What Is Your Local Church Doing to Engage Members?

[Teancum]

On 4/16/2020 at 4:15 PM, 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?

 

Nothing organized formally. Nothing.

[Stargazer]

20 minutes ago, HappyJackWagon said:

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

No worries

I bet you'd make a great Methodist minister, though!

Not being sarcastic, either. Completely serious. Any decent Mormon bishop would do a bang-up job ministering in another faith, I believe.

I'm not encouraging this, however!  

[Stargazer]

On 4/16/2020 at 9:15 PM, 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 keep wanting to visit all the local church services around here. Especially Church of England. But their services always seem to coincide with ours.

[CV75]

46 minutes ago, HappyJackWagon said:

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.

The individual/family/home-centered emphasis has always been the case, and the new programming is only an advancement in its application for the members Church community and her receptive friends. Its improvement certainly does not put the community aspect on the back seat: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2020/03/the-blessings-of-church-membership?lang=eng , especially the 5 articles linked to this introduction which emphasize the importance of community (March 2020).

This balance gives us a good deal of self-sufficiency when the need arises (e.g. how many other Christian denominations encourage the Eucharist/communion to be observed in their homes?). The Passover Seder, is likewise observed as a community, separately in homes led by the parents.

Individuals draw strength from the community and share their spiritual and temporal bounty within and without. The community draws its strength from the members and can give in an organized way, within and without. And "To every thing there is a season."

[Hamba Tuhan]

4 hours ago, HappyJackWagon said:

I am not seeing that from my local LDS leadership... at all

But in the Church of Jesus Christ, we are all 'local LDS leadership'.

Quote

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.

I agree 100 per cent! Which is why the Church's programs are designed to help people take care of themselves, those for whom they have personal responsibility, and the rest of their community.

In this thread alone, we've seen a hugely diverse range of needs expressed. We've been empowered and instructed to meet that broad range of needs in an individualised way:

Quote

Ministering is learning of and attending to others’ needs. It is doing the Lord’s work. When we minister, we are representing Jesus Christ and acting as His agents to watch over, lift, and strengthen those around us.

As members, we may determine through communication and inspiration the frequency and type of contact we will have with those to whom we minister. This customized contact will help us minister effectively ...

Further:

Quote

When we consider how to minister most effectively, we ask, “What does she [or he] need?” Coupling that question with a sincere desire to serve, we are then led by the Spirit to do what would lift and strengthen the individual.

Again,  as Saints, we're in the midst of discovering what kinds of ministers we really are.

[BlueDreams]

I should add some of the RS are organizing to participate in a project to help sew masks. And there's likely a lot of smaller projects like that that I'm less aware of because I'm in and out of the online chats.

 

With luv,

BD

Edited April 18, 2020 by BlueDreams

[Islander]

On 4/16/2020 at 6:18 PM, katherine the great said:

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.

Seems like the norm across the Stake here in the Mid-West. Some wards are individually doing some small groups and remote activities. Ours virtually nothing. The YW had a zoom meeting this week but that is about it. I think my wife got a call from the Bishop last week. 

[cherryTreez]

We have gotten emails. The youth do weekly zoom meetings. The primary have the kids cute coloring pages and other things. I think more may happen but they have my husband's number and I don't hear about it. 

I am loving this. Teaching my children and being able to go where they lead is amazing. It's been nice to have my husband and son around more Sundays. They were so busy before. 

[Kenngo1969]

On 4/16/2020 at 9:36 PM, BlueDreams said:

... *Bad grammar due to bad position for writing 

Got a baby in the way?

[Amulek]

On 4/16/2020 at 3:15 PM, HappyJackWagon said:

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

While we do not attempt to recreate Sacrament Meetings with talks/speakers/etc., we have created a private YouTube channel which our Bishop uses to share a brief spiritual thought each week. 

We have also started holding Sunday School via video-conferencing twice a month on the regular schedule; the classes are then posted to the same channel for those who weren't able to attend. 

Our RS already had a Facebook page which they were using for a lot of communication among themselves; my wife reports there has been a marked uptick in traffic over the last month. They also have a weekly newsletter that they send out. They are working on sewing masks for local hospitals and other emergency care workers as well. 

Our Young Women classes are all meeting online twice a week: once on Sunday and again on Wednesday. The former involves a spiritual thought and brief lesson, while the latter is more of a social event with some sort of activity involved (I believe they are going to do charades this week). 

