In response to a request that 14 brothers and brothers-in-law are allowed to stand in the circle for baby Ivan Williams' blessing

Email to my son-in-law Bryan Williams

27 December 2017

Bryan,

We so look forward to your arrival this weekend. And we can’t wait to get acquainted with that half-grown man named Ivan! :) Thank you to you and Meredith for having so many children and blessing us in such a way.

Please remember to bring your current temple recommend and/or Recommend to Perform an Ordinance signed by your bishop. I have asked the Walters Hill Ward bishopric to request the ward clerk to have the paper work ready for you to take back to your ward in Hawaii validating the blessing so membership records can be updated.

Also, the bishopric requests that you arrive early to sacrament meeting (we start at 11:00 am) to arrange for the paper work to be completed.

I understand you still feel strongly about having all worthy Melchizedek Priesthood holders participate in baby Ivan’s blessing—14 or 15 brethren?

Please know I understand such a desire and your concern, I’m sure, that no one is offended or left out. But when we have a group that large it’s awkward to get that many men around the baby. In some ways it becomes a “side show” and detracts from the sacredness of the ordinance.

Will you please reconsider and have just a few family members invited to stand in the circle? Both the bishopric and myself feel strongly about this and ask that you let the others (brothers-in-law?) know they’re “brothers,” too but this is about a baby receiving a blessing--a sacred priesthood ordinance--not about how many worthy uncles the baby has.

I hope this doesn’t offend. But I want you to know how priesthood leaders here feel about this special occasion.

Thank you so much for blessing Ivan here so we, too, can participate by offering prayers of support, if not actually standing in the circle.

With much love and gratitude for your being such a great husband and dad,
Dad Lewis

Encouraging bishops to purchase gift subscriptions of Church magazines

28 December 2017

Bishops and Branch Presidents…

Nearly every unit is ending the year with surplus funds. We commend you for your frugality and wise use of the Lord’s funds.

For some (only 2-3 units), your surplus will be such that some of your surplus funds will revert back to the stake at year’s end to help further reduce the financial burden of summer camps on families in your ward and branch. Thank you for blessing them in this way!

Here’s another idea that may be worth considering, but you’ll need to act quickly.

While the Church magazines are free to read online, there are many (especially older members) who still do not use the Internet to access Church materials. We urge you to consider purchasing  gift subscriptions for adults (Ensign), youth (New Era) and children (Friend), such as…

…new converts this year;

…active youth and children where parents are not members or not active;

…older members on fixed incomes.

Obviously, the best option is to encourage home and visiting teachers to purchase gift subscriptions for those they watch over, but in the interest of time (i.e. use your surplus before it reverts to the stake on Dec 31) you may want to purchase gift subscriptions now before the end of the year. We do NOT recommend purchasing subscriptions for every ward member, but only those you feel confident are not receiving the magazines and are not accessing them online. (Unfortunately we are unable to obtain a list of Church magazine subscribers in our stake.)

The annual price for each magazine is very affordable: $10 for Ensign, $8 for New Era and $8 for the Friend.

To order a gift subscription, you can call the Church’s Global Service Center at 800-537-5971 Ext. “1" and then “2” between 7a - 7p PT on weekdays and 7a - 3p PT on Saturdays. If you have your unit number, they will automatically charge your account—no need to send a check.

Or place an order online at https://store.lds.org/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Category3_715839595_10557_3074457345616706253_-1___#tab3

This can be such a wonderful gift and a blessing to those special members, who need an extra contact from the Church.

Thank you for giving this your consideration.

The Stake Presidency

Announcing New 2018 Budget Allocation Policy

22 December 2017

TO: All Bishops and Branch Presidents

FROM: The Stake Presidency, Mount Hood Oregon Stake

Dear Brethren,

Thank you for your faithful service and attention to spending the Lord’s funds wisely. We apologize for the delay in announcing your budget allocations for 2018.

As you know, our budget allocation from Church headquarters is based on sacrament meeting attendance.  We receive for operating expenses $12 per person per quarter based for each person we record in the Quarterly Report attending sacrament meeting.

SACRAMENT MEETING ATTENDANCE

Our combined sacrament meeting attendance for our stake has gone from 1,173 in 2013 to 1,042 in 2017 — roughly a 7% decline in four years. Some of that can be attributed to move-outs, but the stake’s total membership has only dropped from 2,821 in Sept. 2013 to 2,730 in Sept. 2017—a 3% decline.

