The Church has posted its “Instructions for Curriculum 2018” (.pdf download). There are some changes, and some not-changes, in store for us next year.

Sunday School: Gospel Doctrine

Continuing down the well-trodden path, we will be going through the Old Testament again this year, using the same manual that has been used for many years in the past.

There is no mention of any supplementary materials to be made available online, as was done in 2017 with the Doctrine and Covenants.

Melchizedek Priesthood/Relief Society

Here is where we see the biggest change: We will not be using a Teachings of the Prophets manual this year. Instead:

First Sunday

The description of this week’s activity is that “A presidency member or group leader leads members as they counsel together and make plans to meet local needs.” This appears, at least for Relief Society (I have no direct experience with priesthood classes so can’t be sure) to be a continuation of what we have done on the first Sunday for years – one of the three Quorum/Society presidency teaches a class on a subject they have chosen as having some particular local application. I don’t see any reason for calling class members a “council” when we are not an organization, but merely a group of ward members “counseling” together, but perhaps there will come greater understanding with the November issue of the Ensign.

Evidently, the magazine will print a new section in the Conference issue (May and November each year), to be called Come, Follow Me—For Melchizedek Priesthood and Relief Society with what the Instructions call “suggestions” (without further elaboration) for this week’s class. According to normal rules for marking titles, a section or article in a magazine would be set up with quotation marks, reserving italics for more significant publications (e.g., whole magazines, or books). That may be a lot to read into the Instructions’ typography, but perhaps there are grander plans for Come, Follow Me than, say, the few lines of suggestions to home teachers on adapting an Ensign article for teaching families. We’ll have to wait and see.

Second and Third Sundays

We get two weeks devoted to recent Conference talks. Depending on the skill of your ward’s teacher, you know what to expect – anything from a moving, motivating lesson on a topic addressed by a Church leader, drawing on his talk but also on other relevant resources … down to the equivalent of a book report on the talk, or even a word-for-word reading of the talk. Good luck.

Fourth Sunday

The Instructions say that “Members [will] study a doctrinal topic related to the work of the Melchizedek Priesthood and Relief Society, using suggestions in Come, Follow Me—For Melchizedek Priesthood and Relief Society. That’s not much description to be sure, but it sounds to me like it’s the same idea as the First Sunday lesson, but taught by a teacher who is not necessarily a member of the presidency. With no formal lesson outline, this lesson, like the First Sunday lesson, will depend on the teacher (with the presidency undoubtedly assigning or approving topic) to develop a lesson purpose and the points necessary to teach that lesson, with suitable scriptures, quotations, or other discussion starters and questions.

Fifth Sunday

Planned by bishopric, as has been the practice for several years.

Youth and Children

The Instructions contain similar brief descriptions for the youth programs and Primary — it looks as though the only change there is a new Sharing Time outline.

Thanks to Alison, who spotted this and sent the link to me this evening.