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Primary Association
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The Primary (formerly the Primary Association) is a children's organization and an official auxiliary within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It acts as a Sunday school organization for the church's children under the age of 12.
official purpose of Primary is to help parents in teaching their children to learn and live the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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Encyclopedia
The Primary (formerly the Primary Association) is a children's organization and an official auxiliary within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It acts as a Sunday school organization for the church's children under the age of 12.
Purpose, objectives, theme, motto and colors
The official purpose of Primary is to help parents in teaching their children to learn and live the gospel of Jesus Christ. The official objectives of Primary are to:
- Teach children that they are children of God and that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love them;
- help children learn to love Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ;
- help children prepare to be baptized, to receive the Holy Ghost, 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, 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".
The Primary motto is "Faith and Service". Its official colors are red, yellow and blue—the subtractive primary colors.
History
Primary was first organized in 1878 by Aurelia Spencer Rogers in Farmington, Utah, and adopted churchwide 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 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, manners, obedience, and other worthy 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 (now part of Intermountain Healthcare). Anderson also helped establish kindergartens in Utah. In the 1970s as a result of the Priesthood Correlation Program, the Primary Association was renamed Primary.
Since 2005, the general presidency of the Primary has been composed of Cheryl C. Lant, President; Margaret S. Lifferth, Second Counselor; and Vicki F. Matsumori, Second Counselor.
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:
Primary in the church today
Presently, the world-wide Primary provides Sunday school and church-related activities to approximately one million Latter-day Saint children. In most congregations, optional nursery care and supervision is available for children from age 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, the child begins 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 modified for children.
Where participants, classrooms or teachers are limited, multiple age-grouped classes may be taught together. In most congregations, all Primary classes are co-ed. However, it is not uncommon to have separate classes for boys and girls in Valiant 12.
See also
External links
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- : 2003 on-line exhibit on the history of Primary
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