We’ve also had a decline in the percentage of members who attend sacrament meeting—from 43% in 2013 to 39% in 2017. So the revenue we receive from Church headquarters has been affected by declining numbers in both membership totals and percentage of attendance.

Still, thanks to the no-fundraising miracle, our allocation from Salt Lake City continues to provide all we need—and more!

CHANGES TO YOUR 2018 BUDGET ALLOCATION

In consequence of the above, there will be two changes to the 2018 allocations:

·   We are raising the share that wards and branches receive of the total revenue from 50% to 60% in hopes of minimizing the impact declining allocations may have on your individual budgets in 2018.

·   Your allocation will now fluctuate each quarter based on your sacrament meeting attendance. In the past you were allocated a set amount for the entire year then when divided by four you received the same amount each quarter.

Obviously, that made it easy for you to budget—you knew far in advance exactly how much to expect in your checking account each quarter. It will also be easy with the new policy to calculate your next allocation in advance. Simply take your sacrament meeting attendance and multiply it by $7.20 (60% of the $12/person) and that is what you can expect in the following—not next—quarterly allocation.

BENEFITS TO WARDS AND BRANCHES

Because our sacrament meeting attendance is changing enough, we feel there may be benefits in having each of you monitor the fluctuations in sacrament meeting attendance and see the impact on your budget allocation more immediately.

For instance, it may help you:

·   Emphasize with your ward or branch council the importance of planning and training to improve the quality of sacrament meeting speakers and music;

·   Ensure your clerks take an accurate count each Sunday;

·   Give your ward leaders an added reason to invite, accompany and fellowship investigators and less-active members to sacrament meeting.

HOW IT WILL AFFECT YOUR WARD OR BRANCH

In a second email you will receive an attached document with specific details about your 2018 budget allocation, including:

·   Sacrament meeting attendance totals for your ward or branch over the past four quarters.

·   Total budget allocation or revenue you actually received in 2017.

·   Total allocation you would have received in 2017 using the formula from the new 2018 Allocation Policy.

Most of you will notice that the new policy does not dramatically affect your ward or branch budget. In fact, the difference from the total you received in 2017 and what you would receive in 2018, if attendance remains the same, averages less than $250 (for the entire year) across the wards in our stake. Plus, you will still retain your 2017 surpluses up to 50% of your 2017 allocation.

Even with these adjustments, we still feel strongly that one of the best uses of these sacred funds is to reduce (and simplify) the financial burden of youth summer camps on families—as per the Handbook. In fact, we will announce in January yet another decrease in the family contribution fees, to be subsidized by 2017 surpluses and our own efforts to reduce and simplify the 2018 stake budget.

The miracle continues even when we are called on to tighten our belts.

Another follow-up email regarding Ezra Smith

12 December 2017

Dear (names of parents),

Thank you for your continuing efforts to help your son (name) in a very difficult situation. We appreciate very much his willingness to be totally forthright with you and to fully repent. As you know, repentance is a process that takes time, especially when deceit and sin have spanned years.

We especially appreciate you taking the time to help him on this difficult, but worthwhile, journey to full and complete forgiveness so he can go forward in life with a clear conscience and the guidance of the Spirit.

In our most recent phone conversation, you suggested that he is stagnant (or “lost”) here in Oregon and the best thing that could happen is for him to go off to school, specifically BYU where he would be in such an uplifting and spiritual environment. I agreed with you…once local priesthood leaders can issue him an ecclesiastical endorsement.

I’ve since learned that he is hoping to enroll at one of the BYU schools as early as winter term (early January). While that would be wonderful, I need to explain that it is not realistic. As you’re well aware, only students with an ecclesiastical endorsement can be considered. Both President Westover and myself do not feel comfortable in giving him such an endorsement so quickly. 

We hope that he will take seriously the charge he has received to become more engaged and diligent in daily scripture study, daily prayers, journal writing, Addiction Recovery study, Institute class attendance, etc. Use of his idle time and personal worthiness become very important in determining where he is going in his daily “walk with the Lord.” Until he demonstrates that he’s serious about walking that path, we cannot remove his informal probation thus precluding him from applying to a Church school.

