Year after year, we have lessons on one of the most static and impersonal of topics: the Organization of the Priesthood. Now, I don’t mean the act of organizing the priesthood—that was a dynamic, exciting process with lots of stones left to look under, and along the way we read inspiring accounts of personal sacrifice, delve into important doctrine, and so forth. No, I’m talking about lessons on the way in which the priesthood is organized today: its structure, offices, hierarchies, and protocols.

Should be an easy once-in-a-lifetime lesson, right? I mean, it should be no more complicated than discussing the political/geographical organization of a nation: neighborhood, city, county, state, region, country, continent, hemisphere—and my six-year old can tell you that! So why is it necessary to discuss every year? Is it really so hard for members to understand and remember the details of priesthood organization? Yes, yes it is! Read the rest of this entry »