Primary teachers are holding meet-and-greet get-together's with their classes by video. These are just brief meetings to let the kids see each other. Sometimes they involve a brief spiritual message or something, but they are mostly just a chance for the kids to see each other and stay in contact. 

RS and EQ are also meeting via video-conference one/two times a month - we're still working out some of the scheduling on that front as to not overlap with what anyone else is already doing (there's a lot of moving pieces to keep up with when everyone is empowered to create their own solutions).

As a bishopric, we are each sending physical letters to each of the young men and women we are responsible for. A few of them have, shockingly, actually started writing back. :) 

Our ward family history specialists are meeting with individuals in the ward via technology and helping them all get set up to do indexing as we are planning on having a ward indexing challenge sometime in the next month.

Ministering efforts still continue - albeit mostly remotely.

Welfare assistance carries on as well - with more people than usual needing it right now.

Etc., etc., etc.

 

 

[Tacenda]

26 minutes ago, Amulek said:

While we do not attempt to recreate Sacrament Meetings with talks/speakers/etc., we have created a private YouTube channel which our Bishop uses to share a brief spiritual thought each week. 

We have also started holding Sunday School via video-conferencing twice a month on the regular schedule; the classes are then posted to the same channel for those who weren't able to attend. 

Our RS already had a Facebook page which they were using for a lot of communication among themselves; my wife reports there has been a marked uptick in traffic over the last month. They also have a weekly newsletter that they send out. They are working on sewing masks for local hospitals and other emergency care workers as well. 

Our Young Women classes are all meeting online twice a week: once on Sunday and again on Wednesday. The former involves a spiritual thought and brief lesson, while the latter is more of a social event with some sort of activity involved (I believe they are going to do charades this week). 

Primary teachers are holding meet-and-greet get-together's with their classes by video. These are just brief meetings to let the kids see each other. Sometimes they involve a brief spiritual message or something, but they are mostly just a chance for the kids to see each other and stay in contact. 

RS and EQ are also meeting via video-conference one/two times a month - we're still working out some of the scheduling on that front as to not overlap with what anyone else is already doing (there's a lot of moving pieces to keep up with when everyone is empowered to create their own solutions).

As a bishopric, we are each sending physical letters to each of the young men and women we are responsible for. A few of them have, shockingly, actually started writing back.

Our ward family history specialists are meeting with individuals in the ward via technology and helping them all get set up to do indexing as we are planning on having a ward indexing challenge sometime in the next month.

Ministering efforts still continue - albeit mostly remotely.

Welfare assistance carries on as well - with more people than usual needing it right now.

Etc., etc., etc.

 

 

Thank heavens for the technology we're lucky to have during this time! 

[HappyJackWagon]

On ‎4‎/‎17‎/‎2020 at 1:07 PM, alter idem said:

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.

 

No. I'm an introvert. I don't need, nor do I want, a lot of contact. But that is very different than having ZERO contact and ZERO proactive attempts by ward leadership to check on members or even acknowledge the vast and challenging changes people are facing and dealing with. But in my area there currently seems to be a void of leadership.

Frankly, I'm astonished by some of the responses I'm seeing that seem to ignore the need for religious community and even organized religion, in favor of neglect that is incorrectly being labeled "home centered church". I don't believe for a second that home centered church was intended to replace organized religious community.

[HappyJackWagon]

1 hour ago, Amulek said:

While we do not attempt to recreate Sacrament Meetings with talks/speakers/etc., we have created a private YouTube channel which our Bishop uses to share a brief spiritual thought each week. 

We have also started holding Sunday School via video-conferencing twice a month on the regular schedule; the classes are then posted to the same channel for those who weren't able to attend. 

Our RS already had a Facebook page which they were using for a lot of communication among themselves; my wife reports there has been a marked uptick in traffic over the last month. They also have a weekly newsletter that they send out. They are working on sewing masks for local hospitals and other emergency care workers as well. 

Our Young Women classes are all meeting online twice a week: once on Sunday and again on Wednesday. The former involves a spiritual thought and brief lesson, while the latter is more of a social event with some sort of activity involved (I believe they are going to do charades this week). 

Primary teachers are holding meet-and-greet get-together's with their classes by video. These are just brief meetings to let the kids see each other. Sometimes they involve a brief spiritual message or something, but they are mostly just a chance for the kids to see each other and stay in contact. 