We look forward to him working very closely with both of you, demonstrating faithfulness and accountability, and meeting regularly with President Westover and myself so we can consider him for an ecclesiastical endorsement around the end of January with the intent he would apply for spring semester before Feb 1. It will depend totally on him and his efforts as to whether his informal probation can be lifted at that time.

We wholly concur with you that there is wisdom in getting him into higher education as soon as possible so he’s on a productive path. You may want to consider MHCC or even Utah Valley University in Orem. We, of course, would prefer to have him nearby where we can all continue to work with him, but we certainly respect your decision.

I hope this is helpful in clarifying where his priesthood leaders stand. If I suggested anything otherwise in our phone conversation, please forgive me.

We love you and your family and are honored to work with you in helping your son return to full fellowship in the Church and living the gospel.

President Lewis

Additional Guidance on 3rd Hour Adult Classes

12 December 2017

TO: Bishoprics, Branch Presidencies and Ward Councils

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

As we all prepare for the exciting new teaching plans for the 3rd Hour Adult Classes beginning in 2018, we offer this additional guidance:

1. SELECTING TOPICS: We remind you that topics for the First Sunday Council Meetings are to be recommended by the Ward Council, but selected by the ward Relief Society presidency and priesthood quorum/group leaders. It’s an another example of how the Brethren continue to place the responsibility to those leaders closest to the members and their concerns for deciding which topics will “help meet the needs of the ward or branch. Priesthood and Relief Society leaders can decide when and how their organizations will address these needs.” (p. 135, November Ensign)

• The same applies for the 2nd and 3rd Sundays when messages from the most recent General Conference are to be discussed. “On occasion…the bishop or stake president” will recommend messages to be discussed. (p. 138, November Ensign)

• The 4th Sunday discussions will be topics selected by the First Presidency (for instance, the topic for the first part of 2018 is the Sabbath Day; see p. 144 in the November Ensign).

• The 5th Sunday discussions will be topics selected by the Bishopric or Branch Presidency.

2. WHEN THERE’S NO FIRST SUNDAY: On occasion, such as for General Conference, there are no block meetings on the 1st Sunday of the month. Or some times there is a conflict on one of the other Sundays in the month, such as the upcoming stake conference broadcast on Jan. 28, 2018. 

We leave it to the discretion of the bishopric or branch presidency, in consultation with the ward or branch council, to decide if a First Sunday Council Meeting needs to be conducted or not. It is not required that the First Sunday Council Meeting be conducted on that month’s Fast Sunday (or any Sunday, for that matter). The same applies to other Sundays that may have a scheduling conflict.

In short, we trust ward and branch leaders’ judgement as to which discussion should be conducted on any given Sunday in the adult classes.

3. EXTRA MAGAZINES FOR THE 3rd HOUR DISCUSSIONS: Because the most recent General Conference talks will become the “manuals” for much of the 3rd Hour instruction, the stake has ordered 20 extra copies of the November 2017 edition of the Ensign magazine with the Conference talks for each ward (5 for each branch) for the few members who may not have a subscription or access to the talks on their mobile device. We will deliver the magazines to you within the coming week to use as you choose. We hope it’s helpful, but may not be needed.

In the future, if you decide to order extra copies of the May or November Ensign magazine, you can place the order online or call the Global Service Center, anytime between 7a and 7p on weekdays and 7a - 3p on Saturdays, at 1-800–537-5971. Hit “1” for English then “2” for magazines. Single editions cost $1 each.

We hope the above is helpful. 

Bishops and Branch Presidents, please forward this email to your ward/branch council members.

Thank you,

The Stake Presidency

An assignment to prepare adult classes and quorums for the new First Sunday council meetings

8 December 2017

Sister Anderson and President Hansen…

Last night I met with two High Priest Group Leaders in our stake. I came away a little concerned that they may not have received the email below sent to bishops earlier and as a consequence they’re feeling a little nervous about how to effectively conduct a council meeting with their class or quorum members on Jan. 7.

Will you please accept the following assignment:

• Sister Anderson, personally contact all of the ward RS presidents, and President Hansen, personally contact all of the HP Group Leaders and EQ presidents…by Wednesday, Dec 27. Personally means you can contact them by phone, face-to-face or email. 

• Please ask them the following questions:

1. Have they introduced to their respective organization the concept of the class or quorum/group becoming a council on the First Sunday? If not, when do they plan to do so?

