The Reform of the Church under Russell M. Nelson

It is a bit hard to yet assess the Nelsonian reforms.

Some of this is a result of the Church being run be commitee, in a deliberate way in which no changes are made without consultation.

One thing that is clear, is that the Nelsonian reforms connect to those under Thomas S. Monson.

It is hard to figure exactly where to start tracking the current changes. Another related issue is that many changes are minor, incremental, and sometime hard for Church members let alone those not in the Church to figure out.

The start of the current system can largely be traced to the publication of the current Church Handbook of Instructions. The changes in there are at times complex. The main thrust was to try to shift some responsibilities from the bishop and the bishopric to the ward council. At the same time the ward acativities committee was scapped. In part this was because the committee often would create activities for its own purposes and neither consider the overall needs of the ward nor incoprate the ward into these activities. There are probably other changes, but those are the ones I can explain easiest.

The next big change I think is the introduction of the new curriclum for the youth sunday school classes and seminary and young men/young women. Although I only think this pre-dates the major shift in the age for missionaries.

The new curriculums emphasize more collaborative work and less the teacher just imparting information. On the other hand to some it can tend towards being more repetative than the old curriculum.

The missionary age change is very, very big. For elders not so much, though some. It makes it easier for many to go, and it gives more flexability in when to go. For sisters it is a huge plus. It makes it possible to finish a mission much younger, and makes it possible for many more to go. Weather its net effect is to make it so women in the Church are younger or older when they get married is hard to impossible to track. Since the marriage age has in general been rising for various factors, even if the marriage age in the Church has risen since the missionary age change, that would not show causation.

At this point we get a few other changes. First the church began to have women give prayers in general conference. However I am not sure if any of the prayers in the most recent conference were given by women. Although, what this most emphsizes is that while the talks are written and published, the prayers are not. This is part of why I think this issue has been over publizied by many.

The next set of changes largely result from the missionary age change and the connected rise in the number of sister missionaries. First, the role of the companion (wife) of the mission president was given a more formal setting in the way the mission works. At the same time the zone leaders council was replaced by the mission council. This council involved the mission presidents companion having a formal role. Also, the role of coordinating sister was created.

Next came the revision of the institute curriculum. The move from having the scriptures themselves to a new set up as the main curriculum was unpopular with some. However it generally increased understanding of the way the Church is run.

At this point I think we can start with the 2017 changes. Some of these point to why I cannot easily see a major break from Monsonian to Nelsonian reforms.

The first 2017 reform I can think of is the ending of sponsoring of explorer and varsity programs for the 14-17 year old young men. I have to admit that I do not understand exactly how much the programs for 14-17 year olds have changed, but it was the first step to leaving the scouts.

Other changes in 2017 included the announcment of allowing priests to officiate in baptisms for the dead, the change of the priesthood preview program for 11-year-old boys to priesthood and temple preview for 11-year-old boys and girls. Then of course there was the reformating of the melchizedke priesthood/relief society curriculum. This is a major set of cahgnes. Also there was the announcment that priesthood meeting and the general women's meeting would alternate April and October.

2018 has already seen many changes. The new letters on abuse make it clear that no Church leader should ever encourage anyone to stay in anabusive relationship or discourage reporting abuse. They also say those who report abuse should be believed. What is less clear is how much this is really a change from anti-abuse policies dating back at least to 1994 and stringent rules against those with sexual abuse of children on their record ever working with children.

There were some big changes though. The multiple adults working with youth was extended to all females and not just males. Policies for youth and women to interview not alone were put in place, but it is less clear how much this was a change and how much this was publicizing.

General Conference has major changes. The calling of an Asian-American and a Latin American apostle were the most hyped, but not the biggest changes.

The first major change was the end of high priest groups. In my branch the actual affect is less than clear. However it is a big change and move toward unity in most of the Church. Next, the replacement of home and visiting teaching with ministering is very, very big. It will take a while to understand, but it moves from focused reporting to braod goals.

Next in May we have the announcment of the end of the Church's relationship with the Boy Scouts of America. If there is a misunderstood change, it is this. The goal here is two fold. 1-to make a unified international program. 2-to make the programs for boys and girls more unform.

June sees a few changes, although some are more hype than real. Plans for a new hymnbook and children's songbook are announced. However this involved a 2019 deadline for new hymn submissions, and plans for a unified hymnbook in each language. Although this somewhat existed, for example "israel, Israel, God is Calling" and its French equivalent are both hymn 6 at present.

The Church announced new adult and primary curriculm. I have to admit that I have not yet understood that much. As a Sunday School president, I need to soon.

The new mission presidents seminary was renamed the new mission leaders seminar. This emphasized the key role of the mission presidents compaions (wife). I am not sure if this is more than a symantic change. The seminar was also shortened, and the role of the aposltes and first presidency in running it seems to have increased.

The Church also made much more public the questions asked of youth in limited use temple recomends and other questions, although I have not discerned any actual policy changes there.