Sign up for Meridian’s Free Newsletter, please CLICK HERE

Cover image via LDS.org Come, Follow Me homepage.

An exciting year awaits us with a new emphasis in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on being responsible for our own spiritual learning. The thrust of the new home-centered, church-supported learning means that instead of expecting someone else, like our gospel doctrine teacher, to read the scriptures and teach us, we are invited to grow up and mature spiritually in the best way that works—by taking out the scriptures ourselves and through study and prayer, seeking answers and learning.

The Lord is saying to each of us, “I trust you to do what I’ve asked. I trust you to seek me with all of your heart, mind and strength. I trust you to want this enough.” Latter-day Saints were anticipating that the three-hour block would be shrunk to two, but it was the reason that really dazzled us. We are personally to work to build our faith in the Lord and to understand the atonement. Spirituality is a personal quest. We are fed by others and enhanced by community, but ultimately, when I seek Him, it is just me and the Lord.

Search for Me with All Your Heart

We love this scripture:

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 

And Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

And I will be found of you. Jeremiah 29:11-14

For twenty years, Meridian has offered some of the best help in this quest by providing additional insight on all of the gospel doctrine lessons, material that is still available online in our archives. Now we are moving forward with three new sets of help on the Come Follow Me curriculum. Frankly, we are really pleased about what we will be offering and have pulled together a stellar team to write these lessons. We know you will find these to be a rich addition to your study, while we know that it is your personal study that is paramount.

We will be providing lesson helps for:

Come Follow Me—for Sunday School. In these lessons, our team of writers will give you depth and background on the topic for the lesson and give suggestions for productive study in the New Testament, which is this year’s course. Our teachers will help you see what you may not see without this help. You will find the first lesson here.

Come Follow Me—for Individuals and Families. In these lessons, we will be giving suggestions for how to make this lesson material effective in a home setting and how to adapt the material for our families. You will get new ideas about how to be intentional in your spiritual study and teaching in your home. You will find the first lesson here.

Come Follow Me—podcast

In addition, we will be providing a 30-minute podcast each week from Scot and me on the lesson material. This will allow you to listen to ideas about the topic while you are going about your sometimes too-busy life. It will be like our own personal study group where we will talk about some of the main ideas in the lesson. In every case, the goal is to propel you to do your own study, rather than call listening to the podcast enough. For best results, read the scriptures before you listen to the podcast. The first of these will in Friday’s issue of Meridian.

These lessons will be published usually two weeks before the curriculum is taught to give you plenty of time to study. All the materials will be found under the Come Follow Me tab which will soon be available at the top of the Meridian home page.

Writing Team

Meet our team of writers for the new Come Follow Me curriculum. These are people who love the scriptures and are excellent teachers. We have given the selection of these teachers much thought and prayer.

Come Follow Me for Sunday School

Isaac Calvert

Isaac Calvert is Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Foundations at Brigham Young University. His special interest is religiously-influenced teaching and learning methods. He has two PhD’s, one from BYU and the other in Education, Philosophy and Religion from the University of Oxford.

 

 

Breck England

Breck England is a product architect and consultant for Franklin Covey Company. With a PhD in English and literary theory, he has taught at BYU’s Marriott School and authored book on organizational leadership, strategy and communication. He has been a long-time writer of Meridian’s gospel doctrine lessons.

Diana Webb

Diana Webb is the author of Biblical Lionesses: Protectors of the Covenant and Forgotten Women of God. She has a masters in Ancient Near Eastern Studies from BYU. She has served multiple missions and is currently a missionary in California.

Philip Allred

Philip Allred is chair of the BYU-Idaho Religion Department and, before that taught for eight years for Seminary and Institutes for the Church Education System in Utah and Idaho. He received a Masters degree of Theology at the University of Notre Dame and a Doctorate degree in Political Science at Idaho State University.

Come Follow Me for Individuals and Families

Jodi Chaffee 

Jodi Chaffee creates the “Our Modern Heritage: The Home and Family Culture Podcast”, a weekly feature which focuses on helping families discover and design their collective vision, values and traditions and norms to shape their family culture. The podcast was recently named as one of the top 35 family podcasts in the nation.

 

Kelly Hutchins

Kelly Hutchins is the mother of ten children and has done all those things that support such a large clan. She has been a Young Women’s leader, a Primary president, and a long-time seminary teacher, with classes held in her home every morning at 6. She is currently finishing up her degree in Family Studies from BYU’s Pathways program.

 

Catherine Keddington Arveseth

Catherine Keddington Arveseth is a full-time mother to five young children, including two sets of twins. She has published articles at Meridian, Deseret News, Power of Moms, Segullah, Multiply Goodness and the Reader’s Digest. She has co-authored two books with Power of Moms and blogs about family life and books, as well as the joys and complexities of live as wildnprecious.com

Saydi Eyre Shumway

Saydi Eyre Shumway received her bachelors from Wellesley College and studied social work at Columbia University. She is a gifted, professional photographer and is a blogger at Power of Moms sharing powerful ideas for deliberate mothers. Each year she puts on a children for children benefit concert to raise money for the humanitarian needs of children.

Come Follow Me Podcast

Scot and Maurine Proctor

Scot and Maurine Proctor will be contributing a 30-minute podcast each week talking about the scriptures and giving encouragements and direction for study. They have each taught Institute for the Church for 18 years. They founded and are the publisher and editor of Meridian Magazine, which has been published daily for 20 years. They have published several books including one on the life of the Savior and the New Testament called Source of the Light, A Witness and Testimony of Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of All.