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Reorganization of the Melchizedek Priesthood


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9 hours ago, Rain said:

Sure. Probably a decade ago I felt inspired to do something. Off and on I have worked on it. It's been really tough and I have given up a number of times. I finally was humbled and realized I couldn't do it without God's help so I started searching for it. One thing after another led me to Elder Bednar's book "Increase in learning".  But it took me several stops and starts with it. 

He has little video segments in it you can watch along with what you are reading. In one of those he was asked (paraphrasing) how you keep the ambition to do the thing you are inspired to do. He suggested taking a new book of Mormon and marking what the prophets have done.

So I started to do that as he related to the thing I was struggling with. Once I did that I went through both the book and the app and creating a "notebook" in the app using those scriptures. Then I went through, read just those in order and titled the scriptures, adding journal entries along the way. 

The plan had been to group them and see what I could learn, but THREE times there was a technical malfunction in the app. Twice I lost everything. The third time I lost most and then sought help from the tech team. Somehow I got back some of them. So this time I prayed and asked if I should continue? Was I losing time with this when I should be studying elsewhere? I finally told the Lord I would "act" according to Elder Bednar and start again, but if I needed to do something else to olease let me know.

What I didn't realize till the fourth time going through the process was that I was starting to see patterns and not just the obvious pattern of "the Lord inspired this prophet, he went and did what the Lord asked." They were patterns that aplied to me and my situation. 

When I finished I wasn't sure if I should then once again go through the paper book and add the rest to my notebook or if the Lord thought it was good enough.

Meanwhile, I also began to read something else. That led me to a BYU speech. As I read that speach ALL of it suddenly came together. All of those scriptures/insights/patterns. I understood the doctrine behind the thing I had been inspired to do. 

So now I am once again working toward what I was inspired to do, but it is so different. I do not have the struggle I always had. It will take time to do this, but I have the tools now. 

So as far as rongo's questions. If these were my questions/struggles I would take it to the Lord and ask him to help me recognize and understand the doctrine that will help me deal (I'm not saying to ask how to be"ok"with those things, but how to deal with the answers) and then I would start searching the scriptures and taking notes for those things that seem to fit with whatI am searching for even if I don't quite know how it fits yet. 

 

if there could be a "Love" button option! Thank you!!!!!!

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On 4/1/2018 at 12:08 AM, The Nehor said:

Elder Nelson stood at the bedside and watched as President Monson slipped into death. Leaping in joy he cackled. With that last breath he was in charge. Decades of patient waiting for those senior him to die but now....now he would fulfill his dream. No one can stop him now. Now he can reorganize the structure of the Melchizedek Priesthood Quorums at the Ward and Stake level and there are none to oppose. Shaking his fist at the heavens he defied God to stop his mad plan but the heavens were silent. His secret plot was revealed and no one would dare oppose.

He put on his black robes and pulled out his Bible. With surgical precision as if it were a human heart he cut out Isaiah 24:5 and cast into the fire.

 

Isaiah 24:5.........what law was transgressed, what ordinance has changed, and what covenant was broken?

And now you know, the rest of the story.

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On 4/1/2018 at 8:15 AM, stemelbow said:

So the change seems to amount to when the aaronic priesthood gets released to the quorums each week the grown up men all stay together and the class at that point includes twice as many men as it used to.  Large classes in church usually result in the worst lessons, in my experience.  Sounds like they want less conversation amongst the members...less people sharing and participating.  

I certainly cannot discount your experience.  Your experience is your experience.  I'm not sure I'm on board, though, with your supposition as to what "they" want (whoever "they" are :rolleyes:), but I'll leave that aside for the moment.  When I teach, I have been known to split larger classes into smaller groups with a list of questions on whatever the lesson topic is for that week for each group to discuss.  Each group appoints a spokesperson, and, with a few minutes left in the class period, we reconstitute as a larger group and discuss the questions, with each group's spokesperson sharing insights gleaned from the small group discussion.

Best of both worlds! :D 

Your mileage likely varies, but, whatever. :unknw: 

P.S.: Thus far, no one has ever threatened me at gunpoint regarding my plainly bizarre, unorthodox teaching methods.  Indeed, several of my class members have, apparently completely oblivious to the damage likely to result from my unorthodox methods, complimented me on how I have run the class.  It's a mystery, really. :rolleyes: 

Edited by Kenngo1969
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  • 4 weeks later...

Other than combining for quorum lessons a couple of times there have been no changes yet to the way our quorum operates. I have been surprised there haven't been any changes to home teaching assignments or even reporting yet, and then yesterday the EQP announced that they would be making the changes to assignments by the end of August. THE END OF AUGUST.

Is anyone else seeing this kind of glacial movement towards implementing the changes announced at conference?

