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Anyone know how the new ministering program is going? If you are near leadership, are they happy with the results? As an in-the-trenches guy, I haven’t had a single PPI over it, and frankly, haven’t done much other than send letters. But I feel better about my involvement in the church now — the onerous and one-sided reporting requirements are gone, and it seems like a kinder, gentler church. I think it influences how much I feel like attending now.
But does anyone have any info about how the leaders feel it is going?
I really don’t know what I’m suppose to do. There has been no training, no talking, no PPI. As far as I know. There have been informal talks in the hall with no real purpose that I’m aware of. I have someone assigned as a companion. He is inactive & I don’t
know who he is. I’m not sure who’s assigned to my family. Other than that, it’s going great.
I do realize that I have some responsibility to at least ask questions. It is on my agenda for Sunday.
While I’m not in leadership, I do find it funny that once HT was scrapped, my surprisingly active home teachers stopped visiting (after months of visits). I looked in the directory and found out that I am no longer assigned anyone, but my wife is. Super interesting as we seem to still be confused and not have stuff figured out yet. Our ward spent the 5th Sunday on it. I have chosen to make it my own. One of things I am deciding is that if the church can shift, so can I. Without guilt. Today we were emailed the handbook reminders and I liked reading it. Quote:Ministering sisters seek to be led by the Spirit as they provide Christlike caring. They
counsel with those they are assigned and seek inspiration about how best to meet their
needs, using the time and resources available.
Ministering sisters are flexible in how they minister. They customize their contacts
and service, and any messages, to meet the needs of sisters. Personal visits are
important when they can be made. Ministering sisters may also reach out through
phone calls, texts, emails, letters, contacts at church, attendance at family events, and
service.
Meeting individual needs starts with prayerful consideration and with a conversation
with the assigned sisters. Ministering sisters listen so they can understand how best to
serve. They discuss the frequency and type of contact sisters desire. They also discuss
the kind of messages sisters would like.
Farther down
Quote:3. They become acquainted with sisters’ interests and needs, and they recognize special
events in their lives.
4. They offer help when sisters and their families are unemployed, ill, lonely, moving, or
have other needs.
5. They help sisters and their families become self-reliant.
It’s not a perfect model, but it is a framework to free myself from someone else’s agenda. In all fairness the number 2 idea about church ordinances and I don’t really work, so I just let that one go. If someone wants an ordinance they can go find a Bishop person and go talk to them.
The dark side of the force is strong with me today, so I’m mostly going to withhold comment for the moment except to give a thumbs up to Mom. :thumbup: Seriously, people, you’ve been given freedom from being told what to do and how to do it every second – what the heck do you want? (Same goes for home church/Come Follow Me.)Very well in our ward. Many more people contacted, and that’s just in terms of stats. Much less formal which is a good thing. I email my visiting teachers monthly. I email my supervisor and partner monthly (ish) when I have made contact with my sisters. I am assigned all inactive people – so I try to text them or follow them on Facebook. I feel that they know I am available if they need it, but they don’t want contact with the church and that I refuse to feel guilty about. I email my supervisor when I was ministered to (even though it is rarely the sisters assigned to me who help me). I fought a good battle to get ministering sisters assigned to me who are already involved in my life and whom help out with my daughters – but the branch ministering assignments did not take that into account, so I stopped trying to campaign for what would actually be helpful to me. I figure if I report who ministered to me often enough that the powers that be will realize that it would just make more sense to assign ministering sisters that are already ministering instead of the current situation.
The supervisor (also First Counselor in our presidency) makes noises about doing a quarterly formal interview – but I don’t want that. A) My husband does not like waiting around after meetings.
I don’t want to end up on her spiritual radar by accident by saying something informally. I can control what I disclose by email better.I don’t have any true insight as to how the leaders feel it’s going. So far this year about half of our PH lessons (3 out of 6) have been on the topic of ministering. That might lead one to believe that leaders don’t think the program is going well, hence the reason why we keep revisiting the subject, but I think it has more to do with not knowing what else to talk about.
Our EQ presidency is on top of things. I’ve had a “PPI” every quarter so far, despite my best efforts.
Since leaders above the local leaders only look at the number of interviews I imagine they are reasonably pleased. It’s a poor metric IMO, but it’s a metric.
Channeling the non-dark side of the force, I think where I live it’s going fine. I have been interviewed twice (4th quarter 2018, first quarter 2019) and I’m probably due this month. Our EQP does as they were advised by our AA and divides each of the supervision routes into months so they only do about 4 a month rather than cram them into 1 month (the AA said there is no requirement or intention the interviews be done the last month of the quarter). One of my interviews was via phone, the other “live,” both were fairly brief <5 minutes. In both interviews I was asked only how my families were doing and nothing else (ie I was not asked if I visited). The active couple assigned to me and my wife are friends of 30 years, we talk to them all the time, text, etc. The semi-active couple assigned we see at church when they come (the sister has been there fairly regularly of late, hubby works 2 of 3 Sundays). The inactive (and antagonistic) sister who lives nearby we say hi to on the street and the store. There are several others I minister to, and I only mention them in the interviews if I have perceived a need (in reality that has happened once). Before ministering I had told my HT that I did not want a monthly visit and that was great with him because he didn't want to do monthly visits. He (and his wife) are still my ministers and still don't visit and we're both still good with it (maybe even better because there is absolutely no guilt and nobody asking about visits or telling us to do visits). At the stake level, I do know the stake presidency looks at the interviews. The way the system is set up they can see who interviewed who (or who didn’t do the interview assigned to them). Since interviews are the only thing that are counted, that’s all they can count. I do know that if a counselor in an EQP has a very low interview count somebody has a chat with him and offers support (I know this because I was once assigned to do it).
Soooo…I’d say I love it and out here in the hinterlands it works great. I wouldn’t change a thing.
AmyJ wrote:
I email my visiting teachers monthly. I email my supervisor and partner monthly (ish) when I have made contact with my sisters. I am assigned all inactive people – so I try to text them or follow them on Facebook. I feel that they know I am available if they need it, but they don’t want contact with the church and that I refuse to feel guilty about.I email my supervisor when I was ministered to (even though it is rarely the sisters assigned to me who help me). I fought a good battle to get ministering sisters assigned to me who are already involved in my life and whom help out with my daughters – but the branch ministering assignments did not take that into account, so I stopped trying to campaign for what would actually be helpful to me. I figure if I report who ministered to me often enough that the powers that be will realize that it would just make more sense to assign ministering sisters that are already ministering instead of the current situation.
The supervisor (also First Counselor in our presidency) makes noises about doing a quarterly formal interview – but I don’t want that. A) My husband does not like waiting around after meetings.
I don’t want to end up on her spiritual radar by accident by saying something informally. I can control what I disclose by email better.
pssst…Nobody’s counting that stuff, there’s no way to count it. (Unless you believe “angels above us are silent notes taking.”)
I was a horrible HT. I am a great “minister.” IF that means that engage my assigned people when I see them and offer support and love when I can. Shoot them a text when I notice their rain gutter is plugged, etc. Of course I also do these kinds of things for people I’m not specifically assigned to. You know, like being generally neighborly. I can say that in my ward, the EQ and RS are on top of it. It doesn’t really even come up much in WC or Bishopric anymore. But that may be a function of the efficacy of our organizational leaders than a shift in doctrine.
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