In time to correspond with its 100th anniversary, the institute of religion program for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced a major milestone. For the first time in its long history, the Seminaries and Institutes of Religion worldwide reached a combined enrollment of more than 1 million students.
What began as a small class of 25 students in a small town in Idaho in 1926 has grown to include more than 2,700 locations in more than 170 countries in 39 languages.
A brief look at the history of institute
In 1926, Church President Heber J. Grant sent J. Wyley Sessions to Moscow, Idaho — a small town on the border of Washington state on the Idaho Panhandle — to start “collegiate seminaries.” The first institute of religion classes were held near the campus of the University of Idaho, with just 25 students.
Two years later, a building was dedicated, with Sessions appointed as the first institute director and teacher.
By 1946, there were 17 established institute of religion programs — all adjacent to junior colleges and universities. By 1950‚ as Church membership surpassed 1 million members, institute enrollment reached 4,309.
As the gospel of Jesus Christ spread and the Church’s branches continued to sprout, so did institute. In 1975, institute enrollment grew to more than 88,000; in the year 2000, it hit close to 350,000 worldwide, with the numbers continuing to climb.
The COVID-19 pandemic and other factors, however, stunted the program’s growth for a time. In a training broadcast in 2021, Brother Chad H Webb, administrator for Seminaries and Institutes of Religion, reported their concern that worldwide enrollments in seminary and institute programs were decreasing.
The Church surveyed thousands of young adults around the globe and asked them what they thought institute should be and how it could best serve them.
“They talked about wanting to feel Heavenly Father’s love and deepening their faith in the Savior,” Brother Webb, also a member of the Sunday School general presidency, said of the surveyed young adults. “They talked about wanting a place where they had people who would help them with their goals in life and how to stay on the covenant path. They talked about relevance and finding answers to questions.”
The result was the creation of several initiatives, known as Innovate Institute, to meet those needs. At the same time, the pandemic spurred the program’s digital transformation.
During the Religious Educators Conference in 2024, Brother Webb reported: “After five years of decline, we have added 57,000 additional students in the past two years. That is a 20% increase — and we know there are also a large number of students attending that do not officially enroll. It is the largest number in eight years, and we are thrilled to see back-to-back years of growth."
Included in that growth was an increase of 14,000 online enrollments.
In a recent interview for the Church News podcast, Brother Webb reported that in the last two years, institute has grown by more than 100,000 students.
The extent of the growth is “absolutely remarkable,” he said, adding that it can be attributed to a number of factors.
A Prophet’s invitation
In a video message in 2023, President Russell M. Nelson issued a special invitation to all young adults throughout the Church: Attend institute.
Those who participate in institute will experience a sense of belonging, increased faith in Jesus Christ and guidance from the Holy Ghost, President Nelson said.
Earlier this year, President Dallin H. Oaks promised a new series of special blessings for the next generation of young adults.
Calling institute “one of the greatest opportunities to learn, gather and lift others,” President Oaks noted that “we live in a day when noise and confusion are common.”
He added that those who attend institute consistently, however, will be able to:
- Learn to distinguish truth from error.
- Build their relationship with Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.
- Find direction and discover answers to life’s questions.
- Meet others to help them along the covenant path.
- Meet people to date and marry.
- Prepare to love and lead like the Savior.
The Prophet then encouraged young adults to invite their friends to enjoy these same blessings.
“I promise that your time in institute will bring the Savior’s peace, joy and divine love,” President Oaks declared.
In the podcast interview, Brother Webb expressed his gratitude for the Prophet’s invitation and promised blessings. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to think about how institute can bless us, or if we’re trying to invite a child or a friend, ... it’s a great way to invite them by sharing those promises.”
‘Marvelous teachers’
Brother Webb noted that the program’s tens of thousands of teachers have caught a vision of the gathering of this generation.
Seminary and institute teachers are “working really hard extending invitations and welcoming people. They’re trying hard to do more than just teach lessons but to build relationships and answer questions and meet needs. They’re creating a sense of community, a sense of belonging in these institute buildings and classes. That’s going a long ways. They’re really striving to help institute become relevant in addressing the specific needs of the people that they’re teaching,” Brother Webb said.
In the same Church News podcast episode, Yaw Danso, associate administrator of Seminaries and Institutes of Religion, also spoke of the “wonderful men and women” who work in seminaries and institutes.
“We have examples of coordinators who are leaving their offices and literally going to homes and inviting young single adults to come to institute,” Danso said.
An institute director in Cape Coast, Ghana, for example, went to young adults who were not attending and asked, “What do you need?” Based on the young adults’ feedback, their institute created new, specific courses, and that institute saw a 75% increase in enrollment.
Teachers are doing a better job of not just covering material but addressing the needs of students, said Brother Webb.
In speaking to Church religious educators last June, President D. Todd Christofferson, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, taught that teachers should help activate students’ agency to take personal ownership in learning.
“It is in so doing that they can become active and lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ,” said President Christofferson, who is now the second counselor in the First Presidency.
Seminary and institute teachers are finding ways to invite that kind of diligent learning, said Brother Webb. “While [students] are in class, it’s not just a teacher speaking at them, giving a lecture, but they’re engaged in learning. They’re exercising their own agency. They’re asking questions. They’re finding answers. And they’re sharing what they’re learning with each other. ...
“We’ve been really blessed to have teachers all over the world that are marvelous teachers,” he said.
Inviting friends
In the spring of 2025, seminaries and institutes — in collaboration with the Missionary Department — began an “Invite a Friend” initiative, encouraging students to invite others to attend class with them.
“When a young person personally invites a friend to join an institute class or activity, it carries special power,” Brother Webb said during the 2026 annual training for seminary and institute teachers. “Their authentic testimonies and friendships are essential in welcoming all to attend.”
Danso shared how in Brazzaville, Congo, “we have an institute building that has about 3,000 students that come there every week. More than half of them are friends of the Church, and they come to institute, they feel the Spirit, they learn about Jesus Christ, and they continue coming. So it’s just been an incredible thing to see peers inviting peers, and they come.”
And these simple invitations are working, Brother Webb noted. Last year, roughly 75,000 friends of the Church enrolled in seminary and institute courses worldwide.
During the Worldwide Devotional for Young Adults earlier this year, Brother Webb issued his own invitation as he noted the approaching enrollment milestone. “Every one of you who attends institute this year will literally be one in a million — an important part of a historic year known and numbered by our Father in Heaven. We invite you all, no matter what your stage in life or circumstance, to come and be one in a million.”
Searching for faith in Jesus Christ
As hard as people are working and as much as seminary and institute administrators are trying to implement new ways of blessing the young adults of the Church, “I’m still amazed at what’s happening,” Brother Webb said.
While he might be surprised by the extent of the growth, Brother Webb said he knows “it is the hand of the Lord in hastening the work among this generation right now.”
The young people of the Church are looking for faith and to have a relationship with Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. “And they know that seminary and institute can help them with that,” said Brother Webb.
Throughout this year and around the world, local institutes are invited to host activities to commemorate the 100th anniversary. There will also be a devotional later this year in Moscow, Idaho, to commemorate where it all began. Those interested can learn more at MyInstitute.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
