Keep on growing. Grow with balance. Let love be your lodestar. These are a few of the positive, inspiring messages President Gordon B. Hinckley provides in “Four Imperatives for Religious Educators.” With his permission, we have reprinted this classic address that offers positive and specific reminders on what matters most.

From the early days of the Church, the Lord has instructed us to seek learning out of the best books. In “Our Legacy of Religious Education,” Stephen K. Iba, assistant administrator in the Church Educational System, offers a montage of scenes from Church history, tor in the Church Educational System, offers a montage of scenes from Church history, showing vignettes of teaching settings from Ohio to Salt Lake City that emphasize our commitment to education.

The woman who anointed Jesus’s feet is an enigma. What lessons can we learn from her devotion? In a thoughtful piece, Gaye Strathearn, assistant professor of ancient scripture at BYU, draws powerful lessons from this account on love, faith in Christ, and forgiveness.

Seven women in the New Testament are named Mary, so teachers may have difficulty telling them apart. Blair G. Van Dyke, principal at the Highland Utah Lone Peak Seminary, and Ray L. Huntington, associate professor of ancient scripture at BYU, offer insights into each Mary and how each differed in her discipleship.

What power does a good question have in teaching? Certainly the Master Teacher used questions effectively in His teachings, and we also will benefit by following His example. Alan R. Maynes, a CES area director, describes the motivational power of good questions and illustrates how they can invite the spirit of revelation in our lives.

Biblical scholarship and popular media outlets often discuss a lost Gospel called Q. What is this supposedly lost Gospel, and what should religious educators know about it? Thomas A. Wayment, assistant professor of ancient scripture at BYU, offers guidance based on current research.

These are a few of the fine articles in this special Church Educational System issue. We want to thank Thomas R. Valletta and Melinda Shaha for their assistance.

Richard Neitzel Holzapfel, Editor-in-Chief

R. Devan Jensen, Executive Editor

Ted D. Stoddard, Associate Editor