While it is true that in order for the Church of Jesus Christ to operate effectively to bring salvation to men and women, there must be properly ordained priesthood authorities, those priesthood authorities would not be able to fulfill the fourfold mandate of the Church to,
- help members live the gospel,
- gather Israel through missionary work,
- care for the poor and needy and
- enable the salvation of the dead,
without the faithful and effective work of the auxiliaries of the Church.
THE PURPOSE OF AUXILIARIES
In the Church Handbook Volume 2, the following statements about auxiliaries are made:
- “All auxiliary organizations exist to help Church members grow in their testimonies of Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the restored gospel.”
- “Through the work of the auxiliaries, members receive instruction, encouragement and support as they strive to live according to gospel principles.”
It says these things four times: once at the beginning of each chapter concerning one of the auxiliaries.[1]
The Handbook also informs us that “All Church leaders [which includes all leaders of auxiliaries] are called to help … people become true followers of …Jesus Christ.” They are themselves to “strive to be the Saviour’s faithful disciples” and “help others develop strong testimonies and draw nearer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.”[2]
Sometimes we mistakenly think that an effective Relief Society, Sunday School, Primary, Young Men or Young Women program, is one that involves interesting activities that help us to socialize and feel wanted in the Church, and provides effective Sunday classes that teach about the scriptures and gospel principles following the standard curriculum of the Church. We have a tendency to think that this is all there is to the auxiliary program and focus all our efforts these things, possibly to the exclusion of what might be called the “weightier matters of the law.” (cf. Matt. 23:23.)
While activities and effective lessons are important, essential and irreplaceable aspects of the work performed by the Church’s auxiliary organizations, they are not their primary purpose. As the Handbook instructs us, the primary purposes of every auxiliary are to help members,
- increase in their testimonies,
- live according to gospel principles,
- become true followers of Jesus Christ, and
- grow closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
In the Book of Moses we are taught that “all things bear record of [Jesus Christ]”.[3] Therefore, no matter what we experience or how, if we look a little more deeply into it, or through it, or behind it, we will find a testimony of Jesus Christ and his gospel.
This is true of everything we experience, but must be so much more the case of the Church including its auxiliaries. So it is fair to ask, how is it that the auxiliaries of the Church bear record of Jesus Christ? How do they exemplify or reflect the atonement and principles of the gospel?
The RELIEF SOCIETY, for example, seems to me to be not just an effective “women’s organization”. I do not think it is simply a better run, older or larger YWCA.
The Relief Society is a reflection of God’s interest in women, an echo of Jesus’ education of the woman at the well; it is the way in which Heavenly Father teaches his daughters of their eternal value.
In an essay by Elder Glenn L. Pace, an emeritus General Authority, he commented how one day each of us will look into the eyes of our heavenly parents. At that time, he says, “any question you ever had about the role of women in the kingdom will evaporate into the rich celestial air, because at that moment you will see standing directly in front of you, your divine nature and destiny.”[4]
Far from being simply a source of entertaining and enriching activities, or a group with which to study the Gospel on Sundays, Relief Society, one of the first and greatest auxiliaries of the Church, is God’s present device to help turn sisters into saints, and girls into goddesses, through development of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and their true discipleship. It bears records that women are daughters of God and made in the image of their Heavenly Mother, with eternal possibilities and infinite worth equal to that great heritage.
...teach the principles of my gospel, which are in the Bible and the Book of Mormon, in the which is the fulness of the gospel. Doctrine & Covenants 42:12-14 | SUNDAY SCHOOL is another of our great auxiliaries. Often overlooked and sometimes even considered unnecessary, Sunday School is a continual reminder and a reflection of three great principles of the gospel:
|
Primary bears record that we are all children of our Heavenly Father, that we all want to feel of His love and learn how to live His Gospel. Therefore, even in our adult hymnbook we have that favourite Primary song, “I am a Child of God” and when we sing, “Lead me, guide me, walk beside me, help me find the way,”[6] we recognize that this is not solely the plea of little children, but the desire of each and every one of us, which is answered in the gift of the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, which Jesus Christ has sent to help us find and remain faithfully fixed upon the way that leads us back to our heavenly home.
The youth auxiliaries of the Church - the YOUNG MEN and YOUNG WOMEN organizations - continue this process of divine education, helping us to make wise choices as we reach a stage in life when we feel ready and anxious to spread our wings, to experiment with our agency to determine what kind of people we will be.
At this critical period of life, the Young Men and Young Women organizations serve to help our youth, for whom self identity is suddenly so important, to identify with Jesus Christ, and bear record to them that they, like Him, are made in the image of God and capable of true greatness, of more than is advertised to them in fashion magazines or on Facebook or through any of the myriad of current fads and worldly attractions that compete with the gospel for their attention.
Ideally, in the youth-oriented programs they learn that central to their life’s experiences should be that standard which is Jesus Christ. They may consider the example of the ruler who said to Jesus, that from his youth he had kept all the commandments, and Jesus said to him, “Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.”[7]
Although they are not asked to sell all that they have, the Young Men and Young Women organizations of the Church invite our young people to put aside the pride and frivolous interests that so typically characterize the youth of the world, and to follow Jesus Christ in order to discover the great reservoir of happiness, excitement and genuine fulfillment that exists where He lives and in being like He is.
Through the Duty to God and Personal Progress programs, the Young Men and Young Women organizations bear record to young people of their divine heritage and the eternal destiny that is made possible for them because of the great atonement and grace of Jesus Christ and their exercise of faith in Him.
I testify that Jesus is the Christ, our Saviour and Redeemer. It is my belief that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Church established by Jesus Christ and that it faithfully seeks to follow Him. And I see in the auxiliaries of the Church vital components of the Lord’s plan for our eternal happiness, that He has established to help us:
- to increase in our testimonies,
- to live according to gospel principles,
- to grow closer to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and
- to become true followers of Jesus Christ.
[1] Handbook 2: Administering the Church, 2010 (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2010) pp. 64, 76, 88, 96.
[2] Ibid., p. 12.
[3] Moses 6:63. See also 2 Nephi 11:4.
[4] Pace, Elder Glenn L., “The Divine Nature and Destiny of Women,” an Address given at BYU on March 9, 2010, printed in The Religious Educator (Religious Studies Centre, Brigham Young University) 12:1, pp. 1-9, quotation at p. 9.
[5] Luke 18:16.
[6] Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1985 (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1985) Hymn No. 301.
[7] Luke 18:22 [18-23].
Adapted from a talk delivered at April 17, 2011, at the Stratford Branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.