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I saw this in a different thread, but felt it deserved its own discussion: Quote:
Minyan Man wrote: ↑06 Oct 2018, 10:20I got by email the following before GC.
Notice
Date: October 6, 2018
To: General Authorities; General Auxiliary Presidencies;
Area Seventies; Stake, Mission, and District
Presidents; Bishops and Branch Presidents; Elders
Quorum Presidencies; Stake and Ward Relief Society Presidencies
From: Priesthood and Family Department (1-801-240-2134)
Subject: Responsibilities of Elders Quorum and Relief Society Presidencies in Member
Missionary and Temple and Family History Work
The bishop holds the keys for the work of salvation in his ward. With his counselors, he oversees
member missionary work and temple and family history work (see Handbook 2: Administering the
Church [2010], 5.1.1, 5.4.1). The First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles have
approved new policies regarding responsibilities of those serving in elders quorum and Relief
Society presidencies. These adjustments should be implemented no later than January 1, 2019, and
include the following:
Under the direction of the bishop, the elders quorum president
may be assigned to overseemember missionary work and temple and family history work in the ward
. Generally, the elders quorum president would delegate these assignments to his counselors.
When assigned these responsibilities, the elders quorum counselor responsible for member
missionary work will act in the role of ward mission leader or will supervise a ward mission
leader who is a Melchizedek Priesthood holder. Similarly, the other elders quorum counselor
will act as the ward temple and family history leader or will supervise a Melchizedek
Priesthood holder who is called to that responsibility. Whether a bishop calls a ward mission
leader and a ward temple and family history leader or the counselors in the elders quorum
presidency fill those roles is up to the inspired direction of each bishop.
To facilitate priesthood-directed member missionary work and temple and family history
work, the Relief Society presidency may follow the pattern of the elders quorum, with one
counselor assigned to help with member missionary work and the other counselor assigned
to help with temple and family history work.
The bishop coordinates all aspects of the work of salvation in the ward council. The ward
council includes the bishopric, ward clerk, executive secretary, and presidents of the elders
quorum, Relief Society, Sunday School, Young Women, Young Men, and Primary.
Counselors in the elders quorum and Relief Society presidencies, the ward mission leader (if
called), and the ward temple and family history leader (if called) may be invited to particular
ward council meetings as circumstances dictate. The ward council normally meets weekly
but may meet less frequently. A ward council meeting typically does not last longer than one
hour.
Does this mean the WML position has been done away with? Or does it mean that in small wards, you can fade the missionary responsibilities into the EQ presidency and RS? The language sounds optional. Or is this another way of elevating women, by giving the RS responsibility for missionary work in place of a male-only Ward Mission Leader (Wml?)
I believe it’s optional and entirely up to the BP’s discretion. The way it reads to me is that an EQP counselor would assume the duties of the WML (coordination meetings with the missionaries and ward missionaries mostly). If the BP feels it is necessary they can call someone to serve as WML, but it would be like an EQ calling.
I imagine there will still be WMLs in larger wards, probably no WMLs in smaller wards.
In my experience if the FT missionaries show up to ward council meetings it fulfilled much of what would have otherwise been the responsibilities of a WML.
My take is also that it is optional, as is a family history director. In a small ward like mine it makes the EQP counselors a bit busier but frees up someone else to do another calling. Let’s face it, the counselors in my EQP do about 3 ministering interviews per month and that’s pretty much the extent of their duties. I don’t think that’s a huge stretch for most people. I will say that on the other hand, I’m not sure either of our counselors are up to either task, and that I’m more glad that I didn’t accept that calling because I’m not crazy about being WML or family history director. 😈 nibbler wrote:
I believe it’s optional and entirely up to the BP’s discretion.See, this surprises me — a lot. As a long time observer and student and well, expert in organizational structure and culture, having a dedicated auxiliary (if that is what we would call it in the church) for a particular mission of the church is probably the most powerful way to make sure that area receives the necessary attention. To fade the responsibilities into an EQ would only dilute the attention given to missionary work. Now, it does provide for greater integration with the EQ, but in my view, in our rather ineffective organization, this benefit is dwarfed by the lack of attention an EQ-driven missionary program places on recruiting. And taken with the fact that you normally get counselors who generally are limited in what they can give time-wise (my experience in almost all wards in which I have served), this means a drop in missionary activity for the average ward.
And we know that member driven missionary work is the most effective kind of missionary work there is – to fade it into an EQ counselor’s responsibilities is to make it even less prevalent in the average ward.
With missionary work declining, I am VERY surprised they would make this the new program, deleting WML’s from the Ward structure.
Therefore, I think this bulletin is most likely an optional thing for Bishops, probably in really small Wards or in branches. If not, you’ll probably see a further decline in new convert baptisms in the future.
More streamlining… mind you, don’t RS and EQ already cover aspects of this work, particularly in ministering? I like it. One less position to fill with a separate MP conferee. SamBee wrote:
More streamlining… mind you, don’t RS and EQ already cover aspects of this work, particularly in ministering?
They do, and that’s why this makes sense.
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