Is there a worse way to teach Elder's Quorum

[RC Vikings]

Just one more reason for the two hour block. Twenty minutes of enduring a bad lesson would be so much better than the forty minutes now.

[BlueHair]

Just one more reason for the two hour block. Twenty minutes of enduring a bad lesson would be so much better than the forty minutes now.

I hereby pledge to attend church for two months when the two hour block becomes policy. Then, I'm going to go inactive again until one hour church becomes reality.

[Uncle Ted]

This is all I remember from EQ meetings:

EQP: "OK, who has the lesson today?"

(silence)

EQP: "Brother Smith, is it your turn?"

Brother Smith: "No, I am next week."

EQP: "Brother Johnson, do you have it?"

Brother Johnson: "Nope"

EQP: "OK then, everyone open your manuals to page 231. Can I get a volunteer to read the first page?"

:igiveup:

Yes, it is all coming back now. I remember now why I haven't been to a EQ meeting in the last 7 years or so (that and YMs). I think it was when I first took up liking NASCAR.

[Brian]

I had an interesting experience yesterday, re: this thread.

The guy who gave the lesson is Jewish who converted in HS. The lesson was on the value of work ethic, or some such. He stood up at 12:35, and said he didn't have enough time to do the lesson, so he would just ramble a bit. (It seemed like as much time as there usually is.... Odd I thought. But maybe his way of saying I'm going to make this lesson a little interesting...). He said he had been researching his roots a little, and spoke about his experience from the perspective of his family. He told us about their experiences in Russian, the persecution, then coming to America, and the entrepreneurial spirit that they had. It sounds like his grandfather and father became very wealthy in the clothing retail business. He said that growing up, he always worked in his dad's store, but absolutely hated being indoors. So his dad told him to find something he loved doing, and run with it, which he did. First lesson in a long time where I kept my iphone in my pocket.

Anyway, at the end of the lesson, the HP group leader seemed to be a little irritated that the teacher hadn't "covered" the brain dead lesson in the manual, and asked us all to make sure we read through lesson 27 (or whatever it was) today at home, because it was a really good chapter. The guy who gave the lesson, said in a joking way, "What are saying about my lesson?" Everyone got the joke but the guy up front, and he went on to say that maybe we could come back to lesson 27 later in the year....

[Moliere]

[QUOTE=cougjunkie;540002]How about when the whole lesson is focused on one talk. The teacher takes that talk and cuts it in to 20 strips and passes them out to the class. Each strip is numbered. The teacher then spends the whole class calling out the number. The best is when you get a strip that reads something like:[QUOTE]

I've taught EQ numerous times. I don't attend anymore b/c of my present calling, but for years I attended b/c MJ was in a presidency. I spent much of my life as the "Teaching for our Times" guy, which is simply taking four different conference talks and teaching about them

My lessons went over okay, I'm not a great teacher but a little preparation was good as was some different teaching methods. Here are a list of tips I've gathered over the years when teaching EQ:

• Mentally prepare yourself that none of the brothers will have read the lesson and prepare as if they didn't.
• Bring candy to hand out. This at least tells the brothers that you remembered before PH opening exercises that you were teaching that day.
• Bring a secular visual aid to relate to the lesson. I once brought in a screen shot from Batman Begins to illustrate how Chirst's hand is always extended towards us. I've also used many photos from BYU football to illustrate different lessons
• Do something different. At BYU I once taught about the armor of God. Instead of the armor ananlogy, I used an offensive line analogy and we named who we would want to be our left tackle or center if we were the QB. I also brought a football as a centerpiece and placed it on a doily on the table in front of me. If someone spoke we would pass the football to them (EQ was in the Tanner building with the ampitheater style semi-round classroom.

[Portland Ute]

After reading this thread, I will be terrified if I am ever again asked to teach a lesson in Elder's Quorum.

[Jacob]

After reading this thread, I will be terrified if I am ever again asked to teach a lesson in Elder's Quorum.

If any of this was new to you, please let me know so that I can consider a move into your ward.

Elder's Q has had horrible lesson plans and manuals for the past 10 years. That's a big part of the problem. Church used to be interesting to me when we tried to learn the doctrines. I'm not sure whether it was just my youth or whether we've moved away from that to even more focus on repeating the same basic principals. Either way, it doesn't seem like this is really a church for adults. At least not men. Further proof of this...the Elder's Quorum meets on the stage. Meeting on the stages annoys me. The men are an afterthought. Unless they are watching porn or not serving their wives.

Yesterday our Bishop gave us a lecture because some other ward tried to hurry out the relief society after 9:00pm because they wanted to play basketball. Bishop threatened "If this happens again, I'm going to ask the SP to take down these rims." Overreact much? I voiced my displeasure with his lecture. I'm a man! I'm 40!

[Jeff Lebowski]

After reading this thread, I will be terrified if I am ever again asked to teach a lesson in Elder's Quorum.

lol.

Yes, because if there is one thing this thread has demonstrated, it's that the bar has been set really high.

[Uncle Ted]

Yesterday our Bishop gave us a lecture because some other ward tried to hurry out the relief society after 9:00pm because they wanted to play basketball. Bishop threatened "If this happens again, I'm going to ask the SP to take down these rims." Overreact much? I voiced my displeasure with his lecture. I'm a man! I'm 40!

Our stake president took down our basketball rims at one time. I don't remember the exact story (maybe Paperback Writer has a better memory) but the backboards were up for some reason. Someone climbed up into the attic and found the override switch to lower the backboards and ended up breaking something in the process (I think a lock). The rims were gone for about six months, if I remember correctly. We stopped holding young mens at the church and went offsite during that time.

