What are my responsibilities in the work of the priesthood?
In 2014, the Young Women lesson plan, What are my responsibilities in the work of the priesthood? replaced the 2013 lesson plan, What are the duties of priesthood holders?
I was excited about this change. The new focus is much more uplifting for Young Women than spending the hour talking about the roles only their male counterparts play and makes it a little easier to follow the sensitivity recommendations in this Young Women lesson about priesthood and in this Young Women Lesson about priesthood. (Still, I recommend that Young Women leaders go over the advice in the introductions to both of these lessons before you begin the priesthood unit. Another post I recommend to help advisors develop empathy for Young Women who may have difficulty with the priesthood curricula is Teaching Lessons on the Priesthood to Young Feminists.)
Introduce the doctrine
Share the introductory statement of the lesson plan:
The work of the priesthood includes more than the duties of priesthood holders. It is God’s work—the work of blessing and exalting His children—accomplished by His covenant-keeping children. Women are essential in accomplishing the work of the priesthood. We minister to those in need, teach the gospel, and invite all to come unto Christ.
As we review the duties of the priesthood, tell the Young Women to look for examples of priesthood duties that women participate in.
Interactive Quiz
As a quick, entertaining way to review the scriptures about priesthood duties, begin by inviting the Young Women to take this Priesthood Quiz.
Printable Priesthood Quiz
Learn Together
Did you have any questions about the information in the quiz? As you went over the priesthood duties in the quiz, did you notice any duties that women perform in the church as well as men?
Choose some quotes by apostles and auxiliary leaders to share from this list: How do women currently exercise the priesthood?
This post contains a list of recent quotes by apostles and auxiliary leaders about how women are or are not involved in the priesthood. Discuss these quotes with the Young Women. Do they answer some of their questions about women and priesthood? What other questions do the Young Women have? How can we meet President Burton’s challenge to understand the priesthood?
Live what we are learning
Invite the Young Women to share with their families what they learned today. They may invite family members to take the LDS Priesthood Offices Quiz as part of a family home evening, or they may discuss their questions and insights about women and the priesthood with their parents.
This lesson is adapted from a 2014 lesson for Young Women: What are my responsibilities in the work of the priesthood?
8 Responses
[…] By April […]
With the help of this post I gave this lesson to my Laurels today. We talked about how many of the responsibilities of the priesthood fall on us, too; not just the holders of the priesthood. The girls all started off the lesson saying they were so tired of hearing about how they have to support the priesthood by feeding them and dressing modestly (ugh! I nearly had a heart attack). But, I knew I taught what I needed to when, during the closing prayer, one of my Laurels said “we are thankful we are as important as the priesthood.” I may have cried on my way home, I was so proud of these beautiful girls!
This is awesome !! I’ve been trying and trying to get in to save the quiz for Sundays lesson. It just keeps telling me max # of students exceeded….do you by chance just have the text that you could send / post?
I just refreshed it. It should work now.
April, I don’t know if you’re still checking this. But I’m trying to get into the room for the survey, and it just keeps saying “Please wait for teacher to start next activity”. I’ve tried different browsers and at different times of day, and I’ve let it sit for a long time, and still nothing. Any ideas?
Also, thanks for your quotes on “How do women currently exercise the Priesthood?” I used them today in my Sunday School class w/ my 14-15 yo, and it went great.
[…] A cultural attitude that “boys will be boys” was most likely a contributing factor in this classroom of young, male, spit wad shooters. The female priesthood ban, on the other hand, is a firmly enforced policy. It is also policy to ban girls from passing the sacrament, although passing the sacrament is not described as a priesthood duty in scripture. […]