What Is Your Local Church Doing to Engage Members?

[HappyJackWagon]

I sometimes cheat on LDS church with Methodist church. I won't go into all of the reasons why. There are good aspects of each.

But as I've been watching the shift of religious engagement caused by the pandemic I'm struck by the differences between my local Methodist congregation and my local LDS congregation. In a nutshell, the Methodist congregation has done the following:

Methodist

-Organized service to keep the food pantry open

-Organized service to sew and donate thousands of masks

-Conduct virtual worship services and Sunday School each week

-Created prayer groups for outreach to individuals within the community, especially the elderly and single.

-Created a weekly newsletter and is very active on social media making individuals and the community aware of resources and services

-Created additional evening web-classes for people experience Stress, How to parent during a crisis, Bible Study etc, etc

-They do a weekly children's message and activity online and read gospel stories to children

-Doing a weekly youth group gathering via web

THE LIST GOES ON AND ON- I'm forgetting a bunch of stuff

On the other hand, this is what I'm seeing from my local LDS congregation-

LDS

-Cancelled weekly worship services. No online alternative. No online or virtual Sunday school classes. No organized community service. Very little social media presence (none from ward leadership).

-Created a monthly Zoom group for young women (this is good)

-2 emails in 4 weeks reaching out to members.  The first one stated the cancelling of services and instructed people to only partake of the sacrament when given express permission from the bishop (each occurrence)  The 2nd email briefly noted that 2 members in the ward had died and then went on extensively about the need to get approval before administering/partaking of the sacrament. The email further stated that there will be no more tracking/reporting of ministering activities. Assignments are postponed and people can do what they feel comfortable with.

 

That is all from LDS. To me, one local church seems to be taking a break while another is actively engaged in trying to reach out and fill needs of the people in the community. I TOTALLY recognize that this could be a unique thing to my area. But maybe it's not. I have not idea.

What is your experience with the local church? Are you seeing more activity than I am?

 

[Prof]

We had a zoom meeting on Sunday.

We've had a bunch of calls checking on us. We've made some calls as well.

That's about it.

[bluebell]

We’ve had lots of email, circle, and texting contact. We’re sewing a 1000 face masks. 

While I know other wards are doing virtual meetings my ward isn’t, which I’m kind of grateful about. 

[Calm]

We get a weekly email from our bishop as well as several emails over time from RS Pres.  The stake through the RS is making masks for several assisted living places.  I have no clue about youth stuff as no youth in my home and I have ignored that, though SAs have reached out to my daughter to be sure her needs are met (she is not active and doesn't want contact so I don't know of what else they are doing).  Ministers are asked to contact their people and check on needs.  

The Bishop's Storehouse my husband volunteered at is being staffed by missionaries at this point, but as of his last day they had ramped up service massively and I am aware of increasing production of Storehouse products at church facilities (with suspension of sales).  
 

There is a post where someone states they are being bombarded by meetings and a post here that their ward isn’t reaching out enough.  Another poster complained when her ward was asked to help to produce food for the giveaways at the storehouses while here the lack of involvement in helping food pantries is listed as a negative apparently. 
 

Lots of local variation undoubtedly, but I think it demonstrates that everywhere some will not be satisfied by the approach of church leaders whatever is chosen because there is a varied membership with varied ideas on what should be happening. 

Edited April 16, 2020 by Calm

[CA Steve]

Sunday, the bishop conducted an Easter service by Zoom. It was, in my opinion, every bit as good as one in a chapel.

My wife is fighting an extremely aggressive form of brain cancer and I am hypersensitive to anyone who might expose her to Covid19. Our ward has showed up at our door no less than 3 times (keeping a safe distance from the door) in the last few weeks with supplies and get well cards and questions about how they can help.

My minister checks in with me at least once a week to see how we are doing.

It isn't Sundays meetings that make a LDS community.

My local church is one of my greatest sources of support and comfort in this insane world.

[The Nehor]

Relief Society is holding remote classes. There is agitation amongst some leaders for mini-sacrament meetings with ten people in attendance to strictly comply with rules but I find that to be a terrible idea.

