Scott Lloyd Posted January 7, 2019 Posted January 7, 2019 1 hour ago, Bernard Gui said: In our chapel in Tacoma, the cultural hall was built adjacent to the side of the chapel. When we needed more seating, we pressed a control button on the stand and a long part of the wall next to the organ lowered into the basement. The speaker then looked straight ahead to the folks in the chapel and to the right to the folks in the hall. That sounds like fun. Somehow it reminds me of the high school in “It’s a Wonderful Life” with the.removable dance floor covering the swimming pool.
Scott Lloyd Posted January 7, 2019 Posted January 7, 2019 1 hour ago, halconero said: It was decent. Our ward has a chronic issue with starting on time. Yesterday was a bit better, but we still started late. Mostly it's an issue of sufficient priesthood holders showing up on time and volunteering to sit upfront to bless and pass the sacrament. Any ideas about how to improve this are welcome, as I'm currently serving as Exec Sec and it's something we're working to resolve. Anyhoo, we ended sorta on time. Too many announcements after the meeting was over though, so we didn't get class going until about 25 minutes past the hour. We also had way too many people stuffed in the class. We're considering either staying in the gym (we meet at the institute building in the gym, no chapel), or splitting classes. Not sure yet. Off hand, I’d say you need to make the sacrament assignments in advance so the men and boys are accountable to be there. And that’s too many announcements taking up worship service time. Print them out and distribute them or send them around by email.
Scott Lloyd Posted January 7, 2019 Posted January 7, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, mnn727 said: 3rd overflow! We call that 'the Stage' in our building. 1950's era Stake Center - 1 overflow, the Gym (Cultural Hall) and the Stage. --- Trying to get over a cold and didn't want to spread my germs, so I stayed home. DW said F&T ended on time and she teaches primary which she said could have been organized better (They just changed the Presidency last week.) We got the 8:30 AM shift which to me is too early. We've had the 11 AM time for 10 of the 12 years we've been in this Ward, it will be nice getting home early, but looks like there will be a nap in my Sundays. I agree 8:30 is too early, especially with the block reduced by an hour. Edited January 7, 2019 by Scott Lloyd 1
Scott Lloyd Posted January 7, 2019 Posted January 7, 2019 2 hours ago, The Nehor said: We have already set up a mix and mingle after the second hour once a month with finger food. I think we are going with split Gospel Doctrine next time. Class was way too big. I am also okay with being the Schlub who gets a smaller class and I am at least temporarily going to be teaching one of them. Interviews are definitely still a thing but we banned doing them during the block except for youth interviews on 2nd and 4th Sundays so they have to go before and after church. We actually saw a drop when people could not just do it during the block and we are definitely okay with that. I’ve talked about this before, but my one encounter with an after-Church “linger-longer” was so unpleasant I will never abide it again. Even if my ward holds one, I won’t remain for it. It might be OK for a singles ward, but in a conventional ward, my experience was that the children quickly became too rowdy and irreverent for the meetinghouse on the Sabbath, and the parents exercised little-to-no control over them. 1
Scott Lloyd Posted January 7, 2019 Posted January 7, 2019 3 hours ago, bluebell said: No basketball hoops?? I think there are some hoops on the sides, but no full court with lines painted on the floor. In fact, the floor is carpeted.
