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I was sad today to have a member of our stake presidency announce a change in our bishopric in our ward’s sacrament meeting. 😥 Our current bishopric is made up of a group of truly humble and good men and they will be a hard act to follow. Naturally, the speculation engine in our ward revved up as we considered who will be called. I did find out later that the new bishop HAS been called and will be calling his counselors this week. I overheard someone ask the stake counselor who made the announcement “So, are you going to tell us who it is?” He just grinned and said, “You’ll have to wait until next week.” Of course, the questioner knew perfectly well that he wouldn’t say.🙄 I found myself a trifle annoyed by this little web of secrecy we Mormons weave around callings. It becomes a replay of Oscar night (and the bishop is…..!) and, in my opinion, creates a kind of artificial celebrity where none should exist. Bishops and stake presidents become the minor stars of the Mormon world (with general authorities the A list players). There is something about our nature that is so hierarchical and admiring (or envious) of those up in the hierarchy. And the mystery of “who will be called” just adds to this tendency.
But basically, the stake counselor’s slightly smug “I know something you don’t know” attitude was irritating. I think it’s just disappointment on my part. I have just really liked our current bishop and his counselors and, while I’m glad that they can return to their “normal lives”, I feel like whoever follows will simply not be as kind and charitable. In fact, there are only a smattering of viable candidates in our ward for this position and, while certainly good men, none of them have the humility and kindness of our current bishop.
Okay, got it off my chest. Can move on now! Thanks for reading!
:wave: You might be surprised by the new guys. It might even be the case where one of the counselors becomes BP or the new BP calls the 2nd counselor to be his 1st counselor, so not as big a change as you anticipate. Gerald wrote:I was sad today to have a member of our stake presidency announce a change in our bishopric in our ward’s sacrament meeting.
I’m in the same camp as you. Announce the new bishop, don’t announce that a new bishop will be announced in the near future. Doing that only starts the rumor mill. I can’t tell you how many times this has happened and the ward turns into a big “I bet it’s so-and-so” for the whole 3 hour block. Why even create the environment where the rumor mill can thrive for a week? The only people that need to know is the family of the person that they are extending the call to. A member of the SP can even extend the callings of 1st and 2nd counselor without disclosing that the bishop is changing (maybe it’s a simple change in one counselor for all they know) and swear them to secrecy as well. When everything is in place, announce.
In your case it wasn’t even an info leak, they announced it over the pulpit.
I was able to come up with one “pro” to generating buzz. They make an announcement that there will be a new bishop called and the next week SM is
packed. Everyone comes to see who the new BP will be. There are even some people that come to see if the new guy is someone that’s good enough for them to start attending regularly. 
It does come across as a “I know something you don’t know” but that appears to be a part of the culture surrounding callings. Brother Gerald, will you be willing to meet with the BP this week after SM? What’s this about?
:silent: :silent: :silent: Quote:was able to come up with one “pro” to generating buzz. They make an announcement that there will be a new bishop called and the next week SM is packed. Everyone comes to see who the new BP will be. There are even some people that come to see if the new guy is someone that’s good enough for them to start attending regularly.
This exact scenario is playing out in my ward right now. And the meetings are packed. The only time it was fuller was on Christmas.
I think there may be a group of people that do get a little buzz or have a little fun with the process and the anticipation. Just like some people buy People magazine and read about celebrities. That isn’t my cup of tea, but others like it. Gerald wrote:in my opinion, creates a kind of artificial celebrity where none should exist
ya…I agree with you on this…and perhaps a little fun is OK to let people talk and guess and pick…but hopefully people can keep that in check and not let it get out of hand and so gossipy and celebrity-like. It varies by ward.
My guess is that there is a small reason, based on experience, that keeping it secret until complete helps in situations like someone getting called, accepting under initial pressure, and then later deciding something isn’t right and it should not be made known or you have to explain the deviance from the rumor mill. So…they feel keeping a lid on it avoids those troubles. It is the argument for tight controls from leadership (which annoy me).
I think that regardless of the games others play about the process…I try to just not care much and hope for good changes. I don’t buy People magazine, either. Doesn’t interest me.
I still think we should learn from the catholics papal conclave …and we should adapt it to mormonism…when a new bishop or Stake President or GA is called…we should have white smoke come out of Moroni’s trumpet on the closest temple, and that will signify a decision has been made!!
I don’t want those callings announced in advance. I think doing so would feed into the celebrity / congrats / hassle that already occurs – and the further in advance the less respect the current person would have. I think members like to make a big deal out of the goings on of the church. It makes them feel as if there is something special about their belief. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Gerald wrote:It becomes a replay of Oscar night (and the bishop is…..!) and, in my opinion, creates a kind of artificial celebrity where none should exist.
It definitely can. But sometimes we do better. Sometimes, these changings-of-the-guard are really beautiful ward family experiences. But I see your point, and will raise you the gender chip. In a certain mood I could say that every boy – and not a single girl – in our ward is an artificial celebrity when being advanced in the priesthood. I don’t know what the solution is to any of it.Quote:They make an announcement that there will be a new bishop called and the next week SM is packed. Everyone comes to see who the new BP will be. There are even some people that come to see if the new guy is someone that’s good enough for them to start attending regularly.
Actually, the stake counselor said this very thing. He encouraged everyone to get the word and out get the people here. So I suppose that will work.
Quote:I still think we should learn from the catholics papal conclave …and we should adapt it to mormonism…when a new bishop or Stake President or GA is called…we should have white smoke come out of Moroni’s trumpet on the closest temple, and that will signify a decision has been made!!
😆 😆 😆 Every SP does it different. In our stake they always announce it the week before. In fact I was the one to announce that I was getting released as bishop the following Sunday. The SP did this so that there would be lots of people at SM to sustain the new bishop. I know other stakes that announce nothing, and the only sign that a change may be coning is when you arrive at SM and see the whole Stake Presidency sitting on the stand! One of the times I was in the bishopric the bishopric was released about 10 minutes before the meeting started and that was the first I had any clue the release was coming. Our stake doesn’t say anything until the day of. Like Sheldon said, if you show up and the whole stake presidency is there and somebody not usually dressed in suit is wearing a suit and has extended family visiting, it’s a pretty good sign there’s a new bishop coming. DarkJedi wrote:Our stake doesn’t say anything until the day of. Like Sheldon said, if you show up and the whole stake presidency is there and somebody not usually dressed in suit is wearing a suit and has extended family visiting, it’s a pretty good sign there’s a new bishop coming.
And don’t forget “suddenly shaved his beard”. It isn’t in the handbook any more, but from what I can tell most SP’s are more on the “unwritten order of things”. And being an MBA – that phrase/concept just a model for organizational issues. This ensures anyone that isn’t quick to pickup on social cues (and then be willing to follow) will never be in leadership unless the ward is “desperate”. It is akin to an immature person in a marriage saying, “I am really mad at you, but I am not going to tell you why because you should just know!”For those interested: New bishop called last Sunday. He was one of two men that my wife and I expected to be called. One counselor–no surprise. Other counselor–a bit more a of surprise(but still a good guy). And yes, as soon as I walked into church I knew who it would be based on number of visitors and suit-wearing. It was a record attendance day in our ward.
My wife and I vented a bit about the change and came to the conclusion that we were just going to miss our old bishop but I am sure we’ll be fine with the new one.
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