2. Have they selected a topic for their first council meeting on Jan. 7? If not, do they need help in formulating a question they can share with their organization’s members the week before the council meeting? (point them to the list of questions on the backside of the attached document or to the list found on page 140 of the November Ensign)

3. Would they like training on how to facilitate a council discussion? If so, have they reviewed the instructions in the November Ensign magazine and the attached document sent to bishops and branch presidents last month?

4. Are they aware of the following keys to conducting an effective council meeting?

• Put the class or quorum/group in a circle or semi-circle so everyone is facing each other (you may want to set up a mock classroom a week or more in advance to see how you can do this logistically so everyone can be involved).

• Have you reviewed some of the videos found on the 23 Teaching Tips below? Have you ever invited a class to "pair-share" as the ideal way to help everyone participate in the discussion or to prevent one or two vocal persons from dominating the discussion? Can we help teach you how to conduct a pair-share?

• Have you discussed with your organization’s leadership how to help the class or quorum/group arrive at solutions or ideas to the challenge presented at the beginning so all in attendance can be invited to act upon guidance from the Holy Ghost in their personal life?

5. Do they have any concerns about the 4th Sunday discussion to be conducted on observing the Sabbath Day until April or May, as explained on page 144 of the November Ensign?

I know this is asking a lot during a very busy time. You may use counselors or high councilors to conduct this survey. Please report back by Wednesday, Dec. 27, on the status of each ward or branch's Relief Society and Melchizedek Priesthood quorums and their plans and preparation for their first council meeting on Jan 7.

Gratefully,

President Lewis

P.S. I am also copying this to President Malan so he can also solicit the assistance of ward/branch Sunday School presidents to follow up with the leadership of the three adult classes in each ward or branch and offer their assistance and training in this wonderful effort to teach members how to use a council to problem solve and respond to the Spirit’s guidance in our personal lives.

Recommending a missionary re-assignment for a single sister in our stake

Email to the president of the Utah Salt Lake City Church Headquarters Mission

28 November 2017

Dear President Fenn,

You will recall that Sister (name), a single, senior sister (age 54) from our stake, is assigned to your mission with a scheduled report date of January 1, 2018. 

You and I had a conversation several weeks ago when her son, (name), called to request that she be re-assigned to somewhere besides Utah. He and his family live in the Salt Lake City area and he claimed to have fears that she might try to contact his family while on her mission at Church headquarters.

I was surprised by this unusual request, backed by such strong feelings, and have done some investigation into the family. In the 16 months she has resided in our stake, she has given no cause for alarm or concern. She has been a model ward member, serving when and where needed and always in possession of a current temple recommend. She has served in the Portland Oregon Temple nursery for more than 10 years, I believe.

First, I believe Sister (name) is worthy and well-suited for a mission, especially a Family History mission. She had an impression several years ago that she would some day serve a Family History mission in Church headquarters. From that day forward, she claims to have studied how to conduct Family History research in anticipation of this mission call. Curiously, she never shared that information with priesthood leaders when we completed her missionary recommendation. So we were surprised by the call, but she wasn’t.

So, needless to say, she very much desires to fulfill this mission call.

However, after visiting with her son, two of his five siblings and even the family’s past bishop, who coincidentally knew Sister (name) from her childhood and was the Lowe family’s bishop when the parents divorced in January 2016 (two years after her husband left the family and moved to Arizona, where he resides today), it is apparent that raising a family was a real challenge for her.

(Name) was raised in an LDS home with an abusive, alcoholic father. I doubt she ever saw a normal family with love and kindness; she was abused many times and in many ways as a child. She apparently carried the scars into adulthood and into her parenting as the children claim that their mother was unkind, demanding, demeaning, unyielding and erupted often with a temper—likely the result of a personal inner-drive to produce the picture-perfect Mormon family, not knowing how to respond when her children failed to measure up. Amazingly, four of the children are active in the Church today (two served full-time missions) and two are very less-active, deep into addiction, she says.

In time, all of the children—now married or on their own--have distanced themselves from her, most refusing to have any contact with her and denying her access to her grandchildren. Some say they don’t feel safe because she’s so unpredictable. But frankly, we have not seen any such tendencies nor is there any evidence she is a threat to any of her family’s safety. In fact, one son, who is completely less-active and lives in our stake, allows Keli to care for his 7-year-old son (her grandson) sometimes for a week at a time. This has been happening for at least a year without any concerns expressed or reported. 

