As teachers reach out to connect with parents of the children in their Primary classes, blessings of understanding, unity, support and belonging can be abundant.
Ministering to Primary children and their families can have a profound impact. And Primary teachers will see the joy in their calling.
The Primary general presidency wrote in the Church News that a Primary teacher’s worth is great:
“As teachers bless children by serving and ministering to their individual needs, abundant blessings will also enter their lives and they will grow closer to the Lord. Through this labor of love, both teachers and Primary children will enjoy the promised blessing from our Heavenly Father that ‘great shall be the peace of thy children’”(Isaiah 54:13).
Seeing a child of God
When Emma Bair was 3 years old, her parents learned she was deaf.
The family had just moved into the Valley View Ward in the Rexburg Idaho Stake. Emma’s Primary teachers, Jay and Sharee Covington, came to the door of the family’s home.
“We’ve come to meet Emma and find out what we might do to best meet her needs,” Sharee Covington said. “Would you be willing to tell us a bit about her?”
Emma’s mother, Melissa Bair, said that following several years of inconclusive audiological assessments, this was unexpectedly refreshing. The teachers focused on Emma as a whole person rather than on only the communication delays she had experienced.
As the Bairs shared information about Emma’s diagnosis, the Covingtons listened compassionately. Jay Covington then said simply: “We appreciate you sharing that with us. Would you be willing to tell us about Emma’s interests and abilities?”
Bair said she then felt both an increased hope about her daughter’s future and the love of the Savior filling their home.
“Her teachers saw her as a child of God who had the capacity to contribute, grow and learn,” Bair said.
‘He is a joy and I love him’
When Laura Collinwood — now in the Monett Missouri Stake — was a young mother in Hillsboro, Oregon, she had a sweet experience with a Primary teacher for her oldest son.
Collinwood said they had moved far from her family, and she was feeling overwhelmed with three young children while her husband seemed to be gone for long hours at his new job.
She was not used to having kids wake at 5 a.m. every day, and growing up in a family of mostly girls she was not prepared for the energy level and volume her 5-year-old son brought to their home. She often prayed for greater patience, feeling that she was getting upset too often.
Then, her son’s Primary teacher was on her doorstep with a smile. She had brought a small car in gift wrap and a treat for his birthday.
“She told me how much she loved my son and what a good boy he was,” Collinwood said. “It touched my heart so much because I felt like he was possibly not feeling as much love and patience at home as he should have been getting.”
This teacher, with a sincere countenance full of love and gratitude, thanked Collinwood for letting her have her son in her Primary class. “He is a joy, and I love him,” the teacher said.
Collinwood felt tears come to her eyes. Even years later, while she has forgotten the teacher’s name, she remembers the profound effect this visit had and how the Primary teacher’s ministry blessed the whole family.
“I will always be grateful for that visit and the way it helped me to be a little more kind and patient with my wonderful, busy boy.”
Ministering in Primary
The General Handbook explains that Primary helps children feel their Heavenly Father’s love; learn about His plan of happiness; live the gospel of Jesus Christ; and feel, recognize and act on the influence of the Holy Ghost.
Primary is also a time to prepare for, make and keep sacred covenants as children participate in God’s work of salvation and exaltation.
Presidency members may work with ministering brothers and sisters, teachers and others to support parents. The Primary president helps the ward council know the name and home circumstances of each child in order to enhance ministering to children and families.
An update to the General Handbook in July 2021 added the word “ministering” to Primary leaders’ roles. For example, section 12.3.5 now says of Primary teachers and nursery leaders: “These members are called to teach and minister to specific age-groups of children.”
In an interview with the Church News in July 2022, Primary General President Susan H. Porter said a Primary calling is a calling to minister.
“When we are called to serve in Primary, it extends beyond that time we spend with them in class,” President Porter said. “We have the opportunity to pray for them, to get to know them, to perhaps communicate with their parents about how best we can support them.”
Serving in Primary can have a life-changing impact not only on the children but also on the leaders. “And I think the more we have that vision — that it’s also a calling to minister to the children — it will help that calling become so much richer for us,” she said.
