what EXACTLY is seminary?

[Lilac]

I have children ages 13 and under. (I'm not baptized in case anyone forgot)

Assume we get baptized...my husband, kids and me.

I know seminary is where the boys (and girls?) go to study in depth. I know in heavily LDS areas they go an hour before school or an hour after school. (is that right?) The buildings are usually close by also.

I'm in a very unpopulated LDS area in the Northeast.

How does that work out in real life? Do I have to get up at 5:30am and drive him to seminary every morning? Or at night? Is it four years?

They study the D&C, BOM and KJV?

Thanks.

[pam]

You pretty much have it correct. Let me give you kind of a short version of my testimony of seminary. I rarely missed a day of seminary. But those days I did miss, the rest of my day did not go as well as the days I went. There is something to be said about starting a day learning more about Christ and His teachings.

I have maintained life long friendships with the kids that I went to seminary with. We are almost all still in contact with each other. We have shared in each others lives both good and bad. Very few others that I went to school with have I done the same.

I had seminary at 6 a.m. While this seems a burden on quite a few people, the positive far outweighed the negative.

[Gwen]

if you are in a remote area there are home study seminary programs.

another thing to consider is some countries require "preachers" to have some kind of degree. so for someone to go to those places for a mission they must have completed seminary to meet this requirement. if a mission is in the plans you open more opportunities by going (not to mention the knowledge they gain from attending).

i learned to drive going to seminary. there was next to no one on the road at that time so it was a great driving practice. lol

[Guest]

Yes, Seminary is for all teens - male and female.

They usually start Seminary when they start high school, so that would be 13/14 years of age.

The time for Seminary depends on each ward. Usually, though, it starts in the morning before school. They are off when the school is out (summer breaks, winter breaks, holidays, etc.).

Yes, Seminary goes in-depth on the scriptures.

In my ward, our Seminary is at 6AM. They usually car-pool though - so the parents take turns driving the kids. Amazingly, our kids like to go to Seminary. It's just another excuse to hang out with their friends, I guess.

[pam]

They usually start Seminary when they start high school, so that would be 13/14 years of age.

I know of no kids that started high school at the age of 13 or 14. More like 15/16. Depends on the high school too. 9th grade in many places is not considered high school yet. But 9th grade is when they start Seminary.

[dahlia]

Last Sunday 4-5 seminary kids gave short talks in church. Yes, they commented on the 'joy' of getting up early to go to seminary, but they also said how much it strengthened their lives, made them good examples to other students at school, and how much scripture they learned.

I think it would be difficult to get up so early for so many years, but maybe I'm looking at it from a middle-aged perspective. If I were younger, maybe it wouldn't seem so daunting. Plus, with the weather we have out here, you might be going out before the snow plows, which I wouldn't do, but the experience seems beneficial and even though they complained a bit good-naturedly, you could tell the kids found it a worthwhile experience. Just a newbie's 2 cents.

[Wingnut]

I know of no kids that started high school at the age of 13 or 14. More like 15/16. Depends on the high school too. 9th grade in many places is not considered high school yet. But 9th grade is when they start Seminary.

I was 13 when I started 9th grade, so also when I started Seminary.

[pam]

I was 13 when I started 9th grade, so also when I started Seminary.

You must have been one of the youngest in the class then. I was 14 going on 15 when I went into 9th grade. Due to the cut off date I was one of the oldest. Everyone in my age group was at least 14 going into 9th grade. Now if we are talking high school that starts at 10th grade..then I stand with the 15/16 for the majority.

Edited February 21, 2011 by pam

[Bini]

It probably just depends and varies, as with everything I suppose. I was 17 and my sister was 16 when we graduated high school here in the US.

Back on topic. You don't have to be LDS to attend seminary do you? I could have sworn there were kids that weren't baptised that attended. Am I imagining this? I probably am.

[Gwen]

you can attend seminary as a non member. just have to do the reading and work to graduate, no baptism required. i hear in ut it's rather common because it's done as an elective in/at school. not as common for those of us that went early morning at the church before school.

