Late last week, the Church announced that is was doing away with EFY. They will be rolling out EFY type conferences which will take place in the Stake every other year. Both of my kids were able to attend EFY for multiple years. This gave them an opportunity to meet and socialize with other kids, learn about the gospel and be "on their own" for a week. I felt it was a great opportunity they were able to experience. There are others throughout the world, country and area that are not able to attend these and because of this, I can see why the Church would want to roll out something that would give everyone the opportunity to experience. It will be interesting to see how this is done. These EFY sessions had some great speakers that the youth really enjoyed.
While I think this is great, I also see that youth that were able to attend would be missing out. Some of my kids best memories were from meeting people across the state and/or from other states. These relationships helped them learn about the Church outside of Utah. It also gave those from other states to meet so many others that shared their same beliefs.
As I mentioned before, when I was in college, their were Church sponsored fraternities and sororities. These gave us young single adults a chance to bond with others that shared similar interests as well as meet so many other members across the school. I don't know when it changed, but the Church decided to focus on the Single Adult Wards. So this change and now with the EFY change, everything is focused within the Ward or Stake. This takes away opportunities for youth to meet others outside their current Stake. A chance to meet others that maybe share the same values but grew up in a different setting.
I would like the Church to find someway where youth can meet others from different areas of the country. Learn from their experiences. And grow from each other. Right now, it seems like the only time or place you can do this would be from a Church owned school. We all know that it is very difficult to get into BYU Provo. So this leaves almost all other youth focused only on their Ward or Stake that they have grown up in. Some will say, missions will give you this chance. While I agree that I learned how it was for members outside of Utah; I wouldn't say that the social interaction is the same.
What are your thoughts on the elimination of the EFY program?
While I think this is great, I also see that youth that were able to attend would be missing out. Some of my kids best memories were from meeting people across the state and/or from other states. These relationships helped them learn about the Church outside of Utah. It also gave those from other states to meet so many others that shared their same beliefs.
As I mentioned before, when I was in college, their were Church sponsored fraternities and sororities. These gave us young single adults a chance to bond with others that shared similar interests as well as meet so many other members across the school. I don't know when it changed, but the Church decided to focus on the Single Adult Wards. So this change and now with the EFY change, everything is focused within the Ward or Stake. This takes away opportunities for youth to meet others outside their current Stake. A chance to meet others that maybe share the same values but grew up in a different setting.
I would like the Church to find someway where youth can meet others from different areas of the country. Learn from their experiences. And grow from each other. Right now, it seems like the only time or place you can do this would be from a Church owned school. We all know that it is very difficult to get into BYU Provo. So this leaves almost all other youth focused only on their Ward or Stake that they have grown up in. Some will say, missions will give you this chance. While I agree that I learned how it was for members outside of Utah; I wouldn't say that the social interaction is the same.
What are your thoughts on the elimination of the EFY program?
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