Backstory: My wife and I teach Sunday School to 12-17 year-old youth at the Chattanooga Valley Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Flintstone, Georgia, twice a month. This year, our study is on the Book of Mormon.
The first class was to be a discussion of what the Book of Mormon is, how it was written originally, how it came to be in our time, how it was translated, and how it is a second witness, along with the Bible, to the divinity of Jesus Christ. Normally, we engage students in give-and-take discussions, where we learn as much (or more) than they do. However, there was so much history to get through, and such limited time, that I basically took control of the discussion and “firehose taught” the lesson.
Afterwards, my wife told me that she’d never seen me “teach” that way before, and she didn’t like it. One of the students said “Well, he’s showing that he knows more than we do,” and another said that I was, sometimes, rude. In response, I wrote this email of apology to the parents of the students, as well as to the leaders of the congregation. Lesson learned (I hope) —
“In today’s youth Sunday school lesson about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, I departed from my usual Socratic, discussion-oriented teaching style. In an effort to get through a lot of material very quickly, I used a very aggressive question and answer style that negated a lot of discussion and a lot of testimony. In an effort to discuss the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, the history of the Book of Mormon, and a way that the youth could summarize what the Book of Mormon was, how it came about, and how it related to particular points in history, I basically steamrolled any discussion.
In an effort to express my fervent testimony and belief that the Book of Mormon is divinely inspired and that it is a second witness of the Divinity of Jesus Christ, I cut off any discussions or expressions of testimony from the youth.
As a result, the class members, your children, may feel compromised, negated, hurt, and not validated. This is certainly not my intention. I admire the youth in our class, and think they’re easily the finest and most well thought out class I’ve ever taught. But I’m certain it didn’t come across like that.
I apologize for being offensive, I apologize for any feelings that I may have hurt. Please be aware that your children and those you may be responsible for may not like what happened in class today. If this is the case, I would welcome the opportunity to speak with them and you and to offer my sincere apologies.
The Book of Mormon is the Word of God. Jesus Christ is the Savior. His Church has been restored on the Earth. But my enthusiasm for those truths should never trample the great commandment of loving my neighbor, and not offending the children.
Again, I’m deeply sorry.
David Kuhns”