Stake subsidy in support of non-LDS participation in ward activities

29 December 2015

Bishops,

On occasion, you find yourself using ward funds in support of non-members. This is especially true in Cub Scouts where several wards have successfully recruited friend and neighbor families into their Cub Pack. We congratulate you and thank you for going the extra-mile to use the Cub Scout program as an effective out-reach program to fellowship non-LDS.

Because you are not compensated unless the non-members attend sacrament meeting, we recognize the cost of providing support for such programs may not be covered adequately by your annual allocation. 

Therefore we recommend the following:

SURPLUS FUNDS FIRST: In support of costs by non-LDS, draw from carry-over (or surplus) funds to provide the additional financial support for such programs that may involve non-LDS participation and increase the budgets, as needed.

STAKE TO SUBSIDIZE WHERE POSSIBLE: If carry-over funds are inadequate, make a request to the stake presidency for additional funds. Please recommend the amount needed with details on how you arrived at that figure. We will do our best to meet all or a major portion of your request. 

We remind you that non-LDS families can be expected to pay a greater portion of their son’s Scouting experience, such as paying the full amount for the awards or their son’s summer camp experience. The stake’s summer camp subsidy program, for instance, does not apply to non-LDS. 

Finally, please remember to approach non-member families when conducting your ward’s Friends of Scouting (FOS) campaign. This is something expected of parents of all Scouts, whether members or non-members of the Church.

Thank you again putting an emphasis on Cub Scout recruiting or other similar efforts to invite non-LDS to participate in Church activities.

The Stake Presidency

Confirming the policy on collection boxes in our buildings

9 December 2015

Bishops,

Below is a stake policy about collection boxes that was distributed to ward and stake leaders in 2013. 

Will you please help us follow this policy? We, of course, don’t want to offend anyone, but we feel this is very important. 

As you know, our primary purpose as a church is to be a place of worship--a refuge from the world…and so it’s very important to us that we do everything we can to keep the meetinghouses (especially the hallways and foyers leading into chapels) clean, orderly and clutter-free as members enter to worship, draw close to the Lord and participate in sacred ordinances.

Feel free to forward this to others or, if you have any questions, please reply to this email.

Thank you,

President Lewis

Policy for collection boxes in the foyer

Bishops,

On occasion we will have youth, either Young Men or Young Women, ask if they can put a collection box in the foyer of our meetinghouses as part of an Eagle or service project.

Will you please teach families and especially youth leaders that this is not approved or appropriate for two reasons:

1. It creates a messy or cluttered look in our foyers where we're trying to make our meetinghouses warm and inviting for members and visitors;

2. It undermines the leadership purpose of the service project. For instance, Eagle candidates will learn leadership skills more effectively by organizing and following through with fellow troop members in a community or ward outreach effort, instead of setting out a collection box and waiting for members to donate.

Will you please help teach this to families so we don't offend youth or their parents when we ask them to remove their collection box from the foyer?

Thanks,

Stake Presidency