In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, what is an Elder's Quorum meeting supposed to be?

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Actually, due to the recent changes in how teaching and learning in the church is viewed generally in the church (to paraphrase, learning should happen at home, with church meetings supporting that learning), it has become more clear I think.

The point is this: It is expected that you get informed (by the Elder's quorum presidency) what conference talk is going to be talked about. You study it at home. Then you discuss what you learned/thought/felt at church with others so people can benefit from each other. There is a teacher that leads the discussion and is responsible that sane doctrine is taught.

If that is not what you experience, that is because we are all still learning how "home-centered, church-supported" should look like.

What it should NOT look like, but still often does because teachers aren't experienced or confident, or learners aren't prepared:

  • Trying to cover every point made in the talk. That often leads to unstructured lessons, and not too much discussion.
  • completely unstructured discussions - there is always someone that can and/or will derail a discussion if the teacher is not able to at least exert some control over the discussion. For example, the inevitable discussion about some diet when the subject is Word of Wisdom.

In addition, an Elder's Quorum meeting is an opportunity to talk about things that concern the priesthood holders. Maybe someone needs help with something that the Elder's Quorum can help with. While it doesn't exist anymore, in 2018 (I think?) the first sunday of the month was dedicated to counsel with each other. In our ward, we used this explicitely to find actively find out if any member of the Quorum could need some help with something. I think it was very successfull. But if there is such a need, the Elder's Quorum meeting can now still serve to address it.

From the handbook 2 (2020-01-28):

Elders quorum meetings are held on the second and fourth Sundays of each month. They last 50 minutes. The purposes of these meetings are to conduct business, learn priesthood duties, strengthen individuals and families, study the gospel of Jesus Christ, counsel together, and organize to meet local needs. Leaders prayerfully plan the meetings to accomplish these purposes.

[..]

Quorum meetings begin with a brief welcome, a reminder of the Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families home study materials for that day and the following week, and any quorum business. The remainder of the meeting is used for gospel instruction and discussion.

Lessons in quorum meetings focus on messages from the most recent general conference. Teaching suggestions are found in the May and November issues of the Ensign and Liahona, on ChurchofJesusChrist.org, and in the Gospel Library app.

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