- This topic is empty.
-
Posts
-
So, I was asked to sit in for the EQ president today in PEC. Toward the end of the meeting the Bishop stated that all PECs would become Ward Councils. Is this only true in my ward? Does anyone know? (FYI – my first thought afterwards was poor RS president, more meeting for her to attend.) The Church shifted the main committee meeting to Ward Council a while ago, specifically so that women would have an active voice in the top decision-making at the ward level. PEC wasn’t disbanded officially, but, at most, it now is supposed to be only a few minutes to discuss only Priesthood quorum and group stuff. I can see why some Bishops would axe it, but Ward Council doesn’t have to be every week. Our ward currently does both but once a month only. Years ago when I was bishop, I saw no reason to have a separate PEC and then a ward counsel. They both seemed to morph into the same meeting. So to following the hand book, I did have both, but I made the RS Pres attend PEC, as I couldn’t phantom having a meeting where we talked about HT, and not have a representative there for over 60% of the ward (the women). It’s taken 10 years, but the church is finally catching up to what I discovered. Oneofmany wrote:(FYI – my first thought afterwards was poor RS president, more meeting for her to attend.)
I’m not sure how I feel about your comment there.
I was a RSP for many years and attended WC each Sunday…I kind of feel like your comment is in line with “women don’t really need to be there anyway…”
But, maybe I need to not be so sensitive.
Anyway … I will say that when the suits would troop in to WC and sit on the back row (I was on the front row with the YW Pres – our primary pres was often MIA), they would almost look bored…why? Because we were about to discuss the exact same things they just discussed in their previous meeting in PEC. When the bishop would ask us sisters for input on a decision, we would give it and more often than not he would thank us and then say something to the effect of, “well, we men have already talked about it and here is what we are going to do.”
It rubbed me the wrong way. I didn’t like the patronizing tone. Either he wanted our input or he didn’t, but don’t pretend.
Since our ward does ZERO calendering in WC, there is very little point for any female to be there. Primary, YW presidents should go to know what’s going on in the ward and to make sure everyone knows about upcoming youth activities that need ward support.
Our WC was really a glorified missionary meeting.
Anyway – I know I sound like I am bitter. I’m not. What I am is…frustrated. When there seems to be a simple solution to many of our problems, I have a hard time understanding why they aren’t followed.
I’m not totally sure that PEC/WC will be any more productive being combined…most assignments are for the men anyway.
And…maybe my experience was largely colored by a brand new bishop from a different ward who liked the way things were done in his previous ward…
maybe.
I’d be interested to know what other WCs are like.
Because years ago WC used to allow time to go over the calendar…make sure ward events were planned…make sure there were no conflicts, etc.
QuestionAbound wrote:I’d be interested to know what other WCs are like.
Because years ago WC used to allow time to go over the calendar…make sure ward events were planned…make sure there were no conflicts, etc.
In my ward councels/PEC that I had years ago, the RS Pres was an equil member of the PEC. When asking about the needs of a particular family, we all looked to the RS Pres for guidance, as it was accepted that she was the authority on what was needed. She made more HT assignments recommendations that the HPGL and EQP combined!
When I was released as Bishop, over the pulpit I thanked the three sisters that had served with me, and remarked that they were my “3rd Counselor”, and that I couldn’t have done it without them.
Our missionaries are invited to attend and contribute in PEC meetings. With more and more sister missionaries the move away from PEC and to more ward councils would make sense. It would be odd, to say the least, to invite the Elders to PEC and have the Sister missionaries wait outside. Sheldon wrote:the RS Pres made more HT assignments recommendations that the HPGL and EQP combined!
When I was released as Bishop, over the pulpit I thanked the three sisters that had served with me, and remarked that they were my “3rd Counselor”, and that I couldn’t have done it without them.
That sounds very lovely!
You must have been a great bishop. Can I be your next RSP when you are called again?
:angel: We recently had a stake council in which the SP said that in his recent training with a member of the Seventy he was told that it was coming forth from Salt Lake that ward councils be held every week. A couple people in the room (a HC and the PP) expressed some concern about an extra commitment of time associated with that and that some people already feel overtaxed (the HC used YMP as an example, the PP brought up time away from children/family). The SP said that the new WC requirement would be in place of other meetings, and while he wasn’t positive he thought PEC was being eliminated or greatly reduced, and he said that if it’s being held weekly it probably shouldn’t normally be more than 30 minutes long. QuestionAbound wrote:Oneofmany wrote:(FYI – my first thought afterwards was poor RS president, more meeting for her to attend.)
I’m not sure how I feel about your comment there.
Sorry it has been a while since I have been on.
The only meaning I meant by my comment was that I felt sorry for her attending more meetings as I find them to be generally pointless..
Oneofmany wrote:QuestionAbound wrote:Oneofmany wrote:(FYI – my first thought afterwards was poor RS president, more meeting for her to attend.)
I’m not sure how I feel about your comment there.
Sorry it has been a while since I have been on.
The only meaning I meant by my comment was that I felt sorry for her attending more meetings as I find them to be generally pointless..
That’s a good point, actually, and in stake council both the stake RSP and PPP brought that up, as well as a couple HC. The sisters indicated that they are already busy and spend lots of time away from home and their families and an additional meeting only increases that. The SP countered that he thought it was really important that the sisters have input, and perhaps they could rotate with counselors attending every other one or something.
“perhaps they could rotate with counselors attending every other one or something” I think I have a man-crush on your Stake President.
I’ve said for a LONG time that rotating attendance responsibilities among the presidencies ought to be the norm – not just to limit the number of meetings attended by the presidents, but also to maximize the training available to the counselors. In the case of the HPG, EQ and RS, I would go so far as to include completely active, trusted members of the auxiliaries if none of the presidency members are able to attend on occasion. If the Bishop can ask high priests to sit on the stand with him when his counselors are gone, I don’t see why non-presidency members couldn’t attend PEC or Ward Council occasionally.
Of course, the first issue is confidentiality and adding more people to the list of “those who know and discuss” – but, in theory, I wouldn’t have a problem with spreading the attendance responsibilities more broadly than they tend to be now.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.