Confused


WillowTheWhisp
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It's a year or two since I was in Primary but I have been asked to teach a CTR class next week as the regular teacher is on holiday.

I was given the manual yesterday but discovered several pages throughout the book had been torn out and we couldn't find another one. I said no worries as I would get the lesson off the internet. It's about Baptism. The sister who had asked me to teach the lesson showed me some sharing time books on the subject in the cupboard but said I couldn't use them because they had cartoon drawings of the Saviour in them and hadn't been approved by the First Presidency. We are no longer allowed to use drawings of the Saviour in our lessons she said. I hadn't heard that. Back when I was in Primary we often had drawings of the Saviour and Heavenly Father in our lessons (things like the First Vision or Sermon on the Mount or Jesus in a fishing boat - all line drawings).

Anyway I came home and found the lesson on the church website and the manual there with all the relevant pages, including a set of little drawings which it says to make a copy of to give to each child at the end of the lesson. The first of the drawings is of the Saviour! Now surely if the church had decreed we were no longer allowed to use drawings of the Saviour in our lessons it would not be publishing one on the official church website? There's even a button to click to get a larger image for printing off.

I can't get in touch with the sister before next Sunday and I really don't know what to do now. Should I follow the manual or try to do the lesson without using the pictures? I don't want to be doing something which is disapproved of and yet I can't see how it can be wrong if it's in the current manual on the official website.

Does anyone else here teach CTRs and what have you done when it comes to pictures of the Saviour in the manuals?

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Church Approved Materials = A-OK

I'm thinking the thing about cartoon pictures of Christ is the nature in which they're done. Often the "cartoons" you'll find in church manuals are simply line drawings of more well-known paintings. They're not cartoons in the sense that they have exagerated features, like over-sized eyes or smiles, or four-digit hands. Not all cartoon drawings of the Savior are bad, but some could be border-line irreverent, depending on how He's depicted.

(sort of a tanget... Even Veggie Tales has the same rule. They will NOT depict the Savior as a vegetable in their cartoons. The only time I've seen His image represented in one of their cartoons was in the form of a stained-glass window, and he was very obviously a human. There's a sense of reverence that goes with visual representations of the Savior)

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the church policy is that the materials used in the lesson should be approved by the church, in other words look in the front of the book you want to use, if it says "published by the church of jesus christ of latter day saints" then you are good. anything else you have to get the bishop's permission to use. there is good reason for this.

i know it became popular for the primary to use these "helps" books deseret book would sell. not sure if it happened in other areas but sometimes the primary here seemed to use them more than they did the church lesson manuals.

so to answer your question yes you can use the pic from the church website (in other words church approved pictures). you may also use any materials you find in the friend magazines. if this is questioned by your primary leaders then i would discuss it with the bishop. just so you don't have to say to them "but gwen from lds.net said i could....." lol i suggest you look here.....

from the "instructions for curriculum 2010" (we'll see if the links work lol) ....LDS.org - Support Materials Chapter - Instructions for Curriculum 2010

Children are taught from the manuals shown on the charts on pages 5 and 8. Other teaching resources include the Church magazines, illustrated scripture readers, Gospel Art Book (06048 090), Children’s Songbook (35395), and Visual Aids Cutouts (complete collection, 08456; individual sets 1–10 are also available).

and "priesthood and auxiliary leader's guidebook" LDS.org - Leadership Table of Contents - Priesthood and Auxiliary Leaders’ Guidebook

Leaders and teachers are encouraged to use only approved Church instructional materials and to avoid using commercial products.

from improving gospel teaching a leaders guide.... LDS.org - Leadership Table of Contents - Improving Gospel Teaching: A Leader’s Guide

Priesthood and auxiliary leaders are responsible for the quality of gospel teaching in their organizations. They ensure that teaching is effective and doctrinally correct. They also ensure that teachers use Church-produced materials.

hope that helps.... may want to look over the primary section of those links so you will have a better idea of what is there for you. good luck.

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Well if we can use the Illustrated Scripture Readers in the lessons then line drawings must be OK.

Something must have been said to the Primary Leader at some time for her to have got this idea though. I must try to find out where it has come from. I'm beginning to feel OK about using the manual though because it's on the official website and I can't find anything on there about not using the illustrations even though it is an old manual which has been used for several years. It has the same content.

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  • 1 month later...

My wife also works in the primary. Basically, they are allowed to use any current church publication. This is because they are doing official church business. It doesn't mean you must only have church published material in your home. It's only for primary, Sunday school, and other official church meetings. This not only makes sense, but is vital with the explosion of both media and information that is flying about through social media and professional marketing industries.

It's a simple rule that's easy to follow. It's not a censorship issue, it's a means to keeping the doctrine pure in official church meetings.

Chas

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  • 2 months later...

I think you may have misunderstood your Primary leader or she misunderstood the instruction.

From your story, it seems like all she said was not to use the drawings that are in the closet because they are not approved drawings. I don't think she meant to say, "all drawings of the Saviour are not approved". Or maybe she meant it that way but was misinformed. Obviously this is not the case because the CTR manual (I teach CTR) has drawings of the Savior.

As long as you stick with official Church drawings/pictures, you are okay.

If you're talking about Lesson 12: I can Prepare for Baptism from the Primary 2 CTR A manual, I taught that lesson last April and I used the drawing of the Savior that is on the manual.

But, you can teach that lesson without that drawing if you don't want to cause contention. You can use another drawing to depict "Believe and Learn about Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father" by just writing the words Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father instead of the face of the Savior.

Edited by anatess
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I agree anatess, the manuals and the materials provided with them are made to use if you have nothing else to teach with. Lines drawing provided are used for easier copy. I would feel safe in using any pictures of Christ from them. I remember when I was in the stake Primary several years ago this subject was brought up. We were told by the First PP not to use outside material (pictures of Christ) from any other source other then the ones produced by the Church.

:) Welcome Proximity4

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