I have been busy doing welfare money and food orders and the Relief Society and Elder’s Quorum Presidents are as well. The Bishop too of course. We have a social distancing protocol for sacrament for those with no Priesthood. Bishop’s storehouse is busy. I know that there are several remote groups working together at making masks.

[Rain]

Our bishop sends 1 or 2 emails each week.  Last week both of the counselors did too.

We were having sacrament meeting on Facebook live on our ward facebook page, but the Bishop was asked to stop by his "leaders"  because it wasn't in keeping with a home centered church.  I literally cheered out loud at that because I loved our home church the first week and it felt very restorative and the facebook thing was just not.

Our RS and SS teachers are videoing their lessons and putting them on our ward facebook page.  

Tomorrow we will have some kind of RS virtual scavenger hunt.  

The primary had a talent show where parents videoed the kids and posted then on the facebook page.

I don't know what the youth are doing. 

We have a group of women who make quilts and then bring them to church and people can take them home to tie and bind them and then bring them back.  They have gone to a number of charities over the years. I wouldn't be surprised if they switched it up to masks for awhile.

Not my stake, but the stake my son is serving in sewed masks for all of the missionaries in the mission. 

There is an awful lot of facebook stuff, but I'm not complaining about where it is. I recognize some don't have an account, but that will be a problem with practically anyway you do this.  Facebook was probably the easiest for our ward.

[katherine the great]

It must be completely left to the discretion of local leadership. My brother's ward is doing virtual meetings and services. Our ward is doing nothing. Nada. No communication at all. Our old ward is having a virtual missionary homecoming (some of our friends) this Sunday so I will definitely tune in for that! I kind of miss having some sort of religious observance on Sundays so I just try to watch some kind of religious programming but its really all about connecting/zooming/conversing with family now.

[Duncan]

Ours is somewhat connected, we're making a list to see how everyone is, we've had a some Americans flee to the land southward and now they said they regret it! it's safer here. So, we've done the administering sacrament, have some meetings and try not to have other pointless meetings. We aren't engaged, that I know of, as a stake or making masks, or online classes or anything. We've talked about it in the ward but the decision was to leave teaching up to the families. That I know of we've have not had any members in crisis or anything per se. The Bishop's Storehouse is still, miraculously, open so there's that. In our ward we have 4 doctors who I presume are swamped and a Nurse who works in the ICU, which is the epicentre of it all, to say nothing of the regular medical problems they already deal with. 

[Hamba Tuhan]

It is easy to see the centralised, public efforts of a church with a professional clergy.

It is difficult to see the diffuse, individual efforts of a church with a nearly universal lay clergy and an intensive home and personal ministering network. This is the case whether those efforts are happening or not.

My personal observation is that the latter are working very well in my own life and in the lives of those I'm in contact with. I know, however, that they aren't happening for others.

I thought a few weeks back that, as a people, we're in the midst of discovering what kinds of ministers we really are.

How engaged am I? How well do I know what individuals really need? Those are the questions I keep asking myself.

Edited April 17, 2020 by Hamba Tuhan

[Raingirl]

Almost no activity in my ward, from what I can see.  A few emails from the bishop.  A plan was put in place to provide sacrament at least once a month to anyone who wants it. Then last Sunday the Area Seventy put out an email forbidding sacrament in homes where there is no priesthood holder. I’m not happy about that. 

[Tacenda]

We had some cookies left on the doorstep by our ministering brothers?

We get emails from the bishop and elder's quorum president that provided a Easter message or keep us informed on things.

Several stakes including mine were asked to volunteer at the Deseret Pasta and Mill recently to replenish the pasta.

I get emails from RS on upcoming meetings through zoom, plus someone from the church emailed about a zoom for SS as well. 

Our stake has asked for help sewing masks plus providing masks for anyone needing them.

It feels like we're getting more interaction than we've gotten since moving to the ward in 2018.

 

 

[BlueDreams]

Check-in texts with my ministering sisters and my Rs has a whatsapp group where  wonen share info, inspirational thoughts, and seek smaLl helps from time to time. on FB on my ward page they’ve posted messages on sundays from our ward leaders. Since church often fell during naptime is missed large amounts of it, so I haven’t felt the difference and this has helped cement more home-worship practices that have been nice as well. I don’t know what’s going on past that though. 

