Introduction

Welcome! Feel free to voice all your questions and ideas openly here.

One thing that helps in callings is to be honest with yourself. Having responsibilities can stretch you and be good for you to be a part if something. You should contribute honestly and with integrity. But you may be putting more pressure on yourself than you need to. Skipping some meetings may be OK every once in a while when you need to be with your family(even little things, like taking naps with your kids or taking them to the park can be important family time).

Your bishop will appreciate what you can give. You don’t need to feel obligated to tell him you are not fit to serve in your calling. The Lord accepts whatever you can give.

Go slow, and keep trading up, doing good things that uplift you. Make sure you follow the counsel of the church, put family first above callings.

Thanks for the replies. The main problem I feel as ward clerk is that, in my ward, much more than just pushing paper is involved in being ward clerk. The bishop actively seeks my thoughts in bishopric meeting on things like, for example, who should be called into a particular calling. But it’s hard to tell him that I feel a spiritual confirmation about calling so-and-so to such-and-such calling when I’m finding it very hard to feel the Spirit at all in my life right now.

Thanks for the replies. The main problem I feel as ward clerk is that, in my ward, much more than just pushing paper is involved in being ward clerk. The bishop actively seeks my thoughts in bishopric meeting on things like, for example, who should be called into a particular calling. But it’s hard to tell him that I feel a spiritual confirmation about calling so-and-so to such-and-such calling when I’m finding it very hard to feel the Spirit at all in my life right now.

I understand. In time you may realize how you feel “the spirit” in new and different ways. Of course it is up to you to decide what you feel good about. In my ward a simple “I feel good about that” is all that is required.

But it’s hard to tell him that I feel a spiritual confirmation about calling so-and-so to such-and-such calling when I’m finding it very hard to feel the Spirit at all in my life right now.

Then don’t tell them that.

We are told that inpsiration can come through the heart and through the mind. Let the other people in the Bishopric be the heart; you be part of the mind.

I’ve served in multiple Bishoprics, and not every calling involves spiritual confirmation. Sure, that’s the ideal – and I believe in being open to and desiring it, but I’ve come to understand that the Lord doesn’t command OR confirm every decision like that. Part of administration is administering as an “agent unto yourself” – so your “intellectual” or “analytical” input can be part of the process without any need for spiritual confirmation.

Welcome! This is definitely a safe space…we all seem to air our dirty laundry (so to speak) here. This forum has been very helpful to me and others.

Thanks again for all the replies. Since I first posted here, I have been released as ward clerk — and called as ward mission leader. I should have turned the calling down, but it came up in a very surprising and unexpected setting, and I didn’t know how to handle it, other than to say “OK.” I’m trying to apply all the good advice I received here and serve in the best way I can — mostly by being a helpful resource for the missionaries in our ward.

That said, I admit that sometimes what I want most is to be able to take a break — not from attending church, but from having a calling. It’s hard to figure out where I stand when everyone still thinks that I’m very much in line with the program. When my faith crisis began, I made a conscious decision to tell very few people about it — initially only my wife, who it turns out was going through more or less the same thing but about two months earlier than me. I think my decision to keep it to myself was the right one, and I still don’t feel comfortable telling anyone else about my faith crisis, especially my bishop who I know well outside of church and consider to be a good friend. But not telling him feels more and more dishonest. So I’m in an uncomfortable no-man’s land, where I’m trying to sort things out but still have a demanding calling that makes me appear to be very much with the program, even though I’m not. Anyone else been in this situation?

Maybe the answer here is to have a chat with the bishop. But he quite obviously has no clue I’m struggling in the faith and I hate to do anything to make his own calling more difficult, which are already tremendous. I’d love just to be able to slip quietly to the back row of church and hang out there for 6 months or so.

Organize real service in your area, especially for the outcast among you. No conversion focus; no ulterior motives; just pure service for the sake of helping others.

When I was ward mission leader and having a faith crisis I organized what on of the missionaries dubbed “partypalooza.” Essentually the ward was really spread out and lacking cohesion, so we started to have these little regional potluck events. All the members living within the town would be invited (as well as anyone that wanted to travel the distance). We would do it at parks and at alternating members’ houses. These also had the side benefit of being a great place to bring non-members.

I’m sure that there might be plenty of things that you can do to help others and make their lives better without pushing baptisms.