In short, I feel Sister (name) is not a threat, that her children have overreacted to their concerns (possibly to punish their mother), but the perceived concerns are very real, deep-seated and pervasive in the family.

As a consequence, I feel it appropriate to request that she be re-assigned to a place where none of her children reside (she has children in Oregon, Utah, Idaho and Illinois). I feel she is worthy and capable of serving a mission and will not have any relationship issues with those outside her family, but I recommend the Church re-assign her to avoid getting in the middle of a family drama.

I explained to (name) that there is a possibility she could be re-assigned to another location. While broken-hearted at the prospect, she replied, “It’s OK. I just want to serve a mission.” She has already arranged for someone to rent her home on Jan. 1 and requests, if re-assigned, to keep the same report date, if possible.

I’ve never requested a mission re-assignment before. Do you, as the mission president, make that request to the Missionary Department or should I? If me, I would welcome your counsel on how to proceed.

Thank you for your patience and help in what has become a sad, but serous-enough matter to request a re-assignment.

Gratefully,

Crismon Lewis

President, Mount Hood Oregon Stake

Follow Up: This sister was re-assigned to the Family History Center connected to the Los Angeles Temple and had a marvelous experience.

Should or shouldn't we share the Appendix with families?

27 November 2017

Bishops and Branch Presidents…

You’ll recall that we visited with you in our most recent training meeting about the new, required questions to be used when interviewing full-time missionary candidates. We gave you a two-sided, single-sheet listing the required questions to give to families (parents, specifically) in your ward or branch so they would know and understand the expectations as they prepare their children for full-time missionary service.

You’ll also remember there was an Appendix with some excellent doctrinal and/or policy statements regarding Worthiness, Extended Pattern of Serious Transgressions, Repentance, the Law of Chastity, the Law of Tithing, Sabbath-Day Observance and Honesty and Integrity.

One bishop noted my reluctance in recommending that the Appendix be shared with families. In hopes it might be of help to all of you, here is my response:

Bishop,

As for reluctance about sharing the Appendix…

Thank you for asking. I leave it to your discretion. Most of the Appendix is appropriate to share. My concern is the first page where they quote extensively from Handbook 1. There’s a reason that Handbook is not available to the public. One of the concerns would be when the Brethren spell out specific “boundaries” as to what can keep a young person from a mission or requiring a special appeal to the First Presidency, it can lead to a young man or woman wanting to hedge in his or her forthrightness (or attempt to be vague) with the bishop during preliminary interviews. 

So my recommendation is to drop the first page and share only pages 2-6.

Hope that helps,

PrL

In response to a request from a Bishop to remain in the ward if he is moves outside the ward boundaries

21 November 2017

Bishop (Name),

Thank you for your inquiry regarding your call as bishop if you were to move outside the ward.

The First Presidency office said they would allow us some wiggle room so that you could continue to serve for a time at the stake presidency’s discretion.

We counseled together as a stake presidency and while we have no interest in releasing you, we feel strongly the precedent of allowing you to serve for an extended time has the potential of causing pain, even offense, to many members, who have wanted to remain in their ward but were only allowed to continue attending up to three months. 

The stake presidency feels that if favorable treatment were given to a bishop, even though he’s a strong bishop and would be living a very short distance outside his ward boundaries, it’s a precedent that would open the door to many tough, even hurtful, discussions affecting many members for years to come. Where members are given three months after leaving their ward to find permanent residence, we feel they would be understanding if a bishop were allowed six months to remain in the ward after he moves. 

By the way, you’re not the first in our stake to face this. (Name), the YM president in the (Name) Ward, moved into that ward—unbeknownst to us—around six months before he was finally released as first counselor in the Milwaukie Stake Presidency (he is a contractor and they were living in a temporary residence on the property, I believe, and finally notified us of their location when the home was completed). Greg Brown was bishop of the Sandy River Ward and moved into Keith Hansen’s home in the Walters Hill Ward. He was allowed to serve a few months (I believe three months) after their move, but was replaced soon thereafter.

We are so happy that you and (wife) have found a home so favorable, one that could be a true blessing to you and your family in the years to come. While we’re not happy about the prospect of you being released from your calling because of the move, we recognize these long-term decisions, such as a home purchase, are important and should receive serious, prayerful consideration. You are a very talented, gifted man and will be used by the Lord wherever you live. We would not fault you for a minute, if you choose the home over your calling. Nor do we believe the Lord would fault you. He knows your heart, your talents and your faithfulness and will always be mindful of you. 