HappyJackWagon Posted January 7, 2019 Posted January 7, 2019 2 hour church? EVERYONE was very excited and happy. Lot's of smiles. Seriously. LOTS of smiles 1
Bernard Gui Posted January 7, 2019 Posted January 7, 2019 44 minutes ago, Scott Lloyd said: That sounds like fun. Somehow it reminds me of the high school in “It’s a Wonderful Life” with the.removable dance floor covering the swimming pool. In the Mormon colonies at Manassa and Sanford, Colorado, the community dance hall floor was laid on buggy springs so it bounced when the kids danced! My grand-father and great-grandfather played in bands there. 2
Bernard Gui Posted January 7, 2019 Posted January 7, 2019 25 minutes ago, Scott Lloyd said: I’ve talked about this before, but my one encounter with an after-Church “linger-longer” was so unpleasant I will never abide it again. Even if my ward holds one, I won’t remain for it. It might be OK for a singles ward, but in a conventional ward, my experience was that the children quickly became too rowdy and irreverent for the meetinghouse on the Sabbath, and the parents exercised little-to-no control over them. I got rowdy after sitting for 3 hours, too. Perhaps there would be less of that after only 2 hours? 1
Bernard Gui Posted January 7, 2019 Posted January 7, 2019 1 hour ago, juliann said: It would double the chance of some being on time. 2X0=0
Bernard Gui Posted January 7, 2019 Posted January 7, 2019 4 hours ago, bluebell said: If those appointments took hours then I can see your point, but most just take a few minutes. That was not my experience.
Bernard Gui Posted January 7, 2019 Posted January 7, 2019 1 hour ago, halconero said: We're tempted to either do that, or simply start the meeting right on time as announced regardless of how many people are there. After a few weeks, people will probably adjust. To me, that's the best option.
bluebell Posted January 7, 2019 Posted January 7, 2019 23 minutes ago, Scott Lloyd said: I think there are some hoops on the sides, but no full court with lines painted on the floor. In fact, the floor is carpeted. In all the churches I've gone to, I've only had two where the cultural hall wasn't carpeted. Our's right now is carpeted and also isn't a full sized basketball court (but there are lines for those who want to play half court). But we still count it as a gym/cultural hall.
HappyJackWagon Posted January 7, 2019 Posted January 7, 2019 1 minute ago, bluebell said: In all the churches I've gone to, I've only had two where the cultural hall wasn't carpeted. Our's right now is carpeted and also isn't a full sized basketball court (but there are lines for those who want to play half court). But we still count it as a gym/cultural hall. Ours used to be carpeted too. The church seems to be getting away from that though, from what I can tell. Playing sports on carpet generally results in more injuries. Hard wood is safer. So a few years ago we got our hard wood floors and it is glorious 2
bluebell Posted January 7, 2019 Posted January 7, 2019 31 minutes ago, Scott Lloyd said: I’ve talked about this before, but my one encounter with an after-Church “linger-longer” was so unpleasant I will never abide it again. Even if my ward holds one, I won’t remain for it. It might be OK for a singles ward, but in a conventional ward, my experience was that the children quickly became too rowdy and irreverent for the meetinghouse on the Sabbath, and the parents exercised little-to-no control over them. Why do children have to stay reverent after church is over? Is the church building more sacred on Sunday (after church is completed) than it is on a Wednesday night, for example? I'm trying to understand this mindset.
Bernard Gui Posted January 7, 2019 Posted January 7, 2019 (edited) 3 hours ago, Prof said: I hope that is the case. In my ward, sometimes it was hard to concentrate on the lesson with all of the loud conversations going on in the hall and the foyer. Said conversations were usually not church related. I think the problem is mostly caused by the lack of a designated time at church to shoot the bull with your friends. We are instructed to be quiet in the parking lot, quiet in the chapel before and after sacrament meeting, and quietly and quickly move to our classes and then leave the building because we don't want to interrupt the other ward in the building. Then we are all anxious to go home. My mother lamented the 3 hour block because it eliminated the "foyer church" before and after meetings where folks could greet and catch up on the week's events. She thought there was great value in that. I agree. Also, having multiple entrances into the chapel/overflows eliminated the gathering in the foyer to enter through just one or two doors at which the bishopric could greet the worshippers. Edited January 7, 2019 by Bernard Gui
