21st annual Religious Lecture Series held

• Anissa Zamudio / Scroll Staff
• scrolllifestyle@byui.edu

With the theme of this year’s Religious Lecture Series entitled Ye Shall Be Witnesses of Christ. The Department of Religious Education presented 35 different topics of interest including a key note address by Elder Max W. Craner, a former Area Authority Seventy whose talk was titled, Jesus, the very thought of thee.

Students and community members filled the John Taylor Building Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., rotating hourly from classroom to classroom.

Mingling with excitement students and community members were prepared to be edified by BYU‑Idaho religion faculty members as well as religious instructors from surrounding areas such as James G. Williams, a Sugar City seminary teacher whose lecture was entitled, For they are not Israel, which are Israel.

Williams’ talk centered on living the gospel and keeping the balance of Him whom we serve in his church and compared it to students as they serve in church callings.

For some [students] this is the first time in their lives they are being called as Elder’s Quorum presidents and Relief Society presidents. Those doing this for the first time might make the mistake of thinking, This is about my program, this about my numbers. While all of that is important, they have to remember that [their] primary goal is still to serve people, Williams said.

Those who attended found inspiration and enlightenment from a program that turned out to be more than just another dry lecture or classroom setting, said Brittney Halliday, a sophomore from Rexburg.

This was an extra spiritual boost, Halliday said. I wouldn’t have thought to come, but since I did, I’ve realized there’s a lot of information you wouldn’t really think about, topics you wouldn’t have as regular classes.

Finding inspiration through sacrifice was a theme Stanley W. Kivett, a speaker from the Religious Education Department, also noticed.

One thing that’s wonderful is that everyone coming here is motivated out of love for the gospel and they’re sacrificing in a way that lets them have more rights to the sprit, Kivett said.

Chris Allison, another speaker from the Religious Education Department, also recognizes this event as a spiritually uplifting event.

This is a chance for those who hunger and thirst for things of the gospel to come and partake, Allison said.

Students who came walked away with personal applications and answers.

[Students] should always try to improve, and by coming [to this] will realize things they need to improve upon in their life, said Joslyn Laugenour, a freshman from San Jose, Calif.