The goal of General Conference Book Club is to read a talk from the most recent General Conference and discuss it together in an online book club.
(If you're not familiar with General Conference or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints you can visit the Church's official pages for more information - here and here)
How do I Join GCBC?
It's really simple! There are two steps to joining and participating in this awesome club!
1.) Read the conference talk that will be announced each week on Sunday
2.) Come back to the blog (at any time) and comment on the GCBC post
Not sure what to say? You can simply say "I read the talk and it was amazing!" or whatever else you want to say about it. Don't feel like you need to say something profound or though provoking. Simply stating you read the talk is good enough. You can go one step further and reply to a comment with something like "Me too!" or "Great insight! I never thought about that before!" or you can get really impressive and write your own dissertation right here in the comments! (no comment length is inordinate for the GCBC posts!) If you feel uncomfortable writing an entire page in the comments, write your own blog post on your own blog and then give us a link in the comments. There are plenty of ways to participate!
That's it! Once you have read the talk and participated in any way in the discussions in the comment section, you have joined the GCBC!
Optional Steps:
1.) Subscribe to the comments (click on the little link below the comment section that says "subscribe to comments")
2.) Come back often during the week (and after the week) and comment and reply - participate in a real discussion
3.) Add the GCBC button to your blog or blog post:
<a href="http://diapersanddivinity.com/gcbc" target="_blank" title="General Conference Book Club"> <img src="http://diapersanddivinity.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/genconfbutton1.jpg" width="150px" alt="General Conference Book Club" /></a>
Why General Conference Book Club?
A fine member of the Church was talking with a neighbor who was not of our faith. When the topic of discussion turned to general conference, the neighbor asked, “You say you have prophets and apostles? And twice a year in a worldwide conference they reveal the word of God?”
“Absolutely,” the member replied with confidence.
The neighbor thought about that for a moment. He seemed genuinely interested and then asked, “What did they say in the last general conference?”
At this point the good member of the Church went from feeling excited about sharing the gospel to feeling embarrassed. Try as he might, he couldn’t think of the details of a single talk.
His friend found this troubling and said, “You mean to tell me that God speaks to man in our day and you can’t remember what He said?”
The brother felt humbled by this exchange. He vowed that he would do better to remember the words spoken by the Lord’s servants in general conference.
No Ordinary Blessing, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Where did General Conference Book Club come from?
General Conference Book Club is actually the inspired work of Stephanie at Diapers and Divinity. She started the online book club as a way for Latter-day Saints in the online community to share insights about General Conference talks. Due to her recently acquired gainful employment, Stephanie asked me if I would host GCBC here on My Soul Delighteth. Of course I said yes. I love Stephanie, and I love GCBC, and I love General Conference.
What if I missed some of the talks?
Never fear! Back-linking is here! Check out the links below to find the posts from previous GCBC posts.
GENERAL CONFERENCE BOOK CLUB APRIL 2013:
| Week 2 14-Apr-13 |
President Boyd K. Packer | watch | listen |
| Week 3 21-Apr-13 |
Bishop Dean M. Davies | watch | listen |
| Week 4 28-Apr-13 |
Elaine S. Dalton | watch | listen |
| Week 5 5-May-13 |
Elder Craig A. Cardon | watch | listen |
| Week 6 12-May-13 |
Elder M. Russell Ballard | watch | listen |
| Week 7 19-May-13 |
President Henry B. Eyring | watch | listen |
| Week 8 26-May-13 |
Elder Richard G. Scott | watch | listen |
| Week 9 2-Jun-13 |
Elder Quentin L. Cook | watch | listen |
| Week 10 9-Jun-13 |
Elder Stanley G. Ellis | watch | listen |
| Week 11 16-Jun-13 |
Elder John B. Dickson | watch | listen |
| Week 12 23-Jun-13 |
Elder David A. Bednar | watch | listen |
| Week 13 30-Jun-13 |
Elder Russell M. Nelson | watch | listen |
| Week 14 7-Jul-13 |
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf | watch | listen |
| Week 15 14-Jul-13 |
Elder Neil L. Andersen | watch | listen |
| Week 16 21-Jul-13 |
Rosemary M. Wixom | watch | listen |
| Week 17 28-Jul-13 |
Elder L. Whitney Clayton | watch | listen |
| Week 18 4-Aug-13 |
Elder L. Tom Perry | watch | listen |
| Week 19 11-Aug-13 |
President Thomas S. Monson | watch | listen |
| Week 20 18-Aug-13 |
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland | watch | listen |
| Week 21 25-Aug-13 |
Elder Dallin H. Oaks | watch | listen |
| Week 22 1-Sep-13 |
Elder Christoffel Golden Jr. | watch | listen |
| Week 23 8-Sep-13 |
Elder Enrique R. Falabella | watch | listen |
| Week 24 15-Sep-13 |
Elder Erich W. Kopischke | watch | listen |
| Week 25 22-Sep-13 |
Elder Bruce D. Porter | watch | listen |
| Week 26 29-Sep-13 |
Elder D. Todd Christofferson | watch | listen |