If you haven’t viewed the Face-to-Face event with Elders Oaks and Ballard on Sunday night, you may find very interesting Elder Oaks’ comments during the last 10 minutes, I believe, where he quotes Elder Bruce R. McConkie about agency and inspiration…where Elder McConkie suggests that we don’t need inspiration to determine if someone is the “right person" to marry; that the Lord trusts us to make wise decisions, which he then validates and helps us make the best of whatever we decide.

I know this isn’t the answer you desired. The first time I served as a bishop, I was released after 16 months due to a move (granted, it was a move out of state, not a 1-minute drive away). It was a painful decision and I acknowledge that I had those feelings that I was abandoning the Lord. But we survive and come to realize those choices are not as monumental to Him as they are to us. And, as life goes forward in faithfulness, we are remembered still.

I hope this is helpful. Thank you for being a stalwart bishop. We will respect and honor whatever decision you make.

President Lewis

In response to bishops' questions about registering Boy Scouts and end of year financing

16 November 2017

Bishop (Name),

Thank you again for the notes on the Bishop’s Welfare Council meeting on Tuesday night.

I’ll see if I can answer questions that apparently didn’t get answered during the meeting. Feel free to forward to the bishops and branch presidents, if you think it would help.

SCOUTING

We’re asking wards to recharter ALL boys 12 - 18 years of age. It won’t affect anything, but the Church has asked us to do it as a gesture of goodwill inasmuch as the Church plans to pay for all YM in the Church to be registered in 2018, even though there will be no Scouting program for 14-18 year olds this coming year. We won’t get after anyone if they choose not to register all boys, It’s just a favor asked of us at Philmont from the General YM Presidency, that I recall.

I’ll copy this to President Christiansen so he can clarify or correct anything I say here.

FINANCES

As for the budget, from the beginning, when we announced wards could roll-over surplus funds and immediately saw wards rolling over significant surpluses the first year and each subsequent year, we announced that we would allow wards to only roll over a surplus of 50% of their annual allocation. For instance, if a ward is earmarked to receive $5,000 for their annual allocation based on sacrament meeting attendance, then we would only allow them to roll over a surplus of up to $2,500 going into the next year.

We are not trying to punish any unit with this policy, but only help encourage them to find ways to spend their funds. The Church wants us to spend these budget allocations to bless each unit’s members. That’s why we created the attached document a couple of years ago (updated in May of this year) in hopes of helping bishops find ways to spend their surplus funds wisely and not frivolously with an end-of-year, use-it-or-lose-it attitude—but spend the funds!

We didn’t want the 50% roll-over cap to create that use-it-or-lose-it attitude, so we waived it last year. Every unit got to roll over 100% of their surplus. But that just compounded the problem for some wards, as you can see below, which now have HUGE surpluses that they continue to roll over year after year.

The last report I got from Brother Lowder through October 2017, with 2 months remaining, here’s how the financials looks for each ward:

Ward / Est. Annual Allocation / Current Available Funds

D / $3,800 / $5,263 (based on this, 50% of the annual allocation $3,800 would be $1,900; they need to spend $3,363 ($5,263 minus $1,900) before year end to get within the 50% roll-over cap)

E / $4,400 / $3,219 (50% of $4,400 would be $2,200)

Pio / $2,400 / $1,242 (50% of $2,400 would be $1,200)

PV / $5,300 / $3,606 (50% of $5,300 would be $2,650)

SR / $5,600 / $2,514  (50% of $5,600 would be $2,800)

TC / $4,500 / $4,242 (50% of $4,500 would $2,250; they need to spend $1,992 ($4,242 minus $2,250) before year end to get within the 50% roll-over cap)

WH / $5,400 / $6,065 (50% of $5,400 would be $2,700; they need to spend $3,365 ($6,065 minus $2,700) before year end to get within the 50% roll-over cap)

YSA / $1,200 / $525 (50% of $1,200 would be $600)

As you can see most wards are right on target. But a few like Damascus, Tickle Creek and Walters Hill have continued to build up sizable surpluses. We want everyone to spend their funds wisely, but we also want them to know that if they don’t spend all of their surplus we hope to use those funds to continue to drive down the cost of summer camps and thus reduce the burden on families. So it will benefit them.

