What Is Stake Online Seminary?

As the Church’s seminary program grows throughout the world, there are some students whose circumstances do not allow them to attend a daily class. These circumstances should not prevent these students from receiving the blessings of seminary participation. The stake online seminary program can serve as a rescue tool for these students.

Stake online seminary classes are held under the direction of a stake president who works in conjunction with a local Seminaries and Institutes of Religion (S&I) coordinator. The curriculum, class setup, and online training are provided for stake-called teachers as they seek to meet the Objective of Seminaries and Institutes of Religion online. Enrollment is focused on students who are not enrolled in a daily class; to do this, the stake president and local coordinator counsel together to decide if students are not attending daily classes due to:

• Distances students must travel to a daily seminary class.

• Presence of any safety or security issues.

• Local economic conditions.

• Restrictions as a result of school credit or schedule.

A stake online seminary teacher is called and set apart in the same way as a stake teacher. A stake online seminary teacher attends training, in-service meetings, and other meetings under the direction of the local coordinator. The teacher will meet once a week in a seminary class with his or her students. Teachers are encouraged to have face-to-face meetings with their student group, but a video conference is also acceptable.

Local coordinators should counsel with local priesthood leaders and the area director prior to starting an online seminary class. If the committee decides to implement an online seminary class, local coordinators should work with their area offices and the training division at Church headquarters to get into the online training course and to set up the online course in WISE.