Refinements to the Children and Youth program of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will begin in January 2027, the Church announced on Tuesday, Nov, 3.
But the purpose has not changed, said Primary General President Rosemary K. Chibota.
“We are still helping children believe in Jesus Christ, belong to Him and His Church and become more like Him. However, we have introduced some refinements to the Children and Youth program, and these refinements are going to make this program clearer and connect more with the child’s daily life,” she said.
The refinements simplify the experience for the child and also strengthen the role of the home in the child’s spiritual development, “and they focus attention on the child’s lifelong discipleship journey of becoming like the Savior,” President Chibota explained while speaking on the Church News podcast with her counselors, Sister Nina M. Garfield and Sister Theresa A. Collins.
Sister Garfield said, “I want people to know that this is an inspired program, the refinements, and people will be just fine, and it will bless their lives and the lives of their children and of families.”
Sister Collins said the announcement might feel like a lot of changes because of the youth portion as well; but in Primary, the adjustments are simple: Refining the purpose of the pillars, the fast-Sunday lessons, the goal-setting aspect, the recognition portion and then where the resources are found.
It’s the same program, she said, but now it more clearly connects children with “what they are learning about Jesus Christ to what they are doing in their everyday life.”
3 pillars centered on Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is at the core of the Children and Youth program, President Chibota said. Now the program is organized in three areas:
- Believe in Jesus Christ.
- Belong to Jesus Christ and His Church.
- Become more like Jesus Christ.
“The first pillar is gospel learning, which is helping the children believe in Jesus Christ, developing the faith of a child. And the service pillar is service and activities. And these are designed to help the children belong to Jesus Christ and His Church. And finally, the third pillar is personal development, which is helping the children become more like Jesus Christ,” President Chibota said.
Fast Sunday lessons and goals
Children will participate at church in special fast-Sunday lessons about following Jesus Christ. These were announced earlier this year. Beginning in January 2027, Primary teachers will teach these lessons on fast Sundays instead of the Covenant Path lessons on fifth Sundays.
These lessons will be in the appendix of the “Come, Follow Me” manual and can already be found in the Gospel Library in “Come, Follow Me: New Testament 2027.”
These lessons will “give children more opportunities to connect what they learn about Jesus Christ and how they can follow Him every day,” Sister Garfield said.
With guidance from their parents, children 8 and older will set goals based on those lessons.
The current goal-setting model based on Luke 2:52 — with intellectual, physical, social and spiritual components — is retiring.
All 12 topics are in the Parent and Leader guide, which is available right now at children.ChurchofJesusChrist.org and will be in the January 2027 Friend magazine. Next to each topic, Sister Collins said, “we have an opportunity to ask a question related to those lessons, and those in turn can reflect or lead to a goal-setting opportunity.”
This will follow the pattern of “Jesus did this, and so can I,” she said. Children can use an individual notebook or use the Friend magazine each month to write down their goals.
President Chibota said parents can encourage, discuss and support the child as they set those goals.
“As we are taught in Alma 37, ‘by small and simple things are great things brought to pass,” President Chibota said. “These are small and simple things that the parents can teach their children or help support their children in their quest to accomplish these goals to become more like Jesus by small and simple ways.”
Activities
Valiant Activity leaders, formerly called Activity Days leaders, can plan activities for those Valiant-age children (ages 8-11) around fast Sunday lessons and those topics that they will now see a year in advance.
Valiant Activities begin for children the year they turn 8 years old. They are generally held twice a month, with the children separated into boys and girls and different ages according to local needs. Other Primary activities can include the entire Primary.
The Valiant Super Activity, which used to be called Day Camp, will continue as well as the invitation to hold an annual Primary service activity.
President Chibota said to always keep in mind, “How does this activity help children come unto Christ and become more like Him?”
Emblems and recognition
Emblems continue to be a meaningful reminder of a child’s spiritual growth, Sister Garfield said.
Beginning in January of 2027, instead of receiving a picture of the temple that was in their temple district, children will receive an image of Jesus Christ and also a copy of the Book of Mormon when they are baptized or during the month that they turn 8 years old.
“These emblems are intended to focus attention on the Savior and His gospel,” she said.
The temple ring will also continue to be used, but it will be received at a different milestone. Rather than being given automatically at age 8, children will receive it after learning or memorizing the Articles of Faith and sharing what they have learned with either a parent, a teacher or a member of the Primary presidency.
Said President Chibota: “Those emblems are then connected to that meaningful experience of learning and understanding and sharing faith.”
Events
Annual meetings will continue to mark milestones in a child’s gospel journey. The annual Baptism and Confirmation Preparation meeting will continue to be held at the beginning of the year for children turning 8 that calendar year. The annual Temple and Priesthood Preparation meeting will continue near the end of the year for the oldest Valiant class who will be joining the youth program the following calendar year.
Going forward, local Primary leaders are invited to hold a new Celebration of Growth event. This is for the baptized and confirmed children who have been participating in goal setting, President Chibota said.
“This is so important for children to be recognized for the work that they have done throughout the year. This will give children opportunity to demonstrate or showcase what they have been working on and how they’ve done, and also recognize the work that the parents have done to help the child get to that point,” she said.
Resources
The Parent and Leader guide outlining all these refinements is now available online in the Gospel Library under the Children tile of the app and online at children.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
The guide will also physically be available in the January 2027 Friend magazine. Each household is eligible to receive a subscription of the Friend for free. Wards or parents can order more copies of the Friend magazine at store.ChurchofJesusChrist.org, make copies of the Parent and Leader guide from it or print more copies of the guide online to get it into the hands of those who need it.
The Friend will continue to provide supportive material each month with “Following Jesus Together” pages.
President Chibota acknowledged that some children may not get parental support at home. “And so this program is designed in such a way that the Primary teachers and leaders can support the child through their discipleship journey. So no child should ever feel like they are alone in this.”
Sister Garfield said children are precious.
“We feel that these are important tools that they can carry with them throughout their lives. These children, their hearts are open. Their minds are open to everything that we teach them. And so it’s up to us to take this very small window of time and do everything we can to strengthen them as little people, but also strengthen them as disciples of our Savior, Jesus Christ.”
And this is more than a program, Sister Collins said. “It’s a connection of Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father to the child so that they can take that into the rest of their lives. And if through experiences and if through activities and if through lessons they can have experiences that will propel them for the rest of their life that can’t be taken away, it has to be theirs. It gets to be theirs, if they want to continue as lifelong disciples of Christ.”
