Family Home Evening

Family Home Evening (FHE) or Family Night, in the context of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), refers to one evening per week, usually Monday, that families are encouraged to spend together in religious instruction, prayer and other activities. According to the LDS Church, the purpose of FHE is to help families strengthen bonds of love with each other as well as provide an atmosphere where parents can teach their children principles of the gospel.[1]

LDS Family Home Evening

For many LDS families, Family Home Evening includes a game or fun activity, treats, and a short lesson.[2] The responsibilities for each are often rotated among family members, so that even the youngest may be assisted in presenting a short lesson or devotional on a given topic. Parents often use this night as an opportunity to teach their children how to prepare talks and lessons, as well as how to conduct meetings. Family business for the week may be addressed and the family schedule also reviewed.

History

In a letter dated April 27, 1915, and distributed to local leaders of the LDS Church, the church's First Presidency encouraged a church-wide practice of a weekly "Family Home Evening". The letter described the event as being a time set apart for "prayer ... hymns ... family topics ... and specific instruction on the principles of the gospel."[3]

In 1970, church president Joseph Fielding Smith (son of Joseph F. Smith, who was president when the 1915 letter was issued) designated Monday night as the preferred time for Family Home Evening, asking local church units not to hold other church-related meetings or activities on that night.[4] The New York Times reported in 1973 on Family Home Evening commenting it was, "their way of attacking delinquency and deteriorating morality is to strengthen family solidarity through a Monday night get‐together in the home called the 'family home evening'."[5]

In the church's October 2002 General Conference, church president Gordon B. Hinckley encouraged public school officials and others to keep Monday night free of activities and other obstructions, so that members might more easily hold FHE.[6]

Current church policy on Monday evenings states:[7]

Members are encouraged to hold home evening on Sunday or at other times as individuals and families choose. A family activity night could be held on Monday or at other times. No Church activities, meetings, baptismal services, games, or practices should be held after 6:00 p.m. on Mondays. Other interruptions on Monday nights should be avoided.

Church guidance

The LDS Church's website provides a page that includes resources to assist in holding Family Home Evening, including sample lessons, music, videos, art, and an online version of a published resource book.[8]

Church leadership statements

Leaders of the LDS Church have made the following statements concerning Family Home Evening:[9]

Well-planned family home evenings can be a source of long-lasting joy and influence. These evenings are times for group activity, for organizing, for the expressions of love, for the bearing of testimony, for learning gospel principles, for family fun and recreation, and of all things, for family unity and solidarity.[10]

Family home evenings should be scheduled once a week as a time for discussions of gospel principles, recreation, work projects, skits, songs around the piano, games, special refreshments, and family prayers. Like iron links in a chain, this practice will bind a family together, in love, pride, tradition, strength, and loyalty.[11]

Monday evenings should be reserved for family home evening. Local leaders should ensure that Church buildings and facilities are closed, that no ward or stake activities are planned for Monday evenings, and that other interruptions to family home evenings be avoided. The primary emphasis of family home evening should be for families to be together to study the gospel. We remind all that the Lord has admonished parents to teach their children the gospel, to pray, and to observe the Sabbath Day. The scriptures are the most important resource for teaching the gospel.[12]

Family Home Evening away from home

In places with a high density of single adult members of the LDS Church, local wards or stakes organize Home Evening groups. The purpose of these meetings is the same as that of family-based Home Evenings, but groups are composed of peers rather than family members. Home Evening groups are most common near colleges and universities, including but not limited to LDS universities, such as Brigham Young University.

References
  1. Wilgoren, Debbi. "For Mormons, No Place Like Home", The Washington Post, 8 July 1996. Retrieved on 16 March 2020.
  2. Klemesrud, Judy. "Are Mormons Against Feminism? Not Exactly", The New York Times, 5 May 1978. Retrieved on 16 March 2020.
  3. First Presidency (Joseph F. Smith, Anthon H. Lund, and Charles W. Penrose), Letter, 27 April 1915.
  4. Conference Report, October 1970.
  5. Klemesrud, Judy. "Strengthening Family Solidarity With a Home Evening Program", The New York Times, 4 June 1973. Retrieved on 16 March 2020.
  6. Gordon B. Hinckley, "To Men of the Priesthood", Ensign, November 2002.
  7. "Activities: Monday Nights, General Handbook: Serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City, Utah: LDS Church, 2020) 20.6.10
  8. "Family Home Evening", churchofjesuschrist.org, accessed 13 April 2016.
  9. "First Presidency Statements". Home & Family. churchofjesuschrist.org. December 2006.
  10. First Presidency (Joseph Fielding Smith, Harold B. Lee, and N. Eldon Tanner), Family Home Evenings, 1970–71, p. v.
  11. Ezra Taft Benson, "Salvation—A Family Affair," Ensign, July 1992, p. 4.
  12. First Presidency (Howard W. Hunter, Gordon B. Hinckley, and Thomas S. Monson), Letter, 30 August 94.
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