*Bad grammar due to bad position for writing 

[MorningStar]

I see members themselves doing tons of stuff. Like this is what ministering and home church prepared us for. Lots of local members making masks. Some grinding wheat to give away since flour can't be found. Our church pulled some strings to hold a blood drive because they were critically low on donations. 

We received messages probably weekly from our stake presidency - just emails. Sometimes from our bishop. And I'm fine with that because I'm bombarded with so many messages from our schools, I honestly don't want to open another email! I know where to go for uplift when I need it. I'm checking on the ladies I minster to, plus many more in our community. 

[MustardSeed]

I’m in yw.  We have weekly zoom and weekly individual calls.  Also our ward does weekly ministering.  Bishop wants every member checked in on, weekly. 

[Scott Lloyd]

14 hours ago, HappyJackWagon said:

I sometimes cheat on LDS church with Methodist church. I won't go into all of the reasons why. There are good aspects of each.

 

 

I'm wondering what you mean by this. If it means you occasionally visit services of another faith group, that's one thing, but if you are actively affiliating with another church, that strikes me as problematic. As I recall, one of the issues in John Dehlin's membership council (disciplinary council) is that he had gotten himself ordained as a minister in another faith so he could perform a marriage for somebody.

 

[Scott Lloyd]

15 hours ago, HappyJackWagon said:

I sometimes cheat on LDS church with Methodist church. I won't go into all of the reasons why. There are good aspects of each.

But as I've been watching the shift of religious engagement caused by the pandemic I'm struck by the differences between my local Methodist congregation and my local LDS congregation. In a nutshell, the Methodist congregation has done the following:

Methodist

-Organized service to keep the food pantry open

-Organized service to sew and donate thousands of masks

-Conduct virtual worship services and Sunday School each week

-Created prayer groups for outreach to individuals within the community, especially the elderly and single.

-Created a weekly newsletter and is very active on social media making individuals and the community aware of resources and services

-Created additional evening web-classes for people experience Stress, How to parent during a crisis, Bible Study etc, etc

-They do a weekly children's message and activity online and read gospel stories to children

-Doing a weekly youth group gathering via web

THE LIST GOES ON AND ON- I'm forgetting a bunch of stuff

On the other hand, this is what I'm seeing from my local LDS congregation-

LDS

-Cancelled weekly worship services. No online alternative. No online or virtual Sunday school classes. No organized community service. Very little social media presence (none from ward leadership).

-Created a monthly Zoom group for young women (this is good)

-2 emails in 4 weeks reaching out to members.  The first one stated the cancelling of services and instructed people to only partake of the sacrament when given express permission from the bishop (each occurrence)  The 2nd email briefly noted that 2 members in the ward had died and then went on extensively about the need to get approval before administering/partaking of the sacrament. The email further stated that there will be no more tracking/reporting of ministering activities. Assignments are postponed and people can do what they feel comfortable with.

 

That is all from LDS. To me, one local church seems to be taking a break while another is actively engaged in trying to reach out and fill needs of the people in the community. I TOTALLY recognize that this could be a unique thing to my area. But maybe it's not. I have not idea.

What is your experience with the local church? Are you seeing more activity than I am?

 

Apples-to-oranges comparison. 

For some time now, the Church of Jesus Christ has been teaching and emphasizing a home-based religious observance to be augmented -- not replaced -- by what takes place at our ward gatherings. This has prepared us well for the unusual circumstances we are in now and is evidence to me that Jesus Christ directs the Church via revelation to prophets and apostles. 

The Methodists can run their shop as they see fit; I'm sure they are doing a fine job. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is weathering this crisis very well, thank you very much.

 

Edited April 17, 2020 by Scott Lloyd

[Peacefully]

We are using Zoom for ward council.

We had a stake youth devotional last week through Zoom. It was a lot of fun. The kids asked the full-time and returned missionaries questions via the chat feature. 