[smokymountainrain]

Also, for some reason, you know the lesson is totally made up when the teacher sits on the small table by the chalkboard. In an attempt to get folksy and counter culture, the teacher pulls the table out a bit and sits on it, indicating that he wants to get a nice pow wow discussion going. What it always means is that he has prepared zero material, won't be using then chalkboard, and has no scriptures or on point ancillary material to share, so might as well sit down, too.

speaking of lol'ing - we really do all attend the same church, don't we? Sometimes I wonder, but that is hysterically too familiar for all of us, I'm sure.

[KillerDog]

If any of this was new to you, please let me know so that I can consider a move into your ward.

Elder's Q has had horrible lesson plans and manuals for the past 10 years. That's a big part of the problem. Church used to be interesting to me when we tried to learn the doctrines. I'm not sure whether it was just my youth or whether we've moved away from that to even more focus on repeating the same basic principals. Either way, it doesn't seem like this is really a church for adults. At least not men. Further proof of this...the Elder's Quorum meets on the stage. Meeting on the stages annoys me. The men are an afterthought. Unless they are watching porn or not serving their wives.

Yesterday our Bishop gave us a lecture because some other ward tried to hurry out the relief society after 9:00pm because they wanted to play basketball. Bishop threatened "If this happens again, I'm going to ask the SP to take down these rims." Overreact much? I voiced my displeasure with his lecture. I'm a man! I'm 40!

Generally speaking, religion is not for men. Religion is for women and children.

[Portland Ute]

If any of this was new to you, please let me know so that I can consider a move into your ward.

Elder's Q has had horrible lesson plans and manuals for the past 10 years. That's a big part of the problem. Church used to be interesting to me when we tried to learn the doctrines. I'm not sure whether it was just my youth or whether we've moved away from that to even more focus on repeating the same basic principals. Either way, it doesn't seem like this is really a church for adults. At least not men. Further proof of this...the Elder's Quorum meets on the stage. Meeting on the stages annoys me. The men are an afterthought. Unless they are watching porn or not serving their wives.

Yesterday our Bishop gave us a lecture because some other ward tried to hurry out the relief society after 9:00pm because they wanted to play basketball. Bishop threatened "If this happens again, I'm going to ask the SP to take down these rims." Overreact much? I voiced my displeasure with his lecture. I'm a man! I'm 40!

I'd tell the Bishop to take down the rims. Do it, Bishop. I dare you.

To answer your question, no. This isn't new to me, but just about every teaching method has been mocked (not necessarily in this thread, but on CUF) here. Not everyone is well-trained. Not everyone can control a group discussion and have it hit on the "doctrines" being taught in the lesson. Some people are just flat-out better teachers. Prepared or not.

I have taught quite a bit in Church (after reading this thread, I now know why...I'm a B lister.) I never asked for the opportunity. But I accepted the calling and challenge. As I have no experience or education in teaching, it's a tough thing for me even when I am prepared.

I, personally, have a very hard time with balancing input from the quorum and actually hitting on lesson materials and keeping it somewhat organized.

I've spent quite a bit of time bringing in outside sources and other materials and still felt like the lesson was a disorganized mess.

I don't think it's all about lesson material. Or preparation. There are a lot of "soldiers" called to teach that just have no experience teaching and gladly accept the calling because they/we are asked.

Bottom line, I hate Elder's quorum. Yet, I'd rather be there than teaching a bunch of brain dead priests that are either sleeping, disrespectful or just plain non-participatory.

I just think that we all need to cut each other some slack. None of us gets paid to teach EQ. Many of us don't even want to be there.

Perhaps, the answer is for us individually to STUDY the lesson BEFOREHAND and get some other source materials. Then interject those into the lessons when we have a chance.

[Jacob]

Bottom line, I hate Elder's quorum. Yet, I'd rather be there than teaching a bunch of brain dead priests that are either sleeping, disrespectful or just plain non-participatory.

I teach the older teenagers SS, and I have a more enjoyable time teaching that lesson that sitting through EQ.

I just think that we all need to cut each other some slack. None of us gets paid to teach EQ. Many of us don't even want to be there.

I agree with that. I complain in private, but I think most guys give decent effort.

Perhaps, the answer is for us individually to STUDY the lesson BEFOREHAND and get some other source materials. Then interject those into the lessons when we have a chance

.
This would be the answer. But it's not going to happen. And what's the point of studying Gospel Principals? If we had a manual like in the old days, it might be worth studying. Or BH Roberts' proposed lesson manual that never was - The Way, The Truth, and The Light. That was a serious attempt to have a religious course of study. What we have now is not. I am enjoying my New Testament study (limited though it may be), but none of the credit goes to the lesson manual.

[Spicy McHaggis]

I feel bad for EQPs. My brother is an EQP and he literally gets the scraps when it comes to counselors and teachers. Well, I guess he gets one good counselor and one "project" counselor, but his teachers for the most part are the guys that the YM don't want and sometimes even the primary doesn't want. He's often remarked that his quorum is made up of him, and couple loonies that aren't yet high priests, and a bunch of guys that come to church because their significant other expects them to attend.

You just summed up every ward. A few hardcore believers then the rest of us who feel obligated to go for one reason or other.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

If you guys think the EQ teaching manuals are bad, you should take a look at some of the lessons for Gospel Doctrine in some of the sparse sections of the scriptures. One year I taught Gospel Doctrine when it covered the D&C.

They had a whole lesson devoted to the Willie and Martin handcart company. One whole entire lesson. The questions were banal. "Liken the difficult circumstances experienced by the handcart company Saints to difficult situations modern-day Saints may experience and ask anyone if they have ever relied on their faith in difficult situations."