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I can’t post this publicly, so please keep it absolutely confidential, but I just spoke with a couple of the members of my Stake Presidency about the 1st Presidency letter being read tomorrow or next week. As a result, I was asked to send them possible verbiage to add from them to be read after the 1st Presidency letter. I sent them the following:
Quote:How about something like the following – or shortened in any way you all prefer:
“As the Stake Presidency, we don’t want this issue to be divisive within our wards and branches, so we ask that you not let it become a topic of conversation in any other meetings. This letter lays out the Church’s policy on performing same-sex marriages, but it should not become the central topic of any lessons or Sacrament Meeting talks.
We know the membership of our stake includes people who have differing views about the Supreme Court ruling, and we know that there are members of our stake who are gay and/or have family members and loved ones who are gay – and who are conflicted deeply by this issue. We hope all of our members can love and serve each other and everyone around them as Jesus did – without regard for personal differences and unconditionally. All of us are sinners and come short of the glory of God. We hope all of us can avoid the mean-spirited, condemning statements that are so common on social media right now. We hope we all can avoid “us vs. them” language and find common ground to work together to comfort those who stand in need of comfort and mourn with those who mourn. For example, the Church made a donation just last week to the Utah Pride Center to help provide food and clothing to homeless gay youth, and we encourage all of the members of our stake to follow the Church’s example and strive to find ways to love and serve all of God’s children.”
My heart hurts, especially, for those who find themselves on both sides of this issue – and we have to stop losing our gay youth who feel they have no home within the Church and no chance for happiness in this life. We might not be able to condone homosexual activity, but we must love them unconditionally and openly and actively.
Thanks for listening to me.
Ray
I like it. Let us know what happens. Thanks. Yes, I’d love to know what happens. I have nowhere else to park this, so here’s what happened in my neck of the woods today: We were traveling in the Seattle area. We caught 2nd and 3rd hour of one ward, then sacrament meeting of the next. (The latter ward announced they would read it next week.) The building we visited was very close to Seattle city center. Hardly a soul over fifty, lots of young families, not necessarily newly-weds, though. I’d say the bishop wasn’t over forty.
Opening hymn – “Home Can Be a Heaven on Earth”
He read the letter, then asked why people thought they called a special meeting. Responses:
– as a legal defense
– to draw clear line between civil and religious matters
– to give the church an opportunity to talk about the good it does on the fair housing, employment, etc. fronts
– to clarify doctrine and encourage us to exercise faith and trust in leaders
Bishop talked about a recent leadership training and quoted Elder Bednar saying – in the set-up for the year of stressing Sabbath day observance – that everything we do in the church – EVERYTHING including the Sabbath – is to facilitate the final goal, the sealing of a man and woman and their children in the temple. The bishop said that that’s what he spends his time on in the bishop’s office, talking to people about eternal families.
One man raised his hand and said that he’d had some trepidation this week, knowing the letter was coming, not sure how he felt, etc. But it came down to a decision, “Am I going to follow the prophet or not?” He had a strong spiritual witness that this was the right thing to do.
A woman asked how we can show love to homosexuals. Bishop stressed that gay people, including married couples are welcome in our wards. Someone else said to make sure you really follow through in supporting them in other areas – housing, employment, social connectedness, etc.
Another comment was that pointing our hearts to Christ will give us the freedom to let go of this as a political matter.
Another man: “Not my place to judge. There but for the grace of God go I.”
The bishop: The solution is easy; it is the gospel of Jesus Christ, NOT hoping and expecting the church to change.
> more prayer, more scripture study, more temple attendance, and that is the advice we should be giving others.A woman: We all fall short and sin. It doesn’t matter what the sin is; we all fall short. The church is a hospital for sinners.
One man – the ONLY person to even hint at this: Elder Christofferson says that you can be a member in good standing and support gay marriage. The church’s policy doesn’t change my personal belief.
Bishop: I recognize that I’m bishop of a ward with people of both opinions. Cautioned everyone to be very careful in how they expressed themselves online.
Bishop: I fully sustain our prophet. We have a living prophet and these are his words, which I encourage you to study. I love you.
(We skipped the closing hymn due to time – We Thank Thee, O God, For a Prophet.)
These we NICE people, very well-spoken and down-to-earth. My girls are torn. They felt their goodness, but my younger one noticed that gay people were “they,” “them,” “that person.” No one speaking in first person, no one even broaching the subject of life in the church as a gay person. She said, “If the bishop were standing up and saying that HE was attracted to men, and that the solution was easy,THEN I could listen to that.”
So, I don’t know. Frankly, I was shocked. I expected a different discussion.
Thanks for sharing. My new ward I’m in did not read the letter, but will read it next week and hold 3rd hour RS/P together to discuss it.
I’m nervous about it, but I plan to go and listen to what members have to say, and plan to be quiet. I am new. People don’t know me. I’m very torn on this issue and have not been happy how people are expressing themselves about it so far, because so much emphasis is placed on the prophet knowing something we should all have faith in, and it draws these lines of faithful followers and quiet thinkers. I don’t know.
I’m just going to lay low on this for a while and see what comes of it.
I just have zero capital in this new ward, so … i’m treading lightly.
I did have some good discussions with my 16 yr old son today about it though. He knows I’m for gay marriage and so is he.
Ann, This can be an emotionally charged issue for some people, the conversation actually sounded fairly progressive. Changes of heart are rarely like flicking on the light switch, they’re more like a sunrise where you really can’t tell when it stopped being night and stated being the day, even though you just witnessed it.
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