Primary Themes
Primary Organization Research Guide
Identifying Primary themes prior to 1988 can be difficult. A June 20, 1992, issue of the Church News published the Primary theme in an “Official Policies and Announcements” section quoting the Primary Handbook of instructions. The theme was “All thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children” (3 Nephi 22:13), and the purposes of Primary are to help children:
- Feel Heavenly Father’s love for them.
- Learn and understand the gospel of Jesus Christ.
- Feel and recognize the influence of the Holy Ghost.
- Prepare to make and keep sacred covenants.
A good source for information about the history of Primary is Sisters and Little Saints: One Hundred Years of Primary, by Carol Cornwall Madsen and Susan Staker Oman. In this source are the different mottos for each age-group. On pages 109–10, the authors state: “The theme that Sister [May] Hinckley and her board selected for their first June conference in 1940 became the theme of the Primary Association, and appeared as such in the Children’s Friend in August of that year. Taken from the Doctrine and Covenants, it aptly expressed the purpose of the Primary as it had come to be defined by that time: ‘And they shall also teach their children to pray, and to walk uprightly before the Lord’ (D&C 68:28).”1
Between 1956 and 1980, themes can occasionally be found in the Primary Script and Primary Dispatch. However, they are not consistently provided as “themes.”
Beginning in 2019, the Children and Youth program began using the Come, Follow Me manuals that created unified teaching throughout the Church and all ages.2 The Primary and youth organizations have created a Come, Follow Me website aimed at children, youth, parents, and teachers. The Primary theme is “All thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children” (Isaiah 54:13; 3 Nephi 22:13).3
Researchers can use the library catalog and the Church website to identify themes from 1988 through 2009:
1988 “I Will Read the Book of Mormon”
1989 “I Am a Pioneer”
1990 “I Belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”
1991 “I Can Gain a Testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ”
1992 “I Can Feel and Show Reverence for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ”
1993 “I Love to See the Temple”
1994 “The Gospel of Jesus Christ Can Bring Me Peace”
1995 “We Believe the Articles of Faith”
1996 “As I Have Loved You, Love One Another”
1997 “I Can Choose the Right”
1998 “The Scriptures Are True”
1999 “Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ”
2000 “I Will Make and Keep My Baptismal Covenant”
2001 “Follow the Prophet”
2002 “The Temple: I’m Going There Someday”
2003 “I Belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”
2004 “My Family Can Be Forever”
2005 “I Will Follow God’s Plan for Me”
2006 “I Will Trust in Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ: Their Promises Are Sure”
2007 “I’ll Follow Him in Faith”
2008 “I Am a Child of God”
2009 “Eternal Family”
From 2010 through 2018, the annual Primary themes can be found on the Church website:
2010 “I Know My Savior Lives”
2011 “I Know the Scriptures Are True”
2012 “Choose the Right”
2013 “I Am a Child of God”
2014 “Families Are Forever”
2015 “I Know My Savior Lives”
2016 “I Know the Scriptures Are True”
2017 “Choose the Right”
2018 “I Am a Child of God”
1. Carol Cornwall Madsen and Susan Staker Oman, Sisters and Little Saints: One Hundred Years of Primary (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1979), 109–10.
2. Come, Follow Me, accessed May 20, 2020, ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
3. See General Handbook: Serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 12.1.2, accessed May 14, 2020, ChurchofJesusChrist.org.