Bernard Gui Posted January 7, 2019 Posted January 7, 2019 2 minutes ago, bluebell said: Why do children have to stay reverent after church is over? Is the church building more sacred on Sunday (after church is completed) than it is on a Wednesday night, for example? I'm trying to understand this mindset. It works only if you are the last ward in the building. 1
The Nehor Posted January 7, 2019 Posted January 7, 2019 1 hour ago, Scott Lloyd said: Off hand, I’d say you need to make the sacrament assignments in advance so the men and boys are accountable to be there. And that’s too many announcements taking up worship service time. Print them out and distribute them or send them around by email. Our stake insisted that we cut down on announcements this year as part of the change. Then they sent a four paragraph letter to be read in its entirety in every ward in the Stake. Make up your mind people! 3
Bernard Gui Posted January 7, 2019 Posted January 7, 2019 58 minutes ago, The Nehor said: Our stake insisted that we cut down on announcements this year as part of the change. Then they sent a four paragraph letter to be read in its entirety in every ward in the Stake. Make up your mind people! Another solution would be to send announcements to members on the ward email list and put them on ward social media pages. 1
HappyJackWagon Posted January 7, 2019 Posted January 7, 2019 59 minutes ago, The Nehor said: Our stake insisted that we cut down on announcements this year as part of the change. Then they sent a four paragraph letter to be read in its entirety in every ward in the Stake. Make up your mind people! Cut down on your announcement so they have time for theirs. Makes sense For the most part, it's not difficult, or a hardship to cut down on announcements that very few people are listening to. These days, adding info to the program, a ward email, or an update on a ward FB page accomplish more than reading announcements in sacrament meeting.
Calm Posted January 7, 2019 Posted January 7, 2019 (edited) 13 hours ago, Scott Lloyd said: guess such facilities were a thing in the old days, because the Salt Lake Tabernacle, before its remodel of several years ago, had one in the rear, sound proof and glassed in. I have been in several older buildings in .Utah and California (provo, somewhere in SL, and Hayward iirc) growing up that used to have them, but heard they were removed later when renovated. Edited January 7, 2019 by Calm
bluebell Posted January 7, 2019 Posted January 7, 2019 1 hour ago, Bernard Gui said: It works only if you are the last ward in the building. Oh definitely. I assumed that that was a given.
Calm Posted January 7, 2019 Posted January 7, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, Scott Lloyd said: I’ve talked about this before, but my one encounter with an after-Church “linger-longer” was so unpleasant I will never abide it again. Even if my ward holds one, I won’t remain for it. It might be OK for a singles ward, but in a conventional ward, my experience was that the children quickly became too rowdy and irreverent for the meetinghouse on the Sabbath, and the parents exercised little-to-no control over them. I love them, I love the kids loving being with their friends, anything to get the whole ward together is great imo. I will put up with the joyful noise just to see us being one large, loving family enjoying each other's company. Edited January 7, 2019 by Calm 2
The Nehor Posted January 7, 2019 Posted January 7, 2019 22 minutes ago, Bernard Gui said: Another solution would be to send announcements to members on the ward email list and put them on ward social media pages. I recommended just not reading it because it was aimed at a problem in two of the wards in the Stake and we are not one of them. I do not think anyone from the High Council was there so we could have gotten away with it too.
Calm Posted January 7, 2019 Posted January 7, 2019 5 hours ago, hope_for_things said: We had two classes in my last ward before we moved, and I thought it worked well. You're right that one class was smaller than the other though. I personally prefer smaller classes as I think people are more likely to participate, especially the ones that don't typically participate. My previous ward just assigned attendees by alphabetically to ensure even spread. 1
bluebell Posted January 7, 2019 Posted January 7, 2019 1 minute ago, Calm said: I love them, I love the kids loving being with their friends, anything to get the whole ward together is great imo. I will put up with the joyful noise just to see us being one large, loving family enjoying each other's company. Our Elder's quorum activity committee held a linger longer on December 30th to say good-bye to the 3rd hour. It was so much fun and we had a ton of people there. Our bishop doesn't really 'believe' in them but he's fine with having them (or was, when we were the last ward on Sundays) as long as he didn't have to be involved in the planning or execution of it. 2
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