RS and EQ are also meeting via video-conference one/two times a month - we're still working out some of the scheduling on that front as to not overlap with what anyone else is already doing (there's a lot of moving pieces to keep up with when everyone is empowered to create their own solutions).

As a bishopric, we are each sending physical letters to each of the young men and women we are responsible for. A few of them have, shockingly, actually started writing back.

Our ward family history specialists are meeting with individuals in the ward via technology and helping them all get set up to do indexing as we are planning on having a ward indexing challenge sometime in the next month.

Ministering efforts still continue - albeit mostly remotely.

Welfare assistance carries on as well - with more people than usual needing it right now.

Etc., etc., etc.

 

 

That is exactly the kind of leadership I expected to see in my area.

Sadly, I'm not seeing/experiencing any of that.

I believe that local leadership starts with the Bishopric which sets the tone. Sounds like you guys are working hard to keep people engaged instead of leaving members solely to their own devices. Nice job!

[rongo]

I was just asked to teach an online Sunday School class, starting on Sunday with Mosiah 4-6. I'm willing to do what I was asked to do, but would rather keep doing our own family Sunday things. I'm sure there are others, though, who would like to do more outside of their home, too. I haven't been told how regularly this will be, or if it will align with the teaching schedule (1st and 3rd week). I know I hate my large group Google Hangout staff meetings, and I'm having a hard time seeing this medium as being good for gospel doctrine. Should we have an opening prayer (we don't at church)?  

[Calm]

Looks like our returned missionaries will have a chance to share experiences on YouTube for the ward for those interested. I like this.

[alter idem]

20 hours ago, HappyJackWagon said:

 

No. I'm an introvert. I don't need, nor do I want, a lot of contact. But that is very different than having ZERO contact and ZERO proactive attempts by ward leadership to check on members or even acknowledge the vast and challenging changes people are facing and dealing with. But in my area there currently seems to be a void of leadership.

Frankly, I'm astonished by some of the responses I'm seeing that seem to ignore the need for religious community and even organized religion, in favor of neglect that is incorrectly being labeled "home centered church". I don't believe for a second that home centered church was intended to replace organized religious community.

I'm sorry my response was astonishing,  I answered truthfully.  Did you read Amulek's report of all they are doing?  If I was in his ward I'd feel overwhelmed and guilt that I wanted to do my own thing. The report of everything that Methodist Church is doing made me feel overwhelmed too, and you made me feel guilty pangs that I often feel when a new program or assignment is given at church that I don't want to be involved in, but I've been active my whole life,  I have a testimony and so I whine a bit to my husband and then I knuckle under and do it.

  All callings have been uncomfortable for me(I remember the first time I was called to be a beehive president and my discomfort in the anticipation of what it would entail),  some callings more difficult than others, I've never overcome that,  but I do my best to fulfill them and look forward to being released--at the same time worried about being released because of what I might be called to next. Don't get me started on visiting teaching/ministering.

Personally,  I was enjoying the reprieve; having some time for me. I know it's selfish, but it isn't going to last, I just wanted to take advantage of this unusual circumstance. But, you confirmed the guilt that tells me others around me feel neglected and upset, thinking no one cares if I'm not trying to facetime with them or hold special virtual gettogethers and planning service projects to do in our separate homes, instead of doing a project of my own I haven't had time to before this lockdown,  because I was too busy. 

And if you are an introvert? I guess I'm an extra introvert. I had an epiphany about church one time years ago:  Everything in the church is geared to making us all into extroverts, which is a good thing for those we serve but it can be really hard on the introverts who want to be committed members of the church. Guess I'd better go make phonecalls today.😶

[HappyJackWagon]

On ‎4‎/‎21‎/‎2020 at 10:13 AM, alter idem said:

I'm sorry my response was astonishing,  I answered truthfully.  Did you read Amulek's report of all they are doing?  If I was in his ward I'd feel overwhelmed and guilt that I wanted to do my own thing. The report of everything that Methodist Church is doing made me feel overwhelmed too, and you made me feel guilty pangs that I often feel when a new program or assignment is given at church that I don't want to be involved in, but I've been active my whole life,  I have a testimony and so I whine a bit to my husband and then I knuckle under and do it.

  All callings have been uncomfortable for me(I remember the first time I was called to be a beehive president and my discomfort in the anticipation of what it would entail),  some callings more difficult than others, I've never overcome that,  but I do my best to fulfill them and look forward to being released--at the same time worried about being released because of what I might be called to next. Don't get me started on visiting teaching/ministering.

