Flexibility, teaching doctrine and focusing on the Spirit are the guiding principles of a new curriculum for temple and family history courses taught during Sunday School, according to one of the presenters at the Conference on Family History and Genealogy at BYU, July 28-31.

Todd Jones, publications manager for the FamilySearch.

Todd Jones, publications manager for the FamilySearch, gave a presentation on "New Resources for Teaching Family History Courses and said the new curriculum is expected to be introduced in the latter half of August. Complimentary copies of the instructor's guide, student guide and DVD will be mailed to bishops and stake presidents at that time, with additional copies available for order.

He noted that the new curriculum can be used in various other ways in addition to Sunday School, including self-study, coaching of Church members one-on-one, lessons in priesthood meeting or Relief Society on the first Sunday of the month, bishopric lessons for combined priesthood and Relief Society meetings on the fifth Sunday of the month, lessons for youth at Mutual, and other opportunities such as family home evenings and firesides.

"As Latter-day Saints, we're a fairly diverse group," he said, noting that more than half live outside the United States and 65 percent are converts to the Church. "It's tough to come up with one thing that works well for everyone."

He said converts generally "have lots of low-hanging fruit to pick" when it comes to family history research. Additionally, access to technology varies around the world, impacting how family history is taught.

One of the guiding principles, therefore, is flexibility, he said, in that the materials can be used regardless of where the course is taught. "We would encourage you to try to be flexible in your approach as teachers," Brother Jones said to the class, largely composed of ward family history consultants or those with other family history-related callings in the Church.

"One of the things that unifies us as Latter-day Saints is the doctrines of the restored gospel," he said, quoting President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve that "true doctrine , understood, changes patterns and behavior."

"The great influencer is the doctrines of the gospel," Brother Jones commented. "So as we've designed and developed these course materials, we've tried to interweave the relevant doctrines of temple and family history work with the instructions on how to do it. We'd encourage you to make sure you teach those doctrines."

The third guiding principle, Brother Jones said, is to focus on the Spirit.

In addition to academic knowledge, "we have another tool in the toolbox, and that is the Holy Ghost," he said. He quoted Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve that "this is a spiritual work, a monumental effort of cooperation on both sides of the veil where help is given in both directions."

Brother Jones encouraged class members to "nurture the feelings and the influence of the Spirit and teach your students to pray and to exercise faith, to listen to the Spirit as they try to identify their ancestors."

One of the components of the new course materials is a follow-up section of each lesson to review assignments from the previous week and have class members share spiritual experiences they had in doing family history work. "Those can be very tender moments," he said, noting that in pilot testing, that practice has been found to be very powerful in teaching the course.

Brother Jones said the course is designed to be basic and introductory. "We discuss a basic approach to gathering information, what you can gather from your own memory, what you can find in your home, what you can get from family members. We just kind of touch on extended research beyond that."

Basic instruction on recording information on paper and computer and providing temple ordinances is also given.

The student manual for the course is a revision of "A Member's Guide to Temple and Family History Work," published about 15 years ago. It contains seven chapters with a visual layout and note columns, resembling "Preach My Gospel," the current missionary guide used in the Church. The manual contains a pedigree chart, family group sheet and research log. It contains sample questions for interviewing family members and a record-selection table for advanced research.

The "Instructor's Guide" includes preparation sections, a review of the past week's assignments, key points to cover, an assignment or two with each lesson, and optional computer workshops. Also included is instruction on how to register on new.FamilySearch.org, a new Internet tool for preparation and submission of names for temple ordinance work that is being rolled out to local units of the Church.

Thirteen video segments are included for the course DVD; most of the lessons have two video segments. "That is much more media than you would see in a typical Sunday School course," Brother Jones said. "There is a mix of motivational and instructional video."

He suggested that teachers, in using the DVD, follow the pattern in 1 Nephi 11-14. That is the account of Nephi's vision of the tree of life.

"If you look at how the angel uses media, you will find some very interesting things," he noted. "It's an interactive teaching experience, where Nephi and the angel have a conversation interspersed with video clips."

Following the pattern, teachers might ask a question or suggest what to look for before they show a video segment, then follow up afterward asking the students if they found the answer to the question or saw illustrated what was being discussed, Brother Jones suggested. "Maybe that's just a time to bear testimony," he said.

He showed one video clip illustrating things that do and do not work well in interviewing family members.

In terms of best practices for a family history class, Brother Jones suggested teachers keep class size to between six and eight students, familiarize themselves with audiovisual equipment, use a television and DVD player rather than a computer and projector, make the class as "hands-on" as possible and provide one-on-one help with assignments.

He also suggested they teach the Church's new direction in family history, emphasizing the distinction between the old "my database" model vs. the new, collaborative "our family tree" model.

rscott@desnews.com