By Study and Also by Faith

“Our history doesn’t limit us, but like a plant’s roots it anchors and nourishes us and is crucial for growth” (By Study and Also by Faith—One Hundred Years of Seminaries and Institutes of Religion [2015], viii). So writes Elder Paul V. Johnson in the foreword to the newly published history of Seminaries and Institutes of Religion, By Study and Also by Faith—One Hundred Years of Seminaries and Institutes of Religion, now available in print and online.

In the August 4, 2015, Seminaries and Institutes of Religion Satellite Broadcast, Grant C. Anderson, a Seminaries and Institutes of Religion assistant administrator, gave a talk entitled “Remember and Act.” He stated: “There is much in our history that is worth remembering. To that end, a history of Seminaries and Institutes of Religion has been written. . . . We hope it will be read and become an important resource in our individual and collective study. This history can help us learn from the individuals who made Seminaries and Institutes of Religion what it is today. We stand on their shoulders and enjoy a rich heritage that they have left us. And though many are long gone, they can still serve as guiding lights as we move into the future. We hope that in remembering them we will be led to remember their works and to act” (lds.org/broadcasts).

As Elder Johnson reflected on the retirement of a generation of senior leaders and teachers from Seminaries and Institutes of Religion, he experienced great concerns over the danger of losing a “storehouse of background and history, information that is so important to understand in order to accomplish the great work of the seminaries and institutes” (By Study and Also by Faith, viii).

Those concerns resulted in the gathering and publication of a history that chronicles the work of many individuals over the first one hundred years of seminaries and institutes. And although, as Elder Johnson notes, “the real history of seminaries and institutes is found in the lives of students and teachers who have been blessed, protected, and guided as they learned and applied the gospel of Jesus Christ” (By Study and Also by Faith, ix), the story of the beginning and growth of seminaries and institutes is full of inspirational events that will positively influence those who read and study them.

“As you study this volume you will sense the dedication, love, and faith exhibited by those who went before. The accounts that are core to our history are touching and instructive. Some may also seem familiar, as many themes and challenges echo across time. . . .

“. . . I hope readers of this history experience something like being in a conversation with those who went before—that across the span of time readers will feel their dedication, learn from their experiences, and share their commitment to and love for the students whom we serve” (By Study and Also by Faith, ix-x).

Brother Anderson also encouraged, “It is our hope that, as this history becomes available, you will read it, internalize the lessons it can teach us, and—most importantly—be a strong link in the chain of our unfolding history” (“Remember and Act” [address to Church Educational System religious educators, Aug. 4, 2015], lds.org/broadcasts).

By Study and by Faith is available online at LDS.org. To read the mobile version in the LDS Gospel Library on your mobile device, go to Library > Lessons > Institute > By Study and Also by Faith—One Hundred Years of Seminaries and Institutes of Religion.