Well, my sources came through. I got a chance to not only see the new Duty to God book over the weekend, but to flip through it and do a little bit of reading as well. My predictions were close, but the book is not what I expected it to be.
My sources tell me that many of the Stake Presidencies/Stake Young Men’s presidencies have copies of the book, and they are planning an official roll-out in August. Why they don’t start getting the books out to the parents to drum up interest is a bit confusing to me, but that’s what they’ve decided to do. And let me tell you. THE BOOK LOOKS GREAT! I’ve got pictures at the end of the post.
I think the biggest thing that surprised me was how many pages were included with the book. There was over 100 pages in a small spiral-bound booklet about 4” by 6”, perfect for carrying in a scripture case. The paper looks to be of good quality, meaning this is something the boys are supposed to keep with them throughout all 6 years they are in the youth program.
It’s actually a simple layout for the book, and an even simpler program (which is good). There is a very strong focus on the basics of teenage life (which I go into detail about below), and I think the whole program will be much more effective by having a few points of emphasis rather than having a number of small tasks to complete under the old program.
The book is organized into a section for the Deacons, Teachers, and Priests, and within each of those sections, there are different points of emphasis. From the book:
“You will learn principles and make plans in the following areas:
- Spiritual Strength. Applying what you learn in this section will help you gain the spiritual strength you need to saty on the path of righteousness. You will develop habits of regular prayer and scripture study, which includes studying the words of the living prophets. You will learn and teach the doctrines of the gospel of Jesus Christ. You will also learn and apply principles that will help you be a worthy priesthook holder.
- Priesthood Duties. Applying what you learn in this section will help you draw close to the Savior as you exercise His priesthood. Your love for others will grow as you represent the Savior in serving them. You will learn how to administer priesthood ordinances, serve others, and invite all to come to Christ.
- For the Strength of Youth. In this section you will learn about and apply some of the standards from For the Strength of Youth, including the sections titled “Physical Health,” “Education,” and “Friends.” Applying these standards will make you more effective in your services to the Lord and better prepared for your future.”
What is my opinion on the new program? I like it. To me, the focus is on preparing the young men to be leaders in the church. Not just administrative leaders (like Bishops, Presidents of Quorums, Stake Presidents, etc), but leaders all over the world in all capacities. Forgive me for my bluntness, but the old Duty to God was built for a Utah-based young men’s program (or a United States-based program). Some of the options weren’t available to those outside the borders. And while I understand the old program tried to make well-rounded individuals (by focusing on aspects like physical health, education, arts, family life, etc.), the main focus was being lost. Now, they’re starting to get a better focus. For those in underdeveloped parts of the church (both nationally and abroad), there’s a better opportunity for the young priesthood holders to understand what their responsibilities, duties, and blessings that can be received. They will get a firm knowledge of essential gospel principles to help them transition into teaching those principles, whether to their family, on their mission, or to their associates, wherever they might be. They focus on some of the “big things” that teenagers should be concerned about (while I understand Education and Friends, Physical Health seems a bit out of place).
In conclusion, this is going to be a good program that will be utilized not only by more wards, but will see an increase in participation and achievement of the goal of achieving the Duty to God. While receiving the piece of paper that has the achievement is great, the more important thing is the preparation these boys are now receiving, and I think it’s a very good thing.
Some more pictures are included below.
The Young Men's Counselor 
6 comments
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June 30, 2010 at 10:26 am
Bryan
Thank you very much for the post and sharing some of this information. I’d love to know more about the requirements themselves. So there are 3 main categories is there just a project for each one? or line-by-line requirements similar to the old one? or perhaps both? Is it clear that the boys are to do these things on their own? or as a quorum?
Sorry if I come off over-eager, our ward’s young men’s program as a whole is in a moment of flux right now and the direction of the DTG program has a pretty dramatic effect on things going forward. I’m just trying to get my hands on as much information as soon as possible so I can be prepared.
Thank you much.
June 30, 2010 at 10:39 am
brandt
The requirements are a hybrid of the 2. There are 3 distinct sections within each quorum (deacon, teacher, priest), with specific tasks.