On a related note- Is anyone seeing any differences in the way the ward is functioning regarding missionary work? My understanding is that it is no longer considered one of the bishop's primary roles to oversee the missionary work in the ward, yet ward council is still totally centered on the bishop making missionary assignments and organizing visits for the ward council into the homes of members. It feels like my ward leadership is missing the intent of these changes and/or just procrastinating long enough that they no one will notice if they ignore the parts the want to ignore.

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5 minutes ago, HappyJackWagon said:

Other than combining for quorum lessons a couple of times there have been no changes yet to the way our quorum operates. I have been surprised there haven't been any changes to home teaching assignments or even reporting yet, and then yesterday the EQP announced that they would be making the changes to assignments by the end of August. THE END OF AUGUST.

Is anyone else seeing this kind of glacial movement towards implementing the changes announced at conference?

On a related note- Is anyone seeing any differences in the way the ward is functioning regarding missionary work? My understanding is that it is no longer considered one of the bishop's primary roles to oversee the missionary work in the ward, yet ward council is still totally centered on the bishop making missionary assignments and organizing visits for the ward council into the homes of members. It feels like my ward leadership is missing the intent of these changes and/or just procrastinating long enough that they no one will notice if they ignore the parts the want to ignore.

They haven't reorganized a thing in our Stake yet, a thing. Stake Conference we got 72 talks about ministering and bupkus about any reorganizing in any of the wards and i'm like i'm not surprised we didn't have any announcements regarding the Temple

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18 minutes ago, HappyJackWagon said:

I have been surprised there haven't been any changes to home teaching assignments or even reporting yet, and then yesterday the EQP announced that they would be making the changes to assignments by the end of August. THE END OF AUGUST.

I don't see that any changes in companionships are necessitated by the reorganization.  

 

19 minutes ago, HappyJackWagon said:

On a related note- Is anyone seeing any differences in the way the ward is functioning regarding missionary work? My understanding is that it is no longer considered one of the bishop's primary roles to oversee the missionary work in the ward

I'm not aware of any changes to the way missionary work is handled.  The bishop still holds the keys.  He calls a ward mission leader to work with the full time missionaries and assigns a counselor to work with the ward mission leader.  Missionary work should still be a topic of conversation in ward councils, with the ward mission leader usually taking the lead in these discussions.  What would have changed?

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2 hours ago, HappyJackWagon said:

Other than combining for quorum lessons a couple of times there have been no changes yet to the way our quorum operates. I have been surprised there haven't been any changes to home teaching assignments or even reporting yet, and then yesterday the EQP announced that they would be making the changes to assignments by the end of August. THE END OF AUGUST.

Is anyone else seeing this kind of glacial movement towards implementing the changes announced at conference?

On a related note- Is anyone seeing any differences in the way the ward is functioning regarding missionary work? My understanding is that it is no longer considered one of the bishop's primary roles to oversee the missionary work in the ward, yet ward council is still totally centered on the bishop making missionary assignments and organizing visits for the ward council into the homes of members. It feels like my ward leadership is missing the intent of these changes and/or just procrastinating long enough that they no one will notice if they ignore the parts the want to ignore.

My new EQP is green. He was called out of the blue. I don’t even think the entire presidency has been called yet. I don’t expect new assignments until at least next month

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2 hours ago, HappyJackWagon said:

Other than combining for quorum lessons a couple of times there have been no changes yet to the way our quorum operates. I have been surprised there haven't been any changes to home teaching assignments or even reporting yet, and then yesterday the EQP announced that they would be making the changes to assignments by the end of August. THE END OF AUGUST.

Is anyone else seeing this kind of glacial movement towards implementing the changes announced at conference?

We don't have ours up. They decided to have two EQ here. However we also have a fairly transitory ward with a few apartments in the boundaries along with more established homes. We were told to just keep teaching our same families until new assignments are given. However the reality is that a lot of people have already moved out and a lot have moved in.

I've not been able to go to all three hours due to my recovery. So I've not really been in EQ since I had to go to the hospital. I know they've had sessions on all this. I'll confess that despite reading the Church's web sites it's all still a mystery to me how it differs in practice from home teaching - other than no formal lesson.

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31 minutes ago, clarkgoble said:

We don't have ours up. They decided to have two EQ here. However we also have a fairly transitory ward with a few apartments in the boundaries along with more established homes. We were told to just keep teaching our same families until new assignments are given. However the reality is that a lot of people have already moved out and a lot have moved in.

I've not been able to go to all three hours due to my recovery. So I've not really been in EQ since I had to go to the hospital. I know they've had sessions on all this. I'll confess that despite reading the Church's web sites it's all still a mystery to me how it differs in practice from home teaching - other than no formal lesson.

