At the Institute of Religion on Atwater Drive, however, things were not as quiet.
Cars pulled through the empty parking lot and teenagers tumbled out with messes of backpacks and coats following them. Inside the building, rooms were already lit up, a table was set with snack food, and Michelle Clark was arranging chairs at the last minute.
Clark is an unpaid teacher at the Institute of Religion — a meeting place for college-aged Mormons that also serves as the location where Seminary is taught.
The high school students walking into the building were there for an hour-long class about Mormon doctrine and how to apply it in their everyday lives.
Mormonism is a religion similar to but set apart from Protestant Christianity.
Mormons interpret their scripture literally and place an emphasis on following the example of Jesus Christ.
They trace their religious beginnings to Joseph Smith, a man who said he received gold plates inscribed with a history of American civilization from the angel Moroni in the early 19th century. Smith published a translation of the plates in about 1830 and established the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Followers of the church are called Mormons.
In the classroom, junior Robert Ison sat in the back.
“Most days we have to be here at 6:15 in the morning,” Ison said. “Having to be up is the most difficult part of coming to Seminary.”
Clark said the church follows a model of Seminary implemented in all Seminary courses across the country.
At the end of the course, all Seminary students are required to take a final exam on the Scripture they read during the school year.
Almost all of the classes take place before school starts.
Former Seminary teacher Charlotte Willan said some schools in Utah added Seminary as an actual class period for school, but that only happens in areas with large Mormon populations.
Seminary teachers who work through the church are unpaid volunteers.
“It’s a sacrifice,” Clark said.
A late start for Monroe County schools on Wednesday mornings means students got to sleep a little bit later but not much.
Perhaps that’s why the room is buzzing at 7 a.m. Or perhaps it’s the chips, hot chocolate and candy on a table. Either way, everyone appeared cheerful.
Without having to repeat herself, Clark began the class at 7:05 a.m. She didn’t have to tell the students to pull out hymnal books — they’d already done so by the time a piano began to play.
Normally, Clark gets in front of the class and teaches the lesson, but Alyssia Willis, a senior in Clark’s class, had volunteered to teach one of the lessons this semester, so she stood up and took the podium instead.
Willis’ lesson had to take up the full hour of Seminary.
“We’re supposed to be reading through the Old Testament every day for Seminary,” Willis said. “I normally read my Bible for about 10 minutes a day — I haven’t missed a day in years. So I just used that time as a way to prepare. It’s easy if you spread it out.”
Willis taught from an Old Testament passage in Numbers, drawing correlations between the Israelites and the students in the room.
“They didn’t do what the Lord commanded,” Willis said. “It’s important for us to give glory to God.”
In the passage she read, Moses hit a rock with his staff to draw water from it.
Willis said God punished Moses later because he had disobeyed God’s original command, which was just to speak to the rock, not hit it.
“It was God’s miracle, and by disobeying he made it about himself,” Willis said. “It’s possible to do that now by giving a testimony about your life that glorifies sin or doesn’t mention God.”
After roughly an hour on the same passage, Willis closed her lesson.
Parents pulled into the parking lot again, ready to take their children to school.
It was only around 8 a.m., but already the Seminary students had discussed creation, the Bible and gender. Before Willis began the lesson, one girl stood up to give a short testimony.
“One of my friends asked me how we got here,” the girl said. “We need to think more about how grateful we are that God created all of this.”
Clark said Seminary is a chance for the students to ground themselves in their beliefs before they head to school.
“We were talking about standing up to use of profanity the other day,” Clark said. “If other students can see others standing up, it has a ripple effect.”
Willian said she agreed.
“What difference does it make if we can’t apply this into our lives, into what they’re facing at school?” Willian said. “I always try to say ‘So what?’ at the end of each lesson.”
