Primary (LDS Church)
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The Primary (formerly the Primary Association) is a children's organization and an official organization within
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...
(LDS Church). It acts as a Sunday school organization for the church's children (ages 3–11).


Purpose, objectives, and theme

The official purpose of Primary is to help parents in teaching their children to learn and live the gospel of Jesus Christ."Primary"
'' Handbook 2: Administering the Church'' (Salt Lake City, Utah: LDS Church, 2010) § 11.1.
The official objectives of Primary are to: *Teach children that they are children of God and that Heavenly Father and
Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
love them; *help children learn to love Heavenly Father and
Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
; *help children prepare to be baptized, to receive the
Holy Ghost For the majority of Christian denominations, the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost, is believed to be the third person of the Trinity, a Triune God manifested as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, each entity itself being God.Gru ...
, and to keep their baptismal covenants; *help children grow in their understanding of the gospel plan and provide opportunities for them to live gospel principles; *help boys prepare to receive the priesthood and be worthy to use this power to bless and serve others; and *help girls prepare to be righteous young women, understand the blessings of the priesthood and the
temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
, and serve others. The Primary theme is "All thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children".


History

Primary was first organized in 1878 by Aurelia Spencer Rogers in
Farmington, Utah Farmington is a city in Davis County, Utah, United States. The population was 24,531 at the 2020 census. The Lagoon Amusement Park and Station Park transit-oriented retail center (which includes a FrontRunner train station) are located in Far ...
, and adopted church-wide in 1880 under the direction of Louie B. Felt, who served as the president of the organization through 1925. Rogers was concerned because younger Latter-day Saint children had too much unsupervised time due to the long hours that fathers and older sons kept on the farms and mothers and older daughters in the home. In particular, Rogers felt that the younger boys in the community were becoming unruly and mischievous. With permission from church leaders and under the initial direction of General
Relief Society The Relief Society is a philanthropic and educational women's organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It was founded in 1842 in Nauvoo, Illinois, United States, and has more than 7 million members in over 18 ...
President Eliza R. Snow, Rogers organized a Primary Association for her local Farmington congregation on August 11, 1878. Two weeks later, the first meeting was held on August 28, with 215 children in attendance. That day, boys were specifically taught not to steal fruit from orchards and girls were taught not to hang on wagons. In addition, they were given lessons on
faith Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as " belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". Religious people ofte ...
,
manners Etiquette () is the set of norms of personal behaviour in polite society, usually occurring in the form of an ethical code of the expected and accepted social behaviours that accord with the conventions and norms observed and practised by a ...
, obedience, and other principles. May Anderson, the second general president of the Primary Association from 1925 to 1939, initiated what became Primary Children's Hospital in
Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...
(now part of
Intermountain Healthcare Intermountain Healthcare is a not-for-profit healthcare system and is the largest healthcare provider in the Intermountain West of the United States. Intermountain Healthcare provides ambulatory and acute health services, along with other medica ...
). Anderson also helped establish
kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th ce ...
s in
Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
. In the 1970s, as a result of the Priesthood Correlation Program, the Primary Association was renamed "Primary". Since April 2021, Camille N. Johnson has been the Primary General President, with Susan H. Porter as First Counselor and Amy Wright as Second Counselor. In the church's April 2022 general conference, it was announced that Johnson would become the new Relief Society General President on August 1, 2022. As a result, on that date, Porter will become the new Primary General President, with Wright serving as First Counselor and Tracy Y. Browning as Second Counselor.Sustaining of General Authorities, Area Seventies, and General Officers
''Liahona'', May 2022, pp.30-31.


Chronology of the general presidency of the Primary


Class names

The names of the classes in Primary have varied over time. The following is a partial list of names that have been applied to different age groups in Primary. In January 2010, the names of the classes were changed to the age of children entering the class, i.e., 4-year-olds are in the class CTR 4. Previously, names were indicative of the age children would turn the coming year, (4-year-olds in CTR 5)


Primary in the church today

Presently, the worldwide Primary provides Sunday school and church-related activities to approximately 1.1 million Latter-day Saint children.Tad Walsh
"Preparing to split up, LDS General Primary Presidency looks back on 5 years of service together"
'' Deseret News'', March 27, 2015.
In most congregations, optional nursery care and supervision is available for children from 18 months to age 3. Classroom instruction begins for three-year-olds and continues to age 12, with classes grouped by age. At age 12, children begin to attend Sunday School and the Young Men or Young Women programs. The Primary has its own songbook, made up of original songs and
hymns A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...
modified for children. Where participants, classrooms or teachers are limited, multiple age-grouped classes may be taught together. In most congregations Primary classes are co-ed.


See also

* Children's Songbook * CTR ring * I Am a Child of God * Priesthood Correlation Program *
Relief Society The Relief Society is a philanthropic and educational women's organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It was founded in 1842 in Nauvoo, Illinois, United States, and has more than 7 million members in over 18 ...
* The Friend (LDS magazine)


Notes


External links


Primary: Official site
{{Latter-day Saints Religious organizations established in 1878 Children's religious organizations Youth organizations based in Utah 1878 establishments in Utah Territory Sunday schools Organizations (LDS Church)