General Handbook Updated: Children’s Devotionals, New Young Women Age-Group Names and More
This page is our own summary. The original belongs to Church Newsroom; please read it there.
The October 2026 handbook update adds children’s devotionals, reflects the new Sunday schedule and renames Young Women classes as age-groups, among other changes.
On October 22, 2026, the Church published a new round of changes to General Handbook: Serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Church Newsroom notes that the handbook is updated as needed, under the direction of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, to give local leaders around the world principle-based guidance.
What changed
Newsroom listed several of the updates:
- Children's devotionals: wards and stakes now have the option to hold devotionals for children.
- New Sunday schedule: guidance throughout the handbook now reflects the Sunday meeting schedule announced earlier in 2026, including meeting schedules, quorum and class instruction, and teacher council meetings.
- Young Women age-groups: the term "classes" becomes "age-groups," with the new names "Builders of Faith," "Messengers of Hope" and "Gatherers of Light."
- Family sealings: clearer guidance for members attending the sealings of living siblings and parents, covering temple recommends, attendance and clothing.
- Members with disabilities: expanded guidance, with updated duties for disability specialists and new responsibilities for ward and organization leaders.
- Canada Area: many references to "the United States and Canada" now refer only to "the United States," reflecting the new Canada Area office.
- Chaplains and military relations: the former combined section is now two separate sections, "Chaplains" and "Military Relations," with substantially updated information.
Where to read it
The revisions are available on ChurchofJesusChrist.org and in the Gospel Library app in dozens of languages. A fuller list appears in the "Summary of Recent Updates" at the beginning of the handbook, and the changes will also be reflected in the General Handbook Search Assistant in Gospel Library, which is available to users signed in with a Church account.
How we wrote this: we read the source page linked above and summarized it in our own words, quoting at most a short line with attribution. We have not added facts from outside that source. If anything here differs from the original, the original is correct.