We are having home sacrament and we study Come Follow Me.

I am the YW Pres in our ward with a very small group of girls (6) ages 11-18. My first counselor and I have tried to engage them in weekly challenges or to use the new Circles feature for chat, but only the 11 year old shows any interest. The parents don’t really seem interested in having us all connect, either. Any suggestions?

 

[Scott Lloyd]

43 minutes ago, Peacefully said:

We are using Zoom for ward council.

We had a stake youth devotional last week through Zoom. It was a lot of fun. The kids asked the full-time and returned missionaries questions via the chat feature. 

We are having home sacrament and we study Come Follow Me.

I am the YW Pres in our ward with a very small group of girls (6) ages 11-18. My first counselor and I have tried to engage them in weekly challenges or to use the new Circles feature for chat, but only the 11 year old shows any interest. The parents don’t really seem interested in having us all connect, either. Any suggestions?

 

Once you’ve explained adequately to everybody what you’re trying to accomplish, leave participation optional. Don’t try to supersede the province of the parents. Ward activities should not be an end unto themselves but an adjunct to home gospel instruction. 

[Peacefully]

25 minutes ago, Scott Lloyd said:

Once you’ve explained adequately to everybody what you’re trying to accomplish, leave participation optional. Don’t try to supersede the province of the parents. Ward activities should not be an end unto themselves but an adjunct to home gospel instruction. 

I agree with you, Scott, and that is how I’ve been looking at it. The situation we are in isn’t going to last forever, and the girls will be together again. In the meantime, I hope they are growing closer to their families. However, when I hear that other wards are doing weekly youth meetings, I wonder if I am doing enough. I’ve been in the church long enough to know that the youth culture in each ward is different. I’ve just never been part of a ward where the girls seem so disinterested in communicating. I’m an introvert and I guess most of our girls are, too, lol. Maybe we will weather this quarantine better than the more extroverted people:)

[CV75]

I won’t get into all the things that I have done for others in and outside the home (double the size of both lists), which I attribute to the personal growth garnered from the Church’s invitations over the past couple of years with regards to ministering and Come Follow Me.

Our ward (the Church’s efforts have been posted in the Newsroom):

-       Fasted and contributed funds to help the poor locally and globally.

-       Specifically discouraged virtual worship services and instruction each week in favor of home-based worship, which is an opportunity to do and experience something new and unique under the circumstances.

-       Holds video conference activities for youth (weekly), video and e-mail messages from presidencies, bishopric and ward council. One Easter video included children and youth delivering the messages.

-       Maintains the weekly newsletter and social media site, including but more expansive than making individuals and the community aware of resources and services

-       Increased the frequency of checking and reporting on ministering families.

-       Increased the frequency of youth service projects within constraints of social distancing.

-       Started a videoconference temple recommend interview processes (stake-initiated).

-       Unique assignments have been extended (no callings).

[alter idem]

21 hours ago, HappyJackWagon said:

I sometimes cheat on LDS church with Methodist church. I won't go into all of the reasons why. There are good aspects of each.

But as I've been watching the shift of religious engagement caused by the pandemic I'm struck by the differences between my local Methodist congregation and my local LDS congregation. In a nutshell, the Methodist congregation has done the following:

Methodist

-Organized service to keep the food pantry open

-Organized service to sew and donate thousands of masks

-Conduct virtual worship services and Sunday School each week

-Created prayer groups for outreach to individuals within the community, especially the elderly and single.

-Created a weekly newsletter and is very active on social media making individuals and the community aware of resources and services

-Created additional evening web-classes for people experience Stress, How to parent during a crisis, Bible Study etc, etc

-They do a weekly children's message and activity online and read gospel stories to children

-Doing a weekly youth group gathering via web

THE LIST GOES ON AND ON- I'm forgetting a bunch of stuff

On the other hand, this is what I'm seeing from my local LDS congregation-

LDS

-Cancelled weekly worship services. No online alternative. No online or virtual Sunday school classes. No organized community service. Very little social media presence (none from ward leadership).

