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As a spin off of my other story about interesting developments, I want to share how a turnaround Bishop works to improve his Ward. His first action was to start a service project program. He and his counselors are all handy. They went out to the homes of youth families and fixed their homes. I am not sure of the extent of the project, but they did plumbing and a lot of other tasks. I know his counselors are mechanics, electricians, and he is multi-talented. This is a fabulous way to harness the strengths of his people to build goodwill and relationships of trust with the members.
He also did something I think is interesting. We are all familiar with the desk in the Bishop;s office, where he “presides”. He asked to have the desk removed. Instead, he wants a circular table and an area to the side of the table where he can just sit with people in chairs. The strange thing is that the request had to go to Salt Lake City, and it was denied until we move into our new/repaired building, at which time they will get him the circular table he wants….this is something I would have done.
He’s willing to challenge assumptions, and I think that is why he’s been such a successful entrepreneur.
Just thought I would share. These stories are a breath of fresh air…
Do you have any “Out of the Box Bishop” or SP/Leader stories from church?
I just wanted to comment on the fix-it stuff. I was impressed that the SDA (Seventh Day Adventist) church provides financial planning services free to its members. That strikes me as a win-win. Financially independent members are less likely to need church financial assistance and in a better position to make charitable donations. Having this help from the church is likely to increase feelings of gratitude toward the church. Finally, when it comes to estate planning this person is well versed in how to will portions of the estate to the church.
I know that there are limits to how much the resident ward mechanic can donate his services for free to church members. At some point the principle of self reliance comes into conflict with being a Zion community. I suppose that we are all trying to figure out the proper balance.
The new testament says that Christ grew in favor with God and Man, and ET Benson said that it was through service that He accomplished this. Apparently, they served members at large and took the youth with them at the same time. I know there is a limit to this, but as an initial campaign to build a relationship of trust with the Ward, this is a great strategy — as is the SDA strategy you mentioned above. Not sure if this counts, but our bishop refuses to meet with people during church hours. He is in Sunday School class and priesthood when the time comes. The clerk’s office is closed as well. Only the librarian remains at her post – I think she likes the conversation she gets from class escapees.
For me, the “no meetings during the 3 hour block” is a hard one. That’s when everyone is at church, and it makes efficient use of everyone’s time. No meetings during the 3 hour block means starving kids must hang around at the end of church, people must make additional trips to the church — you name it. All stuff I would rather do without….sometimes, the leaders just make it too hard. SilentDawning wrote:For me, the “no meetings during the 3 hour block” is a hard one. That’s when everyone is at church, and it makes efficient use of everyone’s time. No meetings during the 3 hour block means starving kids must hang around at the end of church, people must make additional trips to the church — you name it. All stuff I would rather do without….sometimes, the leaders just make it too hard.
Yeah, I have mixed feelings about that, too. On one hand I think if the expectation is that we all attend the meetings then the bishopric should be setting the example. On the other hand I see these guys way too busy on Sunday when they should be spending time with their families. Our bishopric doesn’t make a big deal out of us foyer dwellers, in fact one of the counselors (a long time friend of mine) often hangs out with me during SS.
This is an excerpt from an article that appeared in Deseret News and is now on the church site (
https://www.lds.org/church/news/observing-the-sabbath-readers-respond?lang=eng ” class=”bbcode_url”> https://www.lds.org/church/news/observing-the-sabbath-readers-respond?lang=eng Quote:President Paul D. Parkinson of the Mount Logan Utah Stake submitted the following account:
“Upon receiving the counsel to more fully observe the Sabbath, our stake council met and discussed how we might properly allow families and individuals to make the Sabbath a delight. One thing we all agreed upon was that there are too many meetings being held on the Sabbath, many of which can be held during the three-hour block and some during the regular weekly mutual night. Some do not need to be held at all.
“With a sustaining vote by the bishoprics in our stake, as well as the members of the stake council, we implemented a moratorium on Sunday evening meetings in our stake. We now ask families and individuals to not hold any meetings on Sunday evenings. Being on Utah’s Wasatch Front with such proximity to meetinghouses, we tend to fill Sundays to the point there is no time for the family.
“We are receiving reports of families spending more time together, Church leaders having more time with their children, and much more ministering taking place. This includes families ministering to individuals who are single parents, widows, etc.
“One family had their father home for the first Sunday evening in many months. They decided to make cookies as a family and deliver them to a recently widowed sister in their ward. Had they been at a Sunday evening Church meeting, they would have been listening rather than doing. And the family would not have been all together.
“We hope to be able to help our stake members realize that one way to make the Sabbath a delight is to eliminate unnecessary Sabbath day meetings. We would never tell the families what to do with this additional time they will now have on Sundays, but we have great faith in the families and individuals in our stake. They will know how to use this time to make the Sabbath a delight.”
Answering the initial question, our bishop eliminated youth “Sunday Evening Discussions” and holds a similar meeting quarterly (or maybe every other month?) during the third hour, with refreshments and all. Being in the hinterlands we only have a 10 minute drive to church, but many in our ward have closer to 20-30 minute drives and I appreciate not making the extra trip in on Sundays.
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