Because of the positive impact youth summer camps can have on the lives of the youth in our stake, we feel the summer camp subsidy is one of the best uses of budget funds we have and want to continue to apply surpluses in that direction…and not spend those funds frivolously. So we hope wards with large (over 50%) surpluses will spend wisely before the end of the year and gladly roll over their extra-surplus to the stake for summer camp subsidies and so there is NO cost to families for the trek in 2019.

Finally, in response to your comment about an expectation, we really want to give every ward total latitude in spending thru the rest of the year and then rolling over whatever budget surplus they want to roll over, up to 50% of their annual allocation. I believe the estimated annual allocations above are what Bro Lowder is projecting for 2018. Bishops can send him an email and he can give them the precise allocation that they received in 2017, on which the 50% roll-over cap will actually be based.

I’ll let you use your discretion as to whether you want to forward this email to the bishops. We’ve been reluctant to send out such a report to all units so we didn’t create any hard feelings that one ward has more $$ than another. But, as before, every unit appears to be headed for a year-end surplus. 

Or, if it’s just too complicated, we could have a conference call, if that would help.

Sorry for any confusion this has created. I assume the topic came up because we waived the 50% roll-over cap last year, but announced that we would not waive it at the end of 2017. That is still our plan.

Hope this helps,

President Lewis

Response to a sister, who felt she had received revelation that involved her stake president

14 November 2017

An e-conversation with (name) in our stake, who felt strongly she was sent to Estacada by the Lord to purchase land that would be used as a refugee for people during the tumultuous last days:

Sister (Name),

Thank you for visiting with me briefly on Sunday following sacrament meeting. Hopefully you can tell that I love you and your family greatly and want to avoid, if at all possible, any harsh or estranged feelings between us.

You shared that you wish I would humble myself enough to seek the Lord in prayer. So there’s no misunderstanding on my part, what question would you have me ask in prayer?

President Lewis

Pres. Lewis,

We know of your love and concern for us, and we don't have any hard feelings. We know that you don't want us to be deceived and follow after false beliefs. 

The feelings that I do have are great sadness. This is because I was instructed by the Lord to go to you nearly 3 years ago and tell you that we had been told to move here and buy a piece of property for which the Lord had a purpose. I was also told to tell you to pray about it for your own confirmation. The reason was so that you, as the stake president, would already be aware when information came from Church leaders. I have asked several times and you refused me. This is my great sadness. I have dedicated my life to following the Lord and His instructions. It has been a difficult path, but has brought great growth. I'm sure that it would have been less painful if I weren't so prideful. This request, to buy this property, hasn't been an easy road for us. But we have also seen many miracles in doing it.

Now that you have agreed to pray about it, I am very happy. I think that you should pray to see if I was given true revelation about buying the property. After you get your answer, one way or another, then we can go from there.

Thank you for doing this.

(Name)

    

Sister (Name),

Thank you for your kind response. And for your patience with your stake president.

Forgive me for not doing what you feel that the Lord requested you to ask me to do. 

May I suggest that you have completed your “assignment” from the Lord? As you said, “I was also told to tell you to pray about it for your own confirmation.” You have delivered the message to your stake president, as instructed by the Lord. You’ve done your part. Please don’t take on the responsibility as to whether or not I choose to pray for a confirmation. You have done exactly what you were told to do. It’s now my choice to use my agency as to whether I will follow that instruction or not. And I will be held accountable, not you.

You have the assurance that if one of the General Authorities calls me and asks, “Is there a member of your stake with a large parcel of land that can be used as a refuge for Church members and others?” I will promptly respond, “Yes, I know just the person you’re looking for” and will promptly refer them to you and your family.

Will this suffice so you know that I know you have sought the Lord’s guidance and have delivered the message He asked you to give to your stake president?

Please don’t be offended when I explain that I, too, feel strongly that it is not appropriate for me to pray about this. For two reasons:

1. In my understanding of how the Lord “operates” He does not go through members to instruct priesthood leaders or ask them to confirm revelation members receive. He works through priesthood keys, meaning He speaks to those with keys to instruct or guide members. It’s not to say members can’t receive revelation, but it is inappropriate for any of us, as members, to receive revelation on behalf of others, i.e. instructing them—other members or priesthood leaders—that they are to do something. He just doesn’t do that.