Personally,  I was enjoying the reprieve; having some time for me. I know it's selfish, but it isn't going to last, I just wanted to take advantage of this unusual circumstance. But, you confirmed the guilt that tells me others around me feel neglected and upset, thinking no one cares if I'm not trying to facetime with them or hold special virtual gettogethers and planning service projects to do in our separate homes, instead of doing a project of my own I haven't had time to before this lockdown,  because I was too busy. 

And if you are an introvert? I guess I'm an extra introvert. I had an epiphany about church one time years ago:  Everything in the church is geared to making us all into extroverts, which is a good thing for those we serve but it can be really hard on the introverts who want to be committed members of the church. Guess I'd better go make phonecalls today.😶

No need to apologize.

Still, the number of responses I've seen like that surprises me. But then, some say I'm easily surprised so...  

If you are right, and the church is trying to make us all into extroverts, then I think that is a mistake. I'm reminded of this quote by Pres. Uchtdorf.

Quote

Pres. Uchtdorf-

But while the Atonement is meant to help us all become more like Christ, it is not meant to make us all the same. Sometimes we confuse differences in personality with sin. We can even make the mistake of thinking that because someone is different from us, it must mean they are not pleasing to God. This line of thinking leads some to believe that the Church wants to create every member from a single mold —that each one should look, feel, think, and behave like every other. This would contradict the genius of God...

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2013/04/four-titles?lang=eng

 

Edited April 28, 2020 by HappyJackWagon

[Duncan]

7 hours ago, HappyJackWagon said:

No need to apologize.

Still, the number of responses I've seen like that surprises me. But then, some say I'm easily surprised so...  

If you are right, and the church is trying to make us all into extroverts, then I think that is a mistake. I'm reminded of this quote by Pres. Uchtdorf.

 

I like this quotation from Elder Wirthlin, 

"Some are lost because they are different. They feel as though they don’t belong. Perhaps because they are different, they find themselves slipping away from the flock. They may look, act, think, and speak differently than those around them and that sometimes causes them to assume they don’t fit in. They conclude that they are not needed.

Tied to this misconception is the erroneous belief that all members of the Church should look, talk, and be alike. The Lord did not people the earth with a vibrant orchestra of personalities only to value the piccolos of the world. Every instrument is precious and adds to the complex beauty of the symphony. All of Heavenly Father’s children are different in some degree, yet each has his own beautiful sound that adds depth and richness to the whole."

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2008/04/concern-for-the-one?lang=eng

[Hamba Tuhan]

34 minutes ago, Duncan said:

I like this quotation from Elder Wirthlin ...

Absolutely!

Which is why engaged ministering one-on-one is the only way to meet the needs of Saints who are all so different to one another. The prophets and other Church leaders have made it abundantly clear in their messages over the past couple of years that the days of a one-size-fits-all approach are well and truly over.

[alter idem]

19 hours ago, HappyJackWagon said:

No need to apologize.

Still, the number of responses I've seen like that surprises me. But then, some say I'm easily surprised so...  

If you are right, and the church is trying to make us all into extroverts, then I think that is a mistake. I'm reminded of this quote by Pres. Uchtdorf.

 

Thanks. I did make phonecalls and that was a good thing to do for those I called.  They clearly needed to talk and I needed the kick in the rear to call them. I made another observation about myself.  When I get off the phone from one of these calls, I feel drained. I think interactions are draining for me, but I wonder if for some people interactions with others are energizing. But maybe a 1 hour call is draining for anybody(though I don't like making phonecalls period). 

I'm trying to make a couple of calls every day. I don't think church leaders really want us all to be the same, but they do encourage us to put ourselves out there, be social, friendly, make an effort to interact with others, be active in church and the community which is not natural for some and it's  always been uncomfortable for me. It took awhile for me to figure out that it was an ingrained part of me, and as I get older I feel it more. Maybe I've lost some of the enthusiasm and misplaced confidence I had when I was younger.

[HappyJackWagon]

Something else I've noticed over the past couple of days:

In the past 2 days I've received emails from the Stake and from the bishop notifying of individuals who have been given callings. Both stated that since we aren't meeting together there can be no sustaining vote, so they issued the call and we will be asked to "ratify" the callings later once in-person meetings resume.

