A few months ago, the church announced “Doctrinal Mastery,” a program to replace the long-standing Scripture Mastery program. Through my four years of Seminary, I grew to love Scripture Mastery. The memorization, the color-coding verses, the games that would get pretty crazy sometimes, and the big tournament in May (I got 3rd!) When I first heard that this beloved program was being replaced, I was so sad. Why would they get rid of scripture mastery? Isn’t learning scriptures important?
I don’t know about the rest of the world, but it seems like I had a lot of presumptions and misconceptions right from the start. I knew deep down that they couldn’t really do away with Scripture Mastery for good, and so I started researching. After reading through all the materials I could find on LDS.org, I’m happy to say that I’ve never been more excited about Seminary. I’m almost sad that I’m not headed back to Seminary (not really–it’s too early!) to see how it’ll be implemented. Here are some of the cold, hard facts about Doctrinal Mastery.
No, it isn’t “replacing” Scripture Mastery
Simply put, Doctrinal Mastery is Scripture Mastery, with some additions. The main change is that instead of just teaching the individual verses, it’s emphasizing the key doctrines they teach, and how they go together. Altogether there are 10 doctrines (technically 9 doctrines and 1 principle.) First is Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge, and the others are the first nine doctrines of Come Follow Me. Which leads me to…
No, it isn’t Come Follow Me for Seminary
The program definitely has similarities with Come Follow Me: It emphasizes asking smart questions and learning how to teach these doctrines. But it is still distinct from Sunday lessons.The way it’s designed, there is usually a shorter lesson/discussion about one of these core doctrines, using scriptures and modern resources, and then the full regular lesson. The topics don’t align with Sunday lesson, and are intentionally supposed to be distinct from them. The ultimate goal of preparing gospel teachers with strong testimonies is the same, though.
Yes, there are still 25 Verses
Like I said, it’s still largely the same. They aren’t taking away the scriptures at all. They have switched out some passages to more closely align with specific doctrines (so fewer verses on faith & self-worth, but more on the restoration & the priesthood, for example). There are 25 verses from each Standard Work, as before. But the emphasis for study has shifted from studying them chronologically (in order) to studying them topically. That way, when you need to think of scriptures about the apostasy, you know which verses in each standard works teach about that topic, instead of being limited to only one verse in the entire book.
Yes, there will still be Scripture Chases
Being the shallow and overly-competitive-about-unimportant-things person that I am, this was my largest concern with “getting rid” of Scripture Mastery. With a more serious study, I feared that it would be discouraged, but it’s still very much in there. In the official manual:
To help students remember and know how to find the doctrinal mastery passages they have learned this school year, use clues to help them practice quickly locating the passages in their scriptures. Clues could include key words, context statements, doctrine and principles, and application ideas. Scripture chase activities, in which students race to locate doctrinal mastery passages, can help them actively engage in learning the passages. “
The church has done a really good job of putting this program together. It’s still sort of in an experimental stage, but I think it’s a great new direction and as they refine it more, it’ll definitely be a powerful tool for building stronger testimonies and preparing youth to serve as missionaries, teachers, and parents.
Keep your eyes out in the coming days and weeks for some great New Testament Doctrinal Mastery resources!
