Our Charge to Strengthen Religious Education
Religious Educators Conference, June 5, 2026
I want to begin with an expression of gratitude. Speaking to our seminary colleagues in the audience, we here at BYU are the beneficiaries of your work. Your students become our students. Your rising tide lifts our boats. Religious education is indeed a CES-wide pursuit. We are inextricably interlinked in the body of Christ. Projections for applications and enrollments at BYU come from the ranks of seminary. And this is true too of our transfer students, most of whom come from excellent institute experiences.
Thank you for your faith, your work, and for teaching the rising generation.
I say that as the president of BYU. But more importantly I say it as the father of three children who had remarkable experiences in your classrooms. Teaching is a form of discipleship. And it holds the power to shape souls.
The Importance of Teachers
In his October 2025 general conference address, President Oaks described the harrowing season that followed his father’s passing. Not only did he lose his father, but six months later, his mom was away for her education and health. Consequently, President Oaks’s third- and fourth-grade years in elementary school were, as he described it, “terribly unhappy.” His fourth-grade teacher required students to pass their “arithmetic papers forward to be graded publicly.” The teacher would then announce results, usually putting young Dallin “at the bottom of the class.” President Oaks later wrote: “I knew I was the dumbest boy in the room.”
The family, however, eventually moved and formed “a stable home” and with “a wise combination of confidence and challenge,” a new teacher helped President Oaks “back on the path of learning and gave [him] many happy memories.”
President Oaks observed: “These experiences taught me firsthand that when a person is not performing well, there are many possible reasons, some not of his [or her] own choosing. I am forever grateful for a marvelous mother and a wise and loving teacher. Their faith in me encouraged me in the thought that I could amount to something. … Given love and opportunity, every child and adult can recover. All who know this and have the capacity to help others should assist as they can.”
In another setting, President Oaks credited his freshman English teacher Orea B. Tanner, as being formative in helping him prepare for the “various things” he’s been asked to do in life “vocationally,” in “community service,” and in “government occupations such as being a law clerk in the United States Supreme Court.”
Teachers have a singular power in our lives to lift us to new heights or, in rare instances, also hamper our progress. I have been the beneficiary of teachers who believed in me and helped transform my life. One BYU faculty mentor told me she could see me doing what she did someday. For a kid from a single-parent home without diplomas on the walls, this was an almost unfathomable thought. But if she believed in me, I thought, I should believe in myself.
But I’ve also had a rare negative experience or two.
This may come as a shock, but when I was young, I talked—and by “talked” I mean a lot. One teacher got so fed up trying to tell me to be quiet for the umpteenth time she finally told me to just leave class. In my teenage pride, I didn’t return. Now, to be fair to this teacher, I’d probably have done the same thing or worse if dealing with a young C. Shane Reese in my classroom—but I share this story simply as an example of the influence teachers have in the lives of their students.
Your teaching and mentoring shapes eternal souls. No pressure there! Thankfully, we are not left alone in these efforts. First and foremost, we have the example of the Master Teacher, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ, the Master Teacher
Study the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, and it doesn’t take long to find Christ teaching. Seven of the first ten chapters in the gospel of Mark, for example, directly discuss the Lord teaching. I’ll read just a few sample verses:
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Mark 1:21–22: “And straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught. And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority.”
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Mark 2:13: “All the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them.”
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Mark 4:1–2: “And he began again to teach by the sea side. … And he taught them many things by parables.”
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Mark 6:2, 6: “He began to teach in the synagogue. … And … went round about the villages, teaching.”
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Mark 8:31: “And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things.”
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Mark 9:31: “For he taught his disciples, and said unto them …”
And, lastly, perhaps my favorite in this list:
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Mark 10:1: “As he was wont, he taught them again.”
I love the phrase, “as he was wont.” We’ve all heard that phrase—it means a person’s habit or custom. In other words, The Gospel of Mark is telling us Jesus was known for teaching—that’s what He was wont to do. It was His custom, His habit. He is the Master Teacher. At age 12, we read, Christ is found in the temple teaching: “And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.”
Of course, it’s not just that Christ is teaching, but it’s also how He’s teaching and what He’s teaching.
A few observations on this point:
First, Jesus teaches in ways that listeners understand. Christ speaks of seeds and salt, candles and camels, widows and weddings, fathers and sons, Samaritans and sheep. His lessons are layered and rich, enlightening the learned and unlearned alike.
Second, Christ teaches the many while simultaneously ministering to the one. For Christ it wasn’t either-or but both-and. When kneeling by the woman caught in adultery, He taught the Pharisees: “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her”; and He ministered to and taught the one: “Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.”
Notice also Christ’s use of inspired questions. He invites His audience to reason with Him.