Although I'm well aware that "ratifying" isn't necessarily an uncommon practice it does strike me as an unusual one  

Does anyone know when this practice originated? It seems like a very letter-of-the-law kind of practice that misses the spirit of the law of common consent. For the stake, we were notified that 2 new high councilors had been called. In the ward, a new member of the bishopric. Both of these callings are fairly significant leadership callings. In the age of electronic communication which could include "YES/NOI, or SUSTAIN/NOT SUSTSAIN survey options, I wonder why a ratification after the fact would be preferable to an electronic sustaining process, especially for positions of leadership.

Any thoughts on that?

[rongo]

34 minutes ago, HappyJackWagon said:

Something else I've noticed over the past couple of days:

In the past 2 days I've received emails from the Stake and from the bishop notifying of individuals who have been given callings. Both stated that since we aren't meeting together there can be no sustaining vote, so they issued the call and we will be asked to "ratify" the callings later once in-person meetings resume.

Although I'm well aware that "ratifying" isn't necessarily an uncommon practice it does strike me as an unusual one  

Does anyone know when this practice originated? It seems like a very letter-of-the-law kind of practice that misses the spirit of the law of common consent. For the stake, we were notified that 2 new high councilors had been called. In the ward, a new member of the bishopric. Both of these callings are fairly significant leadership callings. In the age of electronic communication which could include "YES/NOI, or SUSTAIN/NOT SUSTSAIN survey options, I wonder why a ratification after the fact would be preferable to an electronic sustaining process, especially for positions of leadership.

Any thoughts on that?

Like use Survey Monkey? Please, no . . .  

[rongo]

Our ward has been low-key/low-tech, until last week. I was asked to teach Sunday School, Zoom-style. Bishop didn't know what that would be like (neither did I; my experience is with groups of 250 in a mass Google thing. Not a fan!), or how many would tap in, but it ended up being a huge turnout. I didn't want to "monologue" for 40 minutes, but you can't exactly get answers in real time. Bishop decided to have all mikes muted and for comments and questions to be chatted. I did a pretty good job of "let's go to the phones" by incorporating questions and comments into the flow (Mosiah 4-6. I think this week is 7-11). I had to learn on the fly how to toggle between "show screen" and the Brady Bunch ward view. 

Members clamored for more, so we're back on the air for the next few weeks. The quorum and RS wanted to do one, but he said let's let Brother rongo do Sunday School for now for the next few weeks at least. I also hope that this ends soon, but I'm pessimistic, given what I'm reading.  I think that the Church isn't close to allowing meetings, even if local and state governments do.

I'm with those who prefer my own family lessons and meetings during this, but there are a significant number who crave interaction and lessons/discussion from outside the home. The nice thing about Zoom is a) you can opt not to tap in, b) you can observe but not comment (via chat), or c) you can send comments and questions. In a way, it's a lot better for the introverts, because there is zero risk of them getting "smoked out" by teachers who don't want to give any room for them to hide. Also, there isn't any of the "group work" or "let's rearrange the chairs for small group discussion" that a vast majority of members hate, hate, hate (including yours, truly). 

[HappyJackWagon]

18 minutes ago, rongo said:

Like use Survey Monkey? Please, no . . .  

I understand the sentiment.

But wouldn't a survey be better than no common consent? Sustainings have been perfunctory rubber stamps, but it feels like this takes it a step further.

[rongo]

3 minutes ago, HappyJackWagon said:

I understand the sentiment.

But wouldn't a survey be better than no common consent? Sustainings have been perfunctory rubber stamps, but it feels like this takes it a step further.

I'm sure a bishop or two, or maybe a stake president has had to be (or will be) released/called during this. That's something where you would have to have a more robust opportunity to sustain/not sustain than for other callings. Even then, I'm pretty sure these votes won't be held over social media. These probably will also be "for ratification purposes only." 

"Ratification" in this sense is another uniquely Mormon term. It wouldn't come up in Conference, but our family has our own version of Conference Bingo using terms like "supernal," "poignant," "will now favor us with," "close quote," "even" (as in, "through the Son, even Jesus the Christ") etc. that only appear in General Conference.

Remember "vignettes," as used in some of those worldwide leadership training broadcasts? As in, role-play sketches. "In the next vignette, a ward council will . . . "  

And, every North American (and maybe British) chapel has a sign in the hall that says "rostrum." What an odd word! Probably won't ever run into it outside of an LDS chapel.

Sorry about the tangent! "Ratification" reminded me of these . . .