The purpose of this post is not to summarize the lesson, but rather to give you teaching ideas on how to approach the lesson more effectively. Effective teaching is a strong leadership trait and below you will find additional teaching ideas to help inspire your priesthood or Relief Society class.
For a full summary of the lesson visit The Third Hour of Power Podcast.
Topical Guide Activity
The doctrine of the Holy Ghost is one of the more basic doctrines in the gospel and also one of the most in depth. The topic guide has 10 separate headings that expound on specific characteristics of the Holy Ghost. They are all interesting and would make for a great activity and discussion during the class.
The topical guide headings are as follows:
- Holy Ghost
- Holy Ghost, Baptism of
- Holy Ghost, Comforter
- Holy Ghost, Dove, Sign of
- Holy Ghost, Gift of (section 3, 4, 5, 6)
- Holy Ghost, Gifts of (section 5,6)
- Holy Ghost, Loss of
- Holy Ghost, Mission of (section 1, 2)
- Holy Ghost, Source of Testimony (section 2, 4)
- Holy Ghost, Unpardonable Sin against
This will take some extra planning the week prior to the lesson, but the class participation that will follow will be worth it. A few days prior (ideally a week) contact 8-10 individuals of the quorum or group and ask them if they are willing to participate in the class. If they agree give them one of the section above to study (you may choose to not assign number 1 since it is very general and number 10 since it is too in depth).
During the class invite each assigned individual to come to the front of the class and summarize what they learned about that specific characteristic of the Holy Ghost. Before they give their summary write their assigned heading on the board so you have a complete list by the end of the activity.
It is important to refer to chapter 14 in the manual throughout this activity as there is further insights from President Joseph Fielding Smith relating to this doctrine. There are six sections in chapter 14 and by referring to the list above you will see which manual section relates to which topical guide heading. As those topics are addressed in class you can refer to the specific section and expound on Joseph Fielding Smith’s insights. Even though not all the topical guide heading don’t directly relate to the manual sections, it would still be worth reviewing those in order to get a comprehensive perspective of the Holy Ghost doctrine.
Please share any additional teaching ideas in the comments.
Another post worth reading to improve your teaching is: Teaching With Engagement in Priesthood, Relief Society, & Gospel Doctrine
