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My wife told me there was an announcement that the teacher’s council happens once a quarter now. Makes sense, starting Jan 1, when we are on two-hour church. I have to confess, it’s been dragging, this “calling” as Teachers Council Facilitator (TCF). I taught the teachers everything I know. Teaching is really not a complex job after you’ve done it for a while. And I find there is a limited number of things to talk about that are suitable for the volunteer teacher on a Sunday…there are no grades, no evaluations, no money involved, no persistence issues, no assessment, no curriculum development, very little technology….
I am relieved. I may talk to the SS president, who really doesn’t care about the SS or the Teachers Council, if we can start up in January.
He was supposed to get me a list of teachers a month ago, but did nothing…so my own enthusiasm is waning…
Another good result of two hour church. I was wondering what they’d do. I haven’t held a council since June of 2018. We shut down for the summer, did nothing in Sept, Oct is almost over, and I have no desire for Nov or Dec…but if I’m not careful, they will replace me, and who knows what else they will want me to do…probably something I don’t want.
Any thoughts to help me get out of this slump? It’s the ideal calling for me, but I’m weary of it all — the whole church calling thing.
What do you want from your calling? Me? I would keep the calling. Be silent and enjoy the vacation. If anyone asks you if there can be a Teachers Council, tell them you’ll look into it, but with the new changes you want to see where it all fits. There is nothing better, IMO, than having a do nothing calling.
I love callings where I can contribute but if a season comes where it’s a low key-er I take it.
For years I wanted to be the ward librarian. You makes some copies, pass out supplies, chat with people. Done. If you want you can hide it out in the room. You can.
If I were you, I would be dancing a jig of joy.
As long as you have a calling on the books, you can hold it as long as they let you. They don’t care that it’s not happening. This is a good problem to have.
On that note (and a bit of thread jack) a lot of callings are being eliminated or toned down. In Relief Society an entire pyramid of callings was removed when Ministering came in. There used to be an army of women who ran the Visiting Teaching program. Now they aren’t needed.
Reducing an entire hour and sharing 2nd hour every two weeks will eliminate another pyramid. Priesthood and RS now only need 2 teachers total (maybe less).
Gospel Essentials is gone. So are the fill in classes.
Tons of people in the ward will be calling-less. It’s the new norm. We just haven’t started yet.
You are ahead of the curve.
mom3 wrote:
I love callings where I can contribute but if a season comes where it’s a low key-er I take it.
I wonder if we’ll see more of these types of callings with the two hour change. It seems like in every ward, there’s a HUGE push for every member to have a calling. I swear, it’s almost doctrinal. I think it’s so everyone feels like their contributing and have a purpose, which leads to greater retention, commitment, etc, etc. But a lot of the time, I feel like those do-nothing callings make some members feel worse.
dande48 wrote:
mom3 wrote:
I love callings where I can contribute but if a season comes where it’s a low key-er I take it.
I wonder if we’ll see more of these types of callings with the two hour change. It seems like in every ward, there’s a HUGE push for every member to have a calling. I swear, it’s almost doctrinal. I think it’s so everyone feels like their contributing and have a purpose, which leads to greater retention, commitment, etc, etc. But a lot of the time, I feel like those do-nothing callings make some members feel worse.
Some of our ward is migratory. They head south in winter. How do we deal with them?
dande48 wrote:
What do you want from your calling?
I want to stay connected on a level that is not inconvenient. I don’t want to have to confront doctrine or cultural values to which I object. I want to enjoy myself.
I don’t want it to distract me from the many other projects I have going. I want to show my wife and family I’m still involved, albeit at a minimal level.
But I don’t want to have to make any sacrifices unless I want to. Sorry, that sounds bad, but I do make sacrifices in the rest of my life for other causes now. Just feel abandoned and used by our organization, and I’m clearly not happy as a fully committed Mormon right now.
SilentDawning wrote:
Just feel abandoned and used by our organization, and I’m clearly not happy as a fully committed Mormon right now.
That’s a tough spot to be in. FWIW, I don’t think they are going to release you. I think your calling will become less “needed”, with the recent changes. On the one hand, you want your contributions to be somewhat meaningful, and from what it sounds like, at least from the Sunday School president, he couldn’t care less. On the other hand, you can tell your wife and family you are magnifying your calling to its fullest extent, without doing much. I’d say that’s a guilt-free pass to focus on anything else. Maybe having Teachers’ Council once a quarter is a blessing… in a way.
I am currently calling-less and have been since September 2016 (on paper). Well, I am a ministering person – but I considered that a duty/privilege not a calling because I was not set apart for it. It’s a bit weird since I am in a small branch – so in theory I should be holding multiple callings. So there must be something wrong with this equation (or with me) because it doesn’t add up or meet the cultural expectation. From a prestige-wise, this use to bother me (and still does sometimes). But I have rarely been the type to hang around and wait on others, so I don’t wait to serve in whatever capacities I have the resources for.
In reality, my defacto callings are a) Achievement Day Board Member, b) Substitute Nursery Leader, and c) Subsitute Relief Society teacher, and d) Executive Secretary support. I have a vested interest in each of these areas. I help plan and execute Achievement Day activities that my daughter can participate in, that support and encourage growth in our girls. I show up and keep the 4 Nursery-ites from stealing each other’s toys – on really impressive days, I remember to bring apple slices to supplement the snacks they get. I am excited about the R.S. lesson I am teaching next week, and am planning what to present/facilitate for Dec 16th. I help my husband remember names and faces of people so that he feels more comfortable talking to them.
I am lucky in that my branch president applauds my specific approach to put supporting my family physically, executive functioning-wise, and getting them to church as my priorities without guilt for what I am not doing while in school.
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