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Not going into detail about the event itself but someone is trying to arrange regular competitions within our stake organized into a kind of league… bascially I pointed out that one of the wards is pretty big and on the other side of a mountain range with some poor roads leading over here. I pointed out that it is actually easier for us here to travel to neighboring wards in the next stake in each case… the far away ward is good for a day trip but not to visit in an evening. In its case too, it is far easier for them to visit the adjacent ward in another stake. Anyway, I seem to have kicked at the proverbial wasps’ nest just for pointing out the geography of the stake. I’ve really experience the inflexible side of Mormonism again… they’re going on about “we have relationships with the people in the other wards in the stake blah blah”… Really? We see them twice a year, if that, for stake conference. Half of them don’t visit. More probably. We never go there (leadership aside). Many of them participate nowadays through a tele link and don’t come up here… I’d struggle to recognize anyone from that ward, despite having been active for a decade, and a member for much longer.
It’s all very curious. They really can’t think outside the box on this. The three local wards round here can get to the two or three in the next stake in thirty or forty minutes (in good traffic) one way, so a round trip of an hour to eighty minutes. The far away ward can get to the next stake to the south in similar time… but instead they’re insisting this “league” or whatever you want to call it, is better served by a two and a half hour journey (one way) down to their bit – in other words five hours travelling time.
So basically they want us to drive up and down on hill roads, with a late night return, when in our case, and in their case, we can visit the wards in each adjacent stake on a freeway. It’s incredibly impractical. I had to even explain the fact I knew the road well so it’s not some city prejudice. It’s very pretty in the day but I don’t want to be on it late at night. Or in winter.
It’s not even like this is a religious activity either!
I live 10 minutes away from two ward buildings, and yet I have to drive to the one 30 minutes away, because it’s my “ward”. I swear boundary organization boils down groups picking “teams”, rather than member convenience. But playing the devil’s advocate, having a Stake Churchball league IS a way to develop relationships with people in the other wards in the Stake. They could try talking with other wards or stakes, but that would only extend the length they have to drive. Plus, as little as you see of the other wards, most people see those other stakes even less.
If it’s too far for someone, or they don’t want to go, they won’t participate. Or they can start their own league. But making a league which includes wards outside the stake is STILL going to exclude some people.
Basically our stakes and wards are drawn by outsiders. What looks good on the map is not always what works well in reality. The southern part of our stake is a particular mess as no local knowledge has seemingly been employed. Contrast this with the JWs who seem to do the opposite and are much cleverer in these matters.. What annoys me most here is the inflexibility. It must happen within the stake. Areas nearby outside the stake have an invisible barrier around them even if they are more convenient to get to.
Seems to me in the past boundaries were drawn in such away to provide enough priesthood to run the place. In the third previous boundary changes I asked what a particular odd little bump into one community was for, and the reply was that is where the new bishop lives. Reflexzero wrote:
Seems to me in the past boundaries were drawn in such away to provide enough priesthood to run the place. In the third previous boundary changes I asked what a particular odd little bump into one community was for, and the reply was that is where the new bishop lives.
So no faith whatsoever that the Lord would provide them a worthy bishop in their own neighborhood. Telling.
I have written often about my families participation in other Christian churches. This is in contrast to our experience trying to participate in the activities of other wards. In my experience they (other LDS wards) have not been welcoming. I have felt like a party crasher. Our stake sits across a state line. Last year we had cub scout day camp within the scout council boundary that included scout troops from our state but it did not include the wards in our stake from the adjoining state. This year the decision was made to form a new scout day camp with the LDS troops from our stake. IOW, instead of just attending the professionally planned and managed day camps put on by our respective councils all the LDS troops in the stake are going to an stake specific day camp and they gave someone a calling/assignment to organize it.
DW is one of the volunteers at the day camp today and she called to tell me what a disorganized and chaotic mess it is. Why did we do it? So that our cub scout aged boys could rub shoulders with boys of similar ages in the stake.
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