Third, Jesus lives true to His own teachings, and He is aligned perfectly in His teachings with the will and words of the Father. We read that He taught as one having authority. He was authentic—meaning, He believed what He taught and lived it. His authority came from the Father, with Whom He was one in word and deed.
Within CES we have the blessing of aligning more fully with the Father and the Son through the guidance and counsel of the Lord’s living prophets, seers, and revelators.
Strengthening Religious Education
In 2019, the Church Board of Education shared a document titled “Strengthening Religious Education in Institutions of Higher Education.” This has been our guide for reinforcing religious instruction in our part of the vineyard in preparation for Christ’s return.
The longest chapter in the Book of Mormon—Jacob 5—is full of rich symbolism. I don’t need to tell this audience that it’s where we read the allegory of the olive tree. The prophet Zenos compares Israel to “a tame olive tree, which a man took and nourished in his vineyard; and it grew, and waxed old, and began to decay. And it came to pass that the master of the vineyard went forth, and he saw that his olive tree began to decay; and he said: I will prune it, and dig about it, and nourish it, that perhaps it may shoot forth young and tender branches, and it perish not. And it came to pass that he pruned it, and digged about it, and nourished it according to his word.”
We learn of the patient resolve and untiring devotion of the Lord of the Vineyard:
“And it came to pass that the servants did go and labor with their mights; and the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them. …
“And there began to be the natural fruit again in the vineyard; and the natural branches began to grow and thrive exceedingly. …
“… And for the last time have I nourished my vineyard, and pruned it, and dug about it, and dunged it; wherefore I will lay up unto mine own self of the fruit, for a long time, according to that which I have spoken.”
Sometimes we need seasons of pruning, nourishing, and digging—even deep digging—in our work as teachers. Occasionally my classes, my classroom materials, my lesson plans, and my learning outcomes, needed a good pruning or extra nourishment—maybe a few of my student reviews would suggest that it even needed some dunging.
But this is why I love the “Strengthening Religious Education” document from the CES Board of Trustees. It’s a guide for making our olive trees even more fruitful. It’s a guide for aligning with the Father so we can teach with authority and we can teach like the Master.
The document begins:
“The purpose of religious education is to teach the restored gospel of Jesus Christ from the scriptures and modern prophets in a way that helps each student
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“Develop faith in and a testimony of
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“Heavenly Father and His ‘great plan,’
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“The Savior, Jesus Christ, and His infinite atoning sacrifice, and
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“The restored gospel of Jesus Christ, including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; the Prophet, Joseph Smith; and the other modern prophets, seers, and revelators.
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“Become lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ, who make and keep covenants, who love God and others, and who are able, willing, and committed to gather Israel on both sides of the veil.
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“Strengthen their ability to find answers, resolve doubts, respond with faith, and give reason for the hope within them in whatever challenges they may face.”
The document goes on to state: “These purposes and outcomes will continue to be pursued not only by the full-time religion faculty but also by those faculty members from other disciplines who will continue to be selected, welcomed, and encouraged to teach religious education courses. This practice underscores that strengthening faith in the Savior and testimony of his restored gospel is the central function and privilege of the entire faculty of the institution, whatever one’s home department or college.”
As faculty have prayerfully sought to align with and implement this counsel, we’ve seen remarkable things happen to the fruit of our olive trees. Faith in Jesus Christ and the testimonies of living prophets and apostles have expanded.
An Eye Single to the Glory of God
Now, of course, the Strengthening Religious Education document doesn’t cover every issue or circumstance that arises in our classrooms. But I know that if our eye is singularly focused on the Glory of God, He will aid us.
In Doctrine and Covenants 88—what some have called the Lord’s constitution for Church Education—we read the following:
“And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things.
“Therefore, sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God, and the days will come that you shall see him; for he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will.”
What an incredible promise for educators—if our eye be single to God’s glory, our whole body will be filled with light, and when you are so filled with light, we can “comprehend all things.”
This promise allows us to discern the needs of each student and to teach the lesson our students need to hear.
We’ll understand how to help individual students understand their purpose as children of God, children of the covenant, and disciples of Jesus Christ. We’ll know how to help students feel a sense of belonging. We will be moved upon by the Spirit.
We’ll know how to help our young students push against the epidemic of loneliness they face. We’ll know how to help them to “develop faith … and a testimony … [to] become lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ, who make and keep covenants, who love God and others, and who are able, willing, and committed to gather Israel on both sides of the veil” and “strengthen their ability to find answers, resolve doubts, respond with faith, and give reason for the hope within them in whatever challenges they may face.”
Thank you for building a generation of disciples of Christ who will help prepare the world for the return of the Great Master Teacher. I testify of His reality and of His eternal gospel. Jesus Christ’s Atonement will rectify all the wrongs and injustices of this life.
I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.