[pam]

you can attend seminary as a non member. just have to do the reading and work to graduate, no baptism required. i hear in ut it's rather common because it's done as an elective in/at school. not as common for those of us that went early morning at the church before school.

It's treated as an elective or release time and there is no credit given.

[Guest]

I know of no kids that started high school at the age of 13 or 14. More like 15/16. Depends on the high school too. 9th grade in many places is not considered high school yet. But 9th grade is when they start Seminary.

I'm Filipino, I have an excuse...

I graduated high school at 15!

[Honor]

I don't believe anyone mentioned the course of study. The scriptures are divided up into four parts, with a year dedicated to each:

Book of Mormon

Doctrine & Covenants/Pearl of Great Price

Old Testament - (King James Version - LDS Publication)

New Testament - (King James Version - LDS Publication)

I add my thoughts to what's been posted - I had a very similar experience to most here. My seminary was early morning (6 am I believe) and while I wasn't always the most enthusiastic about it, the blessings that came from it were so worth it. There were bonds formed with other kids in my ward that are irreplaceable, it was a great tool in fortifying ourselves spiritually before facing the day, and it was a great foundation for my own personal testimony of the scriptures. I had one teacher in particular that fought long and hard to make sure I'd be there. In some rather socially difficult years, it made all the difference in the world to have someone who cared that I was there, that would go outside her comfort zone to make sure I knew what happened to me mattered to her.

I hope it's an experience that your children are able to experience.

The official church site for Seminary: Seminary

Edited February 21, 2011 by Honor

[skippy740]

you can attend seminary as a non member.

I went to 6am seminary and I did bring a couple of friends on occasion. It can be a neat way to do missionary work and bring them to the building! They'll see others that they know, it's not a sacrament meeting and it's a more in-depth discussion of the scriptures!

(BTW, when I say "occasion", I think it happened twice in my 4 years. Heck, I think I only showed up for 2 1/2 years of those 4 years myself!)

[mordorbund]

You must have been one of the youngest in the class then. I was 14 going on 15 when I went into 9th grade. Due to the cut off date I was one of the oldest. Everyone in my age group was at least 14 going into 9th grade. Now if we are talking high school that starts at 10th grade..then I stand with the 15/16 for the majority.

Poor Pam. You were already old by the time you reached High School.

[pam]

Poor Pam. You were already old by the time you reached High School.

That is so not funny.

[lizzy16]

I LOVE seminary. I'm in it right now. everyone else got here first! And, its not as if your kids will be forced to attend. They'll be invited. But if they don't want to..it won't be a big deal. I love it though! If you have any questions feel free to message me! I'll give you the inside scoop :)

[Moroni10]

I myself graduated five years of seminary and the institute programs i enjoyed it very much;-) kool :-)

[mnn727]

I have children ages 13 and under. (I'm not baptized in case anyone forgot)

Assume we get baptized...my husband, kids and me.

I know seminary is where the boys (and girls?) go to study in depth. I know in heavily LDS areas they go an hour before school or an hour after school. (is that right?) The buildings are usually close by also.

I'm in a very unpopulated LDS area in the Northeast.

How does that work out in real life? Do I have to get up at 5:30am and drive him to seminary every morning? Or at night? Is it four years?

They study the D&C, BOM and KJV?

Thanks.

Boys and girls both. The time varies between 6-7AM depending on when school starts

yes, they study the scriptures.

After they get their license they can drive themselves.

[bytebear]

Some 20+ years ago in Utah, we had a release program from High School. They had a seminary building near the school, and you walked over. you could either take early morning or take a period from school off. We had two teachers in Jr. High (9th grade) and 4 teachers in High School (10th - 12th). So there are a lot of Utah kids taking seminary. I guess I was a bit spoiled. I only did early morning my senior year because I had too many other extra curricular activities to try to fit in during the day. So, just think of it as another High School course, kind of.