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Church Educational System

Type	Elementary, Secondary, and Higher Education
Established	1877
Commissioner	Kim B. Clark[1]
Academic staff	ca. 50,000
Students	ca. 700,000
Location	Worldwide
Campus	3 universities; 1 college; 1 all online certificate and degree programs; 15 elementary and secondary schools; 8,039 seminary and institute programs
Headquarters	Salt Lake City, Utah
Affiliations	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Website	lds.org/church-education

The Church Educational System (CES) of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) consists of several institutions that provide religious and secular education for both Latter-day Saint and non–Latter-day Saint elementary, secondary, and post-secondary students and adult learners. Approximately 700,000 individuals were enrolled in CES programs in 143 countries in 2011.^[2] CES courses of study are separate and distinct from religious instruction provided through wards (local congregations). Kim B. Clark, a member of the First Quorum of Seventy, has been the CES Commissioner since August 1, 2015.^[1]

Seminaries and Institutes of Religion

Seminaries

Religious education programs designed for secondary students are called seminaries. These are programs of religious education for youth aged 14–18 that accompany the students' secular education. In areas with large concentrations of Latter-day Saints, such as in and around the Mormon Corridor in the United States, and some places in Alberta, Canada, instruction is offered on a released time basis during the normal school day in meetinghouses, or facilities built specifically for seminary programs, adjacent to public schools. Released-time seminary classes are generally taught by full-time employees. In areas with smaller LDS populations early-morning or home-study seminary programs are offered. Early-morning seminary classes are held daily before the normal school day in private homes or in meetinghouses and are taught by volunteer teachers. Home-study seminary classes are offered where geographic dispersion of students is so great that it is not feasible to meet on a daily basis. Home-study seminary students study daily, but meet only once a week as a class. Home-study classes are usually held in connection with weekly youth fellowship activities on a weekday evening.

The seminary program provides extensive study of theology, using as texts the church's "standard works" (Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants) throughout the school week, in addition to normal Sunday classes. The four courses are taught, one per year, on a rotating basis (the 2016–17 curriculum follows the New Testament). Seminary students are encouraged to study each scriptural text on their own time and to memorize a total of 100 scriptural passages or "scripture mastery" verses during their participation in the four-year program.

Unlike use in other religious contexts, the word seminary, in an LDS Church context, does not refer to a higher education program designed to train students that they may obtain a church-based career.^[3] LDS seminary students do not get high school credit for their seminary studies.

Recently the LDS Church has piloted an online seminary program to supplement or supplant the home-study program. This online pilot program has seen success in helping meet the needs of home-study students separated by distances that make meeting daily impractical. Through the church's online learning system, seminary teachers are able to incorporate student participation that includes sharing their own thoughts and ideas, as well as feelings and experiences they have had with the church. This helps provide a greater sense of community and connection as well as a chance to learn the gospel in a similar way that students do in areas with a larger concentrations of LDS youth.

Institutes of Religion

Religious education is also provided for students who enroll in post-secondary education, or those of student age (generally ages 18–30), through institutes of religion. CES Institutes serve more than 350,000 students in more than 2700 locations worldwide.^[4] Many colleges throughout the United States either have institute buildings or active programs near their campuses. Institute classes are offered in leased or owned facilities adjacent to institutions of higher education. Many LDS meetinghouses also lend their facilities for institute classes. Institute buildings are designed to provide a place for institute students to increase faith and understanding, learn church doctrines and life skills, carry out service projects, congregate, and socialize. The first Institute of Religion was established in northern Idaho at Moscow, adjacent to the University of Idaho. Currently the largest enrollment is at Utah State University in Logan, Utah. The largest enrollment outside the state of Utah is at Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho.

Elementary, secondary, and higher education

CES institutions that provide secular education, in addition to religious education, include elementary and secondary schools in Mexico and in the Pacific Islands, Brigham Young University, Brigham Young University–Idaho, Brigham Young University–Hawaii, BYU–Pathway Worldwide, and LDS Business College.