It’s 50/50 as far as individual/quorum participation. There’s some requirements that have a discussion with the quorum, and then the personal answers are written on the next page.
It’s going to be a lot less-involved than the previous Duty to God, but I think it’s going to be more influential in developing habits that the boys can take not only in their own personal lives, but in many cases, when they go on missions or serve in the military. There’s good stuff in there, but it’s more the internal rather the external, which I think the old Duty to God was.
And don’t worry about being over-eager, I’m sure my source was sick and tired of me pestering, which is why they got me the information! They wanted to get me off their back! Any questions I’m more than willing to answer, depending on how much detail I can go into.
July 19, 2010 at 3:08 pm
Bryan
Yesterday I finally got my hands on the book! Our bishop was at a week long stake youth activity the week it came, got it to the YM presidency a week later, then i was out of town, so finally i have it now. I’ve read through it twice and can’t wait to dissect it more.
First impression was surprise at how thin the book is, for spanning 3 years it shocked me how little there was. That lasted until I started reading it closely. It’s a big change from the “checklist” approach that the last one was. The new approach is much more focused on developing daily habits.
The new one is more flexible and honestly the boys will get out of it only what they put into it. So it’s going to put a lot more pressure on parents and ym leaders to make sure the boys are pushing themselves and achieving something.
I thought it was interesting how it starts small with Deacons and increases some with Teachers and even more with Priests. I hope that will finally put the scout vs DTG debate to rest and solidify the fact that DTG’s purpose is to inject spirituality into the program and lay the foundation for spiritual habits, but scouting is still activity arm for that age.
August 15, 2010 at 1:01 pm
Denzil
Does anyone know if there is a tracking system for the new DTG program?
August 16, 2010 at 6:04 pm
Mr. T
There will most likely be no tracking system for this program because how can you track something that is not consistent across the board? I have boys in my Deacon’s quourm who really want to tackle this program head on and for the first ‘requirement’ they have set more than one goal while other boys have only set one. I don’t see how you could create a tracking system for that.
Ultimately the tracking of this program is done with the books…it is essentail that the boys NOT loose their books with the way this new program is set up.
I’ll confess I initially was not impressed with the program, but as I’ve gotten further into it I’ve “Seen the light”. I am very concerned though about how open ended it is and worry that boys will quickly become dis-enchanted with the whole thing. The new program requires creativity and persistence. The boy has to figure out what he’s going to do and then stick to it…without the motivation of an award…just the motivation that comes from within. That is a foregin concept to most of our Young Men and (unfortunately) their parents/leaders.
I am very interested to see how this revised program plays out. It could help forge the most powerful generation of priesthood holders ever, or it could be replaced in six years because nobody is doing anything with it…
September 8, 2010 at 7:24 pm
Father
The old DTG program was very good for YM here in Europe, because most wards and stakes don’t work with the scouting program. It was good because it focused on spiritual goals as well as on cultural things, sports, scouting asf. I was a member of a very active YM-leadership in our ward for five years and we worked hard on it; it mostly was fun for the boys to work on their goals and the “check list” motivated them to give their best. We used the weekly activity and sometimes Sunday lessons to work on it and it gave the boys a lot of ideas when they planned their activites in their quorums. These activities always made sence since they could work on the DTG program with specific goals. And my oppinion is that there was flexibility enough to focus the program on the special interests of each single boy.
We as the YM leaders made a big effort on it, but most parents were not really interested in it, because of time problems, to much work, family problems a.s.f. It always was hard ot set and reach personal goals or family goals because mostly parents didn’t care on it.
I think the new program focuses to much on a perfect ward or family and to much on Utah. If all circumstances are perfect, the new program will work awesome maybe. But as I have seen in the past, most families and wards have to fight with problems. I also think that it will become much harder now to motivate the boys to plan senceful ativities because they (and their leaders) don’t have any orientation. I have the big concern that this program wil be used less than the old one because it’s to “open”.
Boys need to have outdoorthings, even to invite friends for Church activities. I’m affraid that leaders now have more excuses to to nothing like this in the future, that activities become boring or without sence because they are not fixed on a specific goal.
However, I’m glad to still have the old booklets and that it still can be used as a helpful manual for the progress of my own children in my own family.