Family Home Evening

The “Family Home Evening” program was begun in 1915, when Mormon Church President Joseph F. Smith urged the Church members to set aside one evening a week devoted specifically to the family. Family Home Evenings, or Family Nights, are often held on Mondays.

Members of the Mormon Church use Family Home Evening to strengthen family ties. Parents have the opportunity to teach their children about spiritual and secular matters and prepare them for life. Family Home Evening is held once a week as a time for families to sit down together and study the scriptures, talk about important life lessons, cultivate talents, discuss pressing issues, and plan activities and goals.

From the beginning of this world, God’s prophets have striven to teach us that the most important organization is the family. Our loving Heavenly Father has organized His Church on the earth for the very purpose of teaching families how to be eternally happy. We need to accept His generous gift. Despite the rush of our frantic lives, it is important for families to share quality time together, having fun and learning about life and God’s teachings.

In modern times Satan strives to create unhappiness by provoking disunity, infidelity, discontent, and a host of other spiritual illnesses. The greatest power Satan has in impeding the work of the Lord is in the home. "Sadly, it is here where he finds his greatest success, first by destroying family relationships and then by destroying the family unit" (Peterson).

To counteract this blatant attack on the family, parents must require more of themselves. They must provide their children with experiences that are love-producing and family-solidifying. This can be accomplished in daily teaching moments and activities done together as a family. Simple, positive experiences with a child can change the mood of a home and foster unifying moments of happiness and acceptance. The Family Home Evening program is designed to magnify these positive learning and bonding experiences on a weekly basis. (Peterson)

In an interview with the Boston Globe, President Gordon B. Hinckley, current prophet of the Mormon Church said, “I don’t hesitate to say if every family in the world practiced [the Family Home Evening program,] you’d see a very great difference in the solidarity of the families of the world” (interview, Boston Globe, 14 Aug. 2000).

Isaiah said, ‘And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord. And great shall be the peace of thy children’ (Isa. 54:13).

Although it may be difficult to find time for such weekly family gatherings, it is possible. President Gordon B. Hinckley proffered, “You have to establish in your life some sense of prioritizing things, of giving emphasis to the important things and of laying aside the unimportant things that will lead to nothing. Establish a sense of what is good and what is not good, what is important and is not important; and that can become a marvelous blessing in your lives. . . . There is nothing more important than your families. You know that” (Gordon B. Hinckley, “Family Home Evening,” Ensign, Mar. 2003, 3).

The practice of holding Family Home Evening is indeed a powerful tool for improving the lives of families and individuals. It is a very important concept for all active Mormons, regardless of marital or familial status. Thus, besides families and childless newlyweds, single students and neighbors may gather Family Home Evening groups as a means of increasing mutual support and spiritual convictions.

See also Family Home Evening 2 and The Family: A Proclamation to the World

Sources:

H. Burke Peterson, “Harmony in the Home,” Ensign, Jan. 1973, 114

Gordon B. Hinckley, “Family Home Evening,” Liahona, Mar. 2003, 3