This question was asked. The biggest difference the quorum leadership mentioned was that despite "assignments" everyone is encouraged to minister to whomever they feel called regarding service etc. While in some ways that is really good, it can also be a lot of duplicate effort and even at cross purposes if a formalized service/welfare effort is being made by someone with stewardship.

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KSFISHER- I'm not aware of any changes to the way missionary work is handled.  The bishop still holds the keys.  He calls a ward mission leader to work with the full time missionaries and assigns a counselor to work with the ward mission leader.  Missionary work should still be a topic of conversation in ward councils, with the ward mission leader usually taking the lead in these discussions.  What would have changed?

My understanding is that part of the purpose for some of these changes is to "free up" the bishop from doing things that others could be doing so that he can spend time with youth. I believe the training states missionary work as one of those examples.  And our ward may be a little more overzealous than some when it comes to missionary work- the bishop will literally spend 80-90% of every ward council meeting on the one topic. With the new system it feels like there is even a greater need for correlation between leaders, not just about missionary work.

 

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I am surprised how long it takes to actually get this reorganization thing going

First the Bishop has to submit names for the president That's good for a week.  Then the High Council has to approve them.  At least a week or two for that- most HC's meet every 2 weeks.  Then the president has to be interviewed and called.  Probably good for another week.  Then the HC has to approve the names of the counselors.  You get the drift.

Now the Stake Presidency has to visit every ward in the Stake and interview and call the president, and the counselors. to see if they accept.  While they are in that ward, they cannot magically also be in the others.  ;)

Then IF they accept, they have to be sustained by the EQ in each ward.  Then hopefully they are set apart the day the EQ sustains them, then on to the next ward.  But there are overlaps in priesthood meeting times between wards so probably one one a Sunday is practical with travel etc.

A good week probably passes between each step- at least, and if one member of the Presidency or one of those being called is out of town or down with the flue etc- it grinds to a halt til everyone is around

Straight up, because of the volume of wards and the problem that the SP is not omnipresent and has to earn a living like everyone else and is probably only available one or two nights a week and Weekends, it's gonna take a while

It's possible to do one ward in a couple of weeks but the whole stake?

It's pretty slow going.  Since the announcement it's pretty much all the High Council has been doing between also ward conferences and speaking in meetings.  If they could drop that stuff and other activities that need to be shepherded it would go faster, but that is not an option

I mean it's not as if all other scheduled events stop because the priesthood has to be re-organized!  You still have conferences and family history fair, girl's camp chaperoning, primary activities etc to attend also

And now it's heading into vacation time.

You just keep on keeping on til its done.

Edited by mfbukowski
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8 minutes ago, mfbukowski said:

I am surprised how long it takes to actually get this reorganization thing going

We managed to get new EQ presidents called and set apart in all of our wards within two weeks. (We still have our branch to go, but it's 3-4 hours away.) All but one ward has a complete presidency with two counsellors. (One actually has three counsellors because the president lives an hour away from most members and felt he needed that kind of help!)

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First the Bishop has to submit names for the president.

Our Area Seventy corrected us on this point. From Handbook 2: 'The stake president calls an elder in each ward to be the elders quorum president ... Before calling a new elders quorum president ..., the stake president consults with the bishop of the ward. The bishop may recommend whom to call'. Our stake presidency determined prayerfully whom to call. The high councillors supported these calls in a single meeting. And then bishops were consulted. In each case, the bishop agreed.

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8 hours ago, Hamba Tuhan said:

We managed to get new EQ presidents called and set apart in all of our wards within two weeks. (We still have our branch to go, but it's 3-4 hours away.) All but one ward has a complete presidency with two counsellors. (One actually has three counsellors because the president lives an hour away from most members and felt he needed that kind of help!)

Our Area Seventy corrected us on this point. From Handbook 2: 'The stake president calls an elder in each ward to be the elders quorum president ... Before calling a new elders quorum president ..., the stake president consults with the bishop of the ward. The bishop may recommend whom to call'. Our stake presidency determined prayerfully whom to call. The high councillors supported these calls in a single meeting. And then bishops were consulted. In each case, the bishop agreed.

This was our experience as well. I was actually very surprised that within 2 weeks entire EQ Presidencies were sustained and set apart in every ward in the stake. The stake leaders moved with great haste and urgency, which is why I'm shocked that since then nothing has happened at the ward level. We've had our full EQ presidency since April 8. Crazy fast. 1 month in and nothing has changed and they will "try" to have any changes to assignments and reporting by the end of August.

