Seminary

[2bizE]

I have a lot of thoughts and questions around seminary.
It is pretty obvious that seminary is a tool to help retain youth. When did seminary start and why?
How is it the church got hundreds of high schools to let kids out of school and go to seminary. This seems like a huge separation of church and state thing. And how is it that literally ever high school in the Mormon region has a seminary building immediately off campus with a brick path right to the building. It is mysterious.

[deacon blues]

I believe Seminary started back around 1910 when the church was closing down it's church schools. This from Wikipedia:

Background
The University of Deseret was established in 1850 to supervise other public schools in the territory. Public taxation instituted in 1851 supported these schools, which were organized by wards, with their teacher employed by the local bishop. These early public schools were often used church meetinghouses as their schoolroom.[3]:11 While Utah's colonization was started by members of the LDS Church (also called Mormons), twenty percent of the territory's residents were not Mormon by 1880. This non-Mormon minority wished for a state government that was less Mormon, including for public schools that were independent from the LDS Church.[3]:8–9 Non-Mormon schools petitioned for and received federal aid, and the first Protestant missionary school opened in Salt Lake City in 1867.[3]:13 From 1869–1890, there were 90 non-Mormon schools from other Christian denominations. Over half of their students were Mormon.[3]:14

The Edmunds–Tucker Act of 1887 prohibited use of "sectarian" or religious books in the classroom, and changed the district superintendent position to one that was appointed instead of elected. The Free School Act of 1890 established that public schools would be "free from sectarian control." This legislation separated the LDS Church from the public schools.[3]:18–19 Wilford Woodruff disliked the new public schools, calling them a "great evil," and created the academies system and an after-school program of religious classes for children.[3]:20–22 The first Church Board of Education was formed in 1888 to supervise the academies. The board consisted of Wilford Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow, George Q. Cannon, Karl G. Maeser, Horace S. Eldredge, Willard Young, George W. Thatcher, Anthon H. Lund, and Amos Howe.[4]:19–20 Thirty academies were formed between 1888 and 1895, but many families could not afford the tuition of the private academies. A few academies became junior colleges and trained teachers, and some continued as private Church-sponsored high schools.[3]:20–22 Most academies closed within the decade due to the depressions of 1893 and 1896. Some of the stronger academies persisted before being dissolved during church education cutbacks in the 1920s.[5] Release-time seminary classes started in 1912 at Granite High School in Salt Lake City, and grew to serve 26,000 students by 1930.[3]:20–22



Seminary is a financial boon to Utah schools because the Church pays for the teachers and the buildings.

[moksha]

How is it the church got hundreds of high schools to let kids out of school and go to seminary? This seems like a huge separation of church and state thing. And how is it that literally every high school in the Mormon region has a seminary building immediately off-campus with a brick path right to the building? It is mysterious.

Apparently, there was some court case before I entered high school that challenged the earning of high school credit for LDS Seminary classes. The decision was made to allow credits for the Old and New Testament classes because that was a commonality to all students (provided they were Christians). I have no idea if that decision still stands. Why was it allowed? Because it was Utah and the Church controlled the State. Not sure if this model was replicated anywhere else in the Jell-O Belt.

[alas]

How is it the church got hundreds of high schools to let kids out of school and go to seminary? This seems like a huge separation of church and state thing. And how is it that literally every high school in the Mormon region has a seminary building immediately off-campus with a brick path right to the building? It is mysterious.

Apparently, there was some court case before I entered high school that challenged the earning of high school credit for LDS Seminary classes. The decision was made to allow credits for the Old and New Testament classes because that was a commonality to all students (provided they were Christians). I have no idea if that decision still stands. Why was it allowed? Because it was Utah and the Church controlled the State. Not sure if this model was replicated anywhere else in the Jell-O Belt.

It was changed to no credit for any seminary class shortly after I graduated. So, after 1970 some time. So I got credit for old and New Testament. But then I sure didn’t need extra credits because I took orchestra after school hours every year and because of how things were set up, I couldn’t just have a study hour, not allowed.

[wtfluff]

I have a lot of thoughts and questions around seminary.
It is pretty obvious that seminary is a tool to help retain youth. When did seminary start and why?
How is it the church got hundreds of high schools to let kids out of school and go to seminary. This seems like a huge separation of church and state thing. And how is it that literally ever high school in the Mormon region has a seminary building immediately off campus with a brick path right to the building. It is mysterious.

As to the bolded statement above, all you need to understand is: In the Jello-Belt There is NO separation of church and state.

[2bizE]

I found this legal explanation online:
https://www.acluutah.org/resources/arti ... ic-schools

[moksha]

In 1981, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals dealt directly with the constitutionality of one released time religious program common in Utah high schools: LDS seminary. In Lanner v. Wimmer, the appeals court found that released time religious programs are not per se unconstitutional. However, they did find that by their very nature, released time programs “can present[ ] the potential for unconstitutional entanglement of public schools with religious institutions.” Thus, in implementing released time programs, public schools are obligated to always choose the “least entangling administrative alternatives.” Lanner v. Wimmer, 662 F.2 1349, 1358 (10th Cir. 1981)

In Utah, the criteria for enrollment in released time religious instruction courses are defined in the Utah Administrative Code, Rule R277-610. The code stipulates that LDS seminaries and other institutions offering religious instruction, are considered private schools and are separate in all respects from public schools. To secure released time for seminary classes, students must provide the school with written permission from their parents and class times for religious courses must not conflict with required school classes. Most Utah high schools have similar released time programs for student employment, vocational classes, and advanced curriculum courses. However, religious released time programs differ in several major ways:
Registration for seminary courses is separate from the regular school registration. Seminary credits do not count toward graduation requirements and seminary grades may not be included in official school records or transcripts.

Seminary classes may not be held in any public school facilities and public school teachers may not teach seminary courses. Seminary teachers are not considered to be members of school faculty, nor are they allowed to participate in any school functions.

No public funds or public school equipment may be used for religious instruction or promotion of seminary events; this includes the use of telephones, intercoms, copying machines, school newspapers and yearbooks.

Attending seminary is voluntary; public schools may not encourage students to attend seminary classes and students who don’t wish to enroll in seminary cannot be disciplined or sanctioned for not participating.

Finally, school districts must provide released time for students wishing to participate in religious instruction other than seminaries, such as online participation at NOM 2.0 under the tutelage of Professors Corsair, Red Ryder, and Headmaster Hagoth.