Elementary and secondary schools

Mexico

• Academia Juárez


• 
  Preparatoria Benemérito de las Américas (Mexico City) — On January 29, 2013, the LDS Church announced the school would be closed and converted into a Missionary Training Center (MTC) at the end of the 2012–13 school year. The new MTC opened in June 2013.^[5][6]
  

Pacific Islands

Higher education

• 
  Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
  


• 
  Brigham Young University–Hawaii, Laie, Hawaii
  


• 
  Brigham Young University–Idaho, Rexburg, Idaho
  


• 
  LDS Business College, Salt Lake City, Utah
  


• 
  BYU–Pathway Worldwide - online organization, based in Salt Lake City, Utah
  

History of academies

Oneida Stake Academy, Preston, Idaho

After the emigration to and settlement of the mountain west areas of the United States, the LDS Church set up a number of "academies." These religious secondary schools were called for by church president Wilford Woodruff following a federal takeover of Utah Territorial public schools. Nearly all stakes founded academies during 1888–91, with dozens of secondary schools created. Most, however, closed within the decade due to the depressions of 1893 and 1896. Some of the stronger academies persisted before being dissolved during church education cutbacks in the 1920s.^[7] These included academies from cities in Utah (Beaver, Millard, Coalville, Vernal, and Castle Dale); Idaho (Paris, Preston, and Oakley); Arizona (Snowflake and St. Johns); Colorado (Sanford); Wyoming (Cowley); and Alberta (Raymond).^[8][9] Some of these remain historical landmarks, such as the Oneida Stake Academy and the Big Horn Academy. The Juarez Academy in Colonia Juarez, Mexico, is still operated as a secondary school by the LDS Church today.

A few church academies eventually evolved into colleges or universities. These include:

• 
  Brigham Young Academy (founded 1875), now Brigham Young University ^[10]
  


• 
  Salt Lake Stake Academy (founded 1886), spawning LDS Business College (extant) and McCune School of Music (closed 1957) ^[11][12]
  


• 
  Bannock Stake Academy (founded 1888), now Brigham Young University–Idaho ^[13]
  


• 
  Sanpete Stake Academy (founded 1888), now Snow College^[14]
  


• 
  Weber Stake Academy (founded 1889), now Weber State University ^[15]
  


• 
  St. Joseph Stake Academy (founded 1888), now Eastern Arizona College ^[16]
  


• 
  St. George Stake Academy (founded 1911), now Dixie State University ^[17]
  

The LDS Church also established formal colleges and universities:

• 
  University of Deseret (1850), now the University of Utah ^[18]
  


• 
  Brigham Young College in Logan, Utah (1877–1926)


• The Church University, also called Young University, (1891–94), absorbed into the University of Utah and LDS University^[12]
  


• 
  Church College of Hawaii (1955), now Brigham Young University–Hawaii

In the mid-20th century, the church established secondary schools outside of the United States to provide education where it was not fully available. These include:

• 
  Church College of New Zealand (1958–2009)^[19]
  


• 
  Benemerito De Las Americas (1964–2013)

General administration

Church Board of Education and Boards of Trustees

NOTE: Individuals with an asterisk (*) by their names serve as members of the Executive Committee of the Board. The senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve, currently Holland, serves as the committee's chairman.

Office of the Commissioner of Church Education

Presidents / Administrator of individual CES units

Chronology of the Commissioner of Church Education

See also

Book: Culture of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

• Church Educational System Honor Code


• Education in Zion Gallery


• LDS Student Association

References

Sources

• 
  Arrington, Leonard J. (Summer 1967). "The Founding of the L.D.S. Institutes of Religion." Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 2, 137-47.


• Berrett, William E. (1988). A Miracle in Weekday Religious Education: A History of the Church Educational System. Salt Lake City, UT: Salt Lake Printing Center.


• 
  Berrett, William E. (1992). "Church Educational System (CES)". In Ludlow, Daniel H. Encyclopedia of Mormonism. New York: Macmillan Publishing. pp. 274–276. ISBN 0-02-879602-0. OCLC 24502140.
  


• Church Educational System (2005). Church Educational System Annual Information Update. Salt Lake City, UT: Intellectual Reserve, Inc.
  

Further reading

• 
  Bell, Terrel H. (1992). "Education: Educational Attainment". In Ludlow, Daniel H. Encyclopedia of Mormonism. New York: Macmillan Publishing. pp. 446–447. ISBN 0-02-879602-0. OCLC 24502140.
  


• 
  Gardner, David P. (1992). "Education: Attitudes Toward Education". In Ludlow, Daniel H. Encyclopedia of Mormonism. New York: Macmillan Publishing. pp. 441–446. ISBN 0-02-879602-0. OCLC 24502140.
  

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Church Educational System of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

• BESMART.COM: Preparing Youth for Higher Education


• Seminary


• Institute of Religion


• Brigham Young University


• BYU Adult Continuing Education


• Brigham Young University–Hawaii


• Brigham Young University–Idaho


• LDS Business College


• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Histories

• Hong Kong and Taiwan


• Laie, Hawaii


• Rexburg, Idaho