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Our stake was also able to get the EQ presidencies in all ten wards called and set a part within two weeks.  They started doing interviews and releasing the old EQ presidencies three days after GC was over.  I'm not sure how other wards are doing with the rest of the changes but our's seems to be doing great. My husband and his companion just had his first interview with an EQ counselor to report on the families they minister, and the EQ has called and set a part a new committee charged with focusing on missionary work, temple attendance, and fellowshipping within the ward.

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9 hours ago, Hamba Tuhan said:

We managed to get new EQ presidents called and set apart in all of our wards within two weeks. (We still have our branch to go, but it's 3-4 hours away.) All but one ward has a complete presidency with two counsellors. (One actually has three counsellors because the president lives an hour away from most members and felt he needed that kind of help!)

Our Area Seventy corrected us on this point. From Handbook 2: 'The stake president calls an elder in each ward to be the elders quorum president ... Before calling a new elders quorum president ..., the stake president consults with the bishop of the ward. The bishop may recommend whom to call'. Our stake presidency determined prayerfully whom to call. The high councillors supported these calls in a single meeting. And then bishops were consulted. In each case, the bishop agreed.

That works when the SP know everyone, ours is new and we have 3 languages to contend with, 4000 members, and it still says they consult. :)

We have merged with another stake 

My compliments for their alacrity.

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20 hours ago, HappyJackWagon said:

This question was asked. The biggest difference the quorum leadership mentioned was that despite "assignments" everyone is encouraged to minister to whomever they feel called regarding service etc. While in some ways that is really good, it can also be a lot of duplicate effort and even at cross purposes if a formalized service/welfare effort is being made by someone with stewardship.

Ideally that should have been going on anyway. After all you never were just supposed to ignore everyone but your home teaching families. If you see a problem you report to the EQ Pres and then try and solve things. And not just with members. We all shovel drive ways of older non-members or long term inactives for instance.

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On 5/7/2018 at 10:38 AM, HappyJackWagon said:

Other than combining for quorum lessons a couple of times there have been no changes yet to the way our quorum operates. I have been surprised there haven't been any changes to home teaching assignments or even reporting yet, and then yesterday the EQP announced that they would be making the changes to assignments by the end of August. THE END OF AUGUST.

Is anyone else seeing this kind of glacial movement towards implementing the changes announced at conference?

The system won't be "live" for reporting PPIs (the new home teaching number) until August. Which I found strange, given the Church's IT resources. We could have had the computer changes ready to go right after conference, if we wanted to.

We still don't have an elders quorum presidency, and probably won't for some time now. The old one took five months for the stake presidency to call and set apart, and there was tremendous need for a change. So, it's status quo for our area.

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4 hours ago, rongo said:

The system won't be "live" for reporting PPIs (the new home teaching number) until August. Which I found strange, given the Church's IT resources. We could have had the computer changes ready to go right after conference, if we wanted to.

We still don't have an elders quorum presidency, and probably won't for some time now. The old one took five months for the stake presidency to call and set apart, and there was tremendous need for a change. So, it's status quo for our area.

Do you understand your role to be changing as bishop? ie- allow the M. Priesthood and RS to focus on strengthening the members and missionary work, or do you still see your role as being heavily involved in these areas?

It seems that one of the stated goals was to strengthen the quorum leadership so they could take non-essential tasks from the bishop so he could focus more on youth. I'm wondering how that is actually playing out, if at all.

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4 minutes ago, HappyJackWagon said:

It seems that one of the stated goals was to strengthen the quorum leadership so they could take non-essential tasks from the bishop so he could focus more on youth. I'm wondering how that is actually playing out, if at all.

 Since that is often a cultural/attitudinal change, it may be decades before we see it played out. 

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1 minute ago, HappyJackWagon said:

Do you understand your role to be changing as bishop? ie- allow the M. Priesthood and RS to focus on strengthening the members and missionary work, or do you still see your role as being heavily involved in these areas?

It seems that one of the stated goals was to strengthen the quorum leadership so they could take non-essential tasks from the bishop so he could focus more on youth. I'm wondering how that is actually playing out, if at all.

We're actually out to sea, HappyJack. I have had zero guidance from my stake presidency, and ours (good men, all of them) is notoriously slow to act on any callings. As I said, we put in for a new elders quorum presidency in May, and they weren't actually called until October. And the old one was really floundering. Our High Priest's group leadership also took months to call, around the same time. We (all wards) have been told since general conference that we need to be patient and that it will take months to get them called and put in. 

I still see my role as being "presiding high priest" and "president of the Aaronic priesthood." I have never been a fan of "delegate until they breathe for you" (Elder Anderson). I think that the change is intended to lighten the guilt burden on people who didn't do a good job of home/visiting teaching, and I think the changes put a much bigger burden on the priesthood leaders and Relief Society presidency. I am also saddened by the effective elimination of the high priest's quorum (stake, with "on the ground" being the ward groups). 

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