"There's No Place Like Home … Evening! — An FHE Planning Guide for Young Single Adults," by Janna McFerson, illustrated by Madeline Elsey, Limited Edition Publishers, 2010, 185 pages, $19.99
Anyone who's spent time in a young single adult ward will recognize the announcement, "The FHE committee would like to invite you all out to a mystery activity tomorrow night," as an attempt to trick people into attending an as-yet unplanned, and most likely a flop of a family home evening activity.
Well, you can kiss those Monday nights of obligatory awkwardness goodbye with the release of Janna McFerson's new book "There's No Place Like Home … Evening! — An FHE Planning Guide for Young Single Adults."
A book for planning YSA family home evenings is way past due, and Janna has done it marvelously. Having spent a cumulative four years as either FHE chairwoman or on the planning committee, she's tested every activity in the book at least once, and she offers tips, warnings and observations about more than a year's worth of activities.
"There's No Place Like Home … Evening!" addresses every detail that someone planning family home evenings for young single adults needs to know. Janna provides a day-by-day schedule for how to implement a wide array of creative and pre-planned FHE activities. And she doesn't leave out any details that we mere mortals might overlook. Janna goes into such minutiae as family home evening committee organization and leadership, activity promotion, cooperation with other committees and ward leadership, and tips to increase attendance.
I particularly appreciate this book's realistic approach to planning. Janna provides positive insight without being idealistic. She constantly reminds the reader that they are called of God, but she doesn't set them off on a quixotic family home evening-revolutionizing crusade.
"There's No Place Like Home … Evening!" is written with particular regard for the interests and needs of young singles. For example, Janna points out that, while lessons should be spiritually uplifting, "No one wants a discourse on a Monday night. Less is more when it comes to the spiritual lesson at FHE." She also discusses ways to promote FHE activities using the new-fangled technology of today's millennial singles.
In addition to the 52 weeks of family home evening activities, Janna provides a CD-ROM with fliers and other necessary resources to plan activities. You just have to fill in the blanks. While reading, I was constantly impressed with how well Janna was able to provide practical insight into the unique needs of young singles.
When you sit down with "There's No Place Like Home … Evening!" you'll feel less like you're reading a church manual and more like you're sitting down to frozen yogurt with a level-headed and experienced friend. You might not be initially impressed by its lack of graphic design and pro-editing prowess, but looks — in this case — are very deceiving. Dismissing this book because of its informal approach would deprive you of a fantastic resource that deserves attention not just from family home evening chairs, but from anyone involved in planning activities for Latter-day Saint young single adults.
I wish I'd had Janna McFerson's "There's No Place Like Home … Evening!" when I served as a family home evening group leader at Brigham Young University. The resources in this book could easily put half the family home evening planning committee out of their job: Janna's already done all the work. You just have to put her plans into action.
Julia Shumway grew up in Centerville and is currently studying maternal and child epidemiology at the University of Minnesota. Her column, "Pairing Off," explores the intricacies of the Mormon YSA experience and runs on Thursdays on MormonTimes.com.