Fear started to rise within me... again. He started, "Your mother and brothers and sisters have been telling me all these horrible things I did to you when you were growing up. I don't remember any of those things, but they sound really awful. I must have made your life a living Hell. If that's true, I'm sorry." Wait, what? If that's true, you're sorry? You know what... I'm not gonna let that get to me. I'm not the victim anymore. Be bigger. Move on. So, I replied, "I forgive you. From the bottom of, and with all my heart, I forgive you." And with that, I felt a giant weight lifted off of me.
3.5 years ago, I got a phone call from a member from my old Ward in that state. He was the Stake President. He said that my father wanted to be baptized again. He told my father they'd have to think and pray on it. I told him the story about having forgiven my father this years ago and that, if my father wanted to be a member again, then good for him. The Stake President said that my father had told him that same story but he wanted to double check. He asked me to write a letter on my father's behalf, which I did. Sent it to him, it made it's way to SLC, into my father's record and, at my request, he even got to read the letter. He died later that year. He'd been having health issues for almost a decade. It was almost like he was waiting to be baptized and to become a member again before he passed.
Sorry for getting away from the main topic...
We had Home Teachers that came every month, gave their message, and left. They asked my father how the family was and that was that. They never asked anyone else anything. The message in this article says they have the responsibility to know each member of the family and their well being. If that's the case, then every single Gone teacher from my youth failed. They were low and lazy. They scurried to get their visit in at the end of the month and rarely stayed longer than 15 minutes.
When assigned my companions when I was old enough to go Home Teaching, every single one of them was of the same mindset. No matter how often I suggested we needed to spend more time, it was always shit down with some reason or another. I got work in the morning, my wife needs me to, I have a class, etc. I was never the "senior" companion. Never was the one able to make those calls. When I would voice my concerns about the lack of attention paid to our families, my Home Teaching companions were reassigned and there wasn't anyone else "available" for me. They took away my families.
Did I care too much? Were they all just a bunch of "rubber stampers/ paper pushers" that just wanted to send reports to SLC that showed we were visiting all our families and everything was going great? Was I labeled a "problem" because I card too much? I know that I was removed from teaching Elder's Quorum because I was teaching lessons where I made them think and asked them questions and didn't just stand up there droning on talking. The Bishop was kind enough to tell me that. He liked what I was doing, but the men didn't. Especially since the majority of them were older then myself, at the time.
My main point is: I have been surrounded by low/ lazy Home Teachers my entire life. If they had been doing their divine work they way it is prescribed and outlined in the D&C and by Church Leaders early in my life, I may not have suffered as much as I did at the hands of my father. I might not have tried to kill myself repeatedly. I might not have been ridiculed by the lazy in those Elders Quorum that I was trying to teach and partnered with for Home Teaching.
And, I might not have fallen into Inactivity.
Like I said at the beginning. I still believe in the core Truths of the Church. But, because of my experiences, I have a serious lacking of faith in the people of the Church. I know it's not all the people in the Church. It just seems to be all the people in every Ward I find myself in.
Beth
Wednesday 15th of May 2024
I have found that ministering has invited me to not only think outside of the box, but also take a look at my heart. Am I eager to continue to visit and connect in other ways with my ministering sisters, or do I feel "relieved" and "off the hook" because it's reported differently now. Where is my heart?
Elle J
Tuesday 14th of May 2024
Reading this, I feel miserable. I have no hope to be able to achieve anything remotely close to what was described in home teaching, let alone anything higher and holier. How people, how?
Karen G
Tuesday 6th of May 2025
@Elle J, Start where you are, do what you can. Everything you do for your families contributes to this. An encouraging word, getting to know them, being ready to help when things are hard for them. Don't beat yourself up, just look to improving step by step. Also, never forget these are our Father in Heaven's children, and stands ready to strengthen you and multiply your time & efforts. AND, I would bet that you are really doing better than you are giving yourself credit for.
Jeremy
Monday 17th of June 2024
The key is to realize where we must go, but to start where we are at. This was written from the perspective of helping others minister to you, but can give you good ideas as a ministering brother/sister as well!
https://mylifebygogogoff.com/2024/01/7-ways-to-help-your-ministering-brothers-sisters-minister-to-your-family.html
Cade
Friday 8th of March 2024
I am so grateful for a ministering companion who taught/reminded me of this, despite my initial thoughts that in-home visits were no longer needed. Even the families that we were ministering to were surprised we requested to visit them in their homes. We have had some amazing experiences as we've continued to try and make efforts to visit with our ministering families in their homes. While not perfect, and perhaps sometimes not convenient, I've never walked away from a home afterward feeling regret. Rather, the opposite. Gratitude. We were also much more likely to perform priesthood blessings for those without a Priesthood holder in their home.
Naomi Crosby
Friday 8th of March 2024
We are elderly and in poor health and find it very difficult to go to church. Since the change to ministering we have had no contact with the priesthood side. The contact with the Relef Society side has been excellent. It makes me wonder.