Getting Started

This guide is for graduate students and other researchers beginning work on the history or practice of Seminaries and Institutes of Religion (S&I). It draws on my years as a teacher, coordinator, and research manager in S&I and on the research bibliography I maintain. It is a starting point, not an official statement of any institution’s policies.

1. Get oriented to the institution

Seminaries and Institutes of Religion is the religious education program of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for youth and young adults. Seminary is a four-year program for students generally ages 14 to 18; institute serves young single adults ages 18 to 30, often near college and university campuses (General Handbook, ch. 15). S&I has been part of the Church Educational System (CES), the umbrella that has also included the Church’s colleges and universities. Names, reporting lines, and terms have changed over time, so date your sources carefully.

Terms that often confuse newcomers:

• S&I — Seminaries and Institutes of Religion.
• CES — Church Educational System. In older sources “CES” often refers to S&I itself.
• Released-time seminary — seminary held during school hours in a Church-owned building near a public school, where local laws allow students to leave school for religious instruction; found mainly in parts of the United States and Canada.
• Daily seminary — seminary held each weekday outside school hours, often before school. It was long called “early-morning seminary”; the official name became “daily seminary” because not all classes meet in the early morning (Church News).
• Home-study and online seminary — options for students who cannot attend a daily class. Online seminary was introduced around 2012 as an addition to daily, released-time, and home-study classes (“Introducing Online Seminary”).
• Institute of Religion — weekday gospel study classes for young adults, usually in a building near a college or university campus.
• Stake — a regional Church unit made up of several congregations (wards). Local S&I assignments are often defined by stakes.
• Coordinator — an S&I employee who supports seminary and institute programs in an assigned group of stakes and works with local Church leaders.
• Central Office — S&I administrative headquarters in Salt Lake City.

2. Start with what has already been written

• Church Educational System Research Bibliography — 725 theses, dissertations, articles, books, and reports on seminaries, institutes, and Church schools, tagged by subject, program, and place. Search it in Zotero or download it as a PDF or spreadsheet.
• By Study and Also by Faith: One Hundred Years of Seminaries and Institutes of Religion (2015) — the institution’s own centennial history, with appendixes of useful reference data.
• BYU theses and dissertations — many graduate studies of seminary and institute students and teachers, especially from BYU’s programs in education and religious education.
• Religious Educator — articles by and for S&I and BYU religious educators, including interviews with former S&I administrators.
• Mormon studies journals such as the Journal of Mormon History, the JWHA Journal, Dialogue, and the Journal of the Mormon Social Science Association, for historical and social-science work.

3. Find primary sources

The Church History Library in Salt Lake City is the Church’s institutional archive and holds most records of S&I and CES. Search the Church History Catalog before you visit; many items can be viewed online, and restricted items are marked in the catalog as closed to research. The library’s Access Policy explains the categories of restriction. Access to restricted records can be requested, but approval is not guaranteed, so ask early and plan your project around what is open. The library’s “Ask Us” form is the best first contact.

Other useful sources:

• Addresses to religious educators. J. Reuben Clark Jr.’s 1938 address “The Charted Course of the Church in Education” first appeared in the Improvement Era (September 1938) and was later collected with other talks in Charge to Religious Educators (3rd ed., 1994). Recent S&I annual training broadcasts are available in the Gospel Library, and the Church History Library catalogs older recordings, such as CES teacher seminar and symposium addresses from about 1960 to 1982 (AV 2055).
• Teacher manuals, handbooks, and curriculum materials, many of which are cataloged at the Church History Library.
• L. Tom Perry Special Collections at BYU, which holds papers of Church educators such as the J. Reuben Clark Jr. Papers and the Joseph F. Merrill papers (MSS 1540). Search its finding aids at archives.lib.byu.edu.
• Archives West for collections in other western archives.

4. Consider oral history

Many people who shaped S&I in recent decades are living and willing to talk. Oral history interviews can fill gaps that records leave, especially about decisions that were made informally. Plan for informed consent and, if you are a student, review by your institution’s research ethics board. Keep careful notes on how each recollection fits the documentary record.

5. Mind the data

Published enrollment figures are the most accessible numbers. Appendix 6 of By Study and Also by Faith gives seminary and institute enrollment for every year from 1912 to 2013, drawn from S&I annual reports, and the Church Newsroom reports recent totals. Internal data on students, teachers, and outcomes are generally not available to outside researchers. For quantitative questions about youth and religion, see the Association of Religion Data Archives, including the National Study of Youth and Religion.

6. Reflect on your position

Researchers of S&I are often current or former students, employees, or Church members, and sometimes critics. Each position brings access and blind spots. Say plainly how you relate to the institution, and seek readers with other perspectives before you publish.

7. Ask for help

If you are researching the history or practice of Seminaries and Institutes of Religion, I am glad to suggest sources or talk through a project. Email me at rogersep@gmail.com.

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