-Created a monthly Zoom group for young women (this is good)

-2 emails in 4 weeks reaching out to members.  The first one stated the cancelling of services and instructed people to only partake of the sacrament when given express permission from the bishop (each occurrence)  The 2nd email briefly noted that 2 members in the ward had died and then went on extensively about the need to get approval before administering/partaking of the sacrament. The email further stated that there will be no more tracking/reporting of ministering activities. Assignments are postponed and people can do what they feel comfortable with.

 

That is all from LDS. To me, one local church seems to be taking a break while another is actively engaged in trying to reach out and fill needs of the people in the community. I TOTALLY recognize that this could be a unique thing to my area. But maybe it's not. I have not idea.

What is your experience with the local church? Are you seeing more activity than I am?

 

I think it depends on people, extroverts are probably going stir crazy.  I'm an introvert and I'm perfectly happy to stay home and do my own thing.  We check on our ministering families, and those we serve in our calling, to make sure they have what they need, etc, I call those I know who are alone and need to talk etc.  To be honest, I felt like my Relief society was spamming me, they kept sending emails, trying to get people involved in home projects or phone trees. Some need that (like you I guess), but not everyone needs others to find things for them to do, or to be reminded how to be a friend to those around us.  These things don't always have to be planned and organized by committees.  Personally I don't need the Methodist method, but for those who do, that's great.

[alter idem]

3 hours ago, Peacefully said:

I agree with you, Scott, and that is how I’ve been looking at it. The situation we are in isn’t going to last forever, and the girls will be together again. In the meantime, I hope they are growing closer to their families. However, when I hear that other wards are doing weekly youth meetings, I wonder if I am doing enough. I’ve been in the church long enough to know that the youth culture in each ward is different. I’ve just never been part of a ward where the girls seem so disinterested in communicating. I’m an introvert and I guess most of our girls are, too, lol. Maybe we will weather this quarantine better than the more extroverted people:)

I do think this may be an extrovert vs. introvert thing.  I realize that extroverts really do need social interactions, and groups of people energize them and make them feel happy, where as I don't think some extroverts can comprehend that for introverts, such as myself, socializing and crowds, and too much stuff going on, filling up my time, makes me feel drained.  I'm not energized by this kind of attention, and so I don't really want it.  I think that is why I am happy my ward is not trying to replace church and activities virtually, while this is going on.  It's temporary, but while it lasts, I'm just going to enjoy it. 

[Stargazer]

Our ward has been holding weekly "firesides" using Zoom.

The stake presidency and stake council have likewise been holding meetings using it.

The stake institute program is now being conducted using Zoom.

Our full-time missionaries are teaching both investigators and members using Zoom.

[HappyJackWagon]

8 hours ago, Scott Lloyd said:

I'm wondering what you mean by this. If it means you occasionally visit services of another faith group, that's one thing, but if you are actively affiliating with another church, that strikes me as problematic. As I recall, one of the issues in John Dehlin's membership council (disciplinary council) is that he had gotten himself ordained as a minister in another faith so he could perform a marriage for somebody.

 

I have not joined, nor have I been ordained a minister in another faith.

No worries

8 hours ago, Scott Lloyd said:

Apples-to-oranges comparison. 

For some time now, the Church of Jesus Christ has been teaching and emphasizing a home-based religious observance to be augmented -- not replaced -- by what takes place at our ward gatherings. This has prepared us well for the unusual circumstances we are in now and is evidence to me that Jesus Christ directs the Church via revelation to prophets and apostles. 

The Methodists can run their shop as they see fit; I'm sure they are doing a fine job. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is weathering this crisis very well, thank you very much.

 

I don't think it's apples to oranges. It may be easy to say everyone should be doing home church and that IS the program, but it appears to me, at least in my area that it is license for the local church to do very little. Leadership has not reached out to engage members at all, except for 2 brief emails in 4 weeks which really only re-emphasized their authority regarding the sacrament.

The point of my post is I see other churches being very creative in reaching out and trying to meet the real needs of the community. I am not seeing that from my local LDS leadership... at all

Saying that the church's new program is for people to take care of themselves kind of defeats the community elements and purpose of church.

Edited April 17, 2020 by HappyJackWagon