2. What if I were to pray and were to receive a different answer than the one you feel so strongly you received? It puts you and me in the awkward position of questioning each other’s worthiness, closeness to the Lord, or even motives. You don’t want to put yourself in the position of thinking…and maybe even sharing in a moment of frustration…that your stake president is either out of touch with the Spirit or unworthy to receive revelation. You don’t want to put yourself in a position of having to judge a priesthood leader, do you? 

I hope this helps in some way. Please know and have the confidence you have fulfilled your assignment from the Lord: You have purchased the land He guided you to and you have shared wth your stake president the purpose of the purchase so if or when the Church contacts me (or a future priesthood leader) about using your land we’ll know exactly where to send them.

Does that help?

Thanks for listening,

President Lewis

Follow-up training from stake conference on pornography

17 October 2017

Bishops and Branch Presidents…

Thank you for your support of our semi-annual stake conference sessions last weekend. We appreciate so much you setting the example for your ward/branch members.

Sadly, attendance was down significantly from previous stake conferences. The fact that most, if not all, students in our stake had Friday off from school (some even Thursday off) obviously had an affect as many families took advantage of the school time off and made family travel plans.

However, we feel strongly that President Christiansen’s masterful training on overcoming pornography presented in the Saturday evening Adult Session needs continuing and wider exposure.

We therefore ask you to consider repeating some of that training in your 5th Sunday presentation on October 29. If you feel strongly about another topic, we respect and support your decision. We ask, however, that some time soon you make a presentation, especially to the adults (parents) in your ward or branch, on the subject of overcoming pornography, if you haven’t done so already.

To help you in that effort, we have attached two documents:

1. A list of resources, including meetings and websites, to help address the plague of pornography (please note that the Church has dedicated an entire website to this issue at https://www.overcomingpornography.org/?lang=eng);

2. A written copy of President Christiansen’s message that he gave in the Adult Session of stake conference.

You will remember that we specifically asked all parents to show their children the video we watched in the Adult Session “What Should I Do When I See Pornography.” https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2015-08-001-what-should-i-do-when-i-see-pornography?lang=eng It’s significant that the Church did not title this video “…If I see pornography” but “…When I see pornography.” We further asked parents to use the video as a way to open a dialogue with their children on this important subject.

Please note that the video is NOT to be shown to children in group settings, such as a Primary class or a Primary Sharing Time, but in the home for parents and children to watch together.

We hope this is helpful as we continue to address this critical issue that is so destructive to marriages and families.

Gratefully,

The Stake Presidency

Counsel to a couple struggling in their marriage due to addictive behaviors

11 October 2017

Dear Brother and Sister (name)…

Thank you both for visiting with me. I have come to love and admire you both so much through our visits. What a blessing it is to have you in our stake!

You have both acknowledged to me personally of your struggles with what the scriptures describe as the “natural man.” We all face such a battle. The battle becomes intense when it reaches addiction level.

You both have suggested to me that you wrestle or have wrestled with addictive behaviors. 

I sent home with Sister (name) last night two copies of the Church’s “A Guide to Addiction Recovery and Healing.” Having gone through it myself, I can endorse it as a wonderful tool for helping all of us conquer the “natural man” inside of us by teaching us about the power of the Atonement and an understanding of how repentance works.

Will you please go through the manual together? My recommendation is that you go through a chapter a week. Take turns and read each paragraph out loud. Then when it instructs, individually write your true feelings in your own book in response to the questions posed.

Then please, at the end of each chapter, take time to review together or individually and make notes of the most important principles taught in each Step (chapter) and why they resonated with you.

As you work together in this common quest to draw close to the Lord and feel his guidance in your lives, I promise you that He will also begin to bring about his promise of “hearts knit together” (Mosiah 18:21) in a most miraculous way.

If this becomes too difficult to do together, please invite me to come to your home and allow me to facilitate a chapter or two with you.

Thank you for being so faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ. While you may feel guilty for putting on pretenses (a good face that all is well in your marriage), it is not for naught. Your desire to do so was not just to avoid shame, but was deeply rooted in a true love for the Savior and His gospel. He will now help you make what you felt was a distant celestial marriage a reality. I promise you that, if you will put forth a sincere effort through nurturing the seed of hope in your hearts, daily prayer (including before and after each lesson) and completing the 12 steps faithfully.

With love and admiration,

President Lewis

P.S. There are many helpful resources on www.lds.org including audio of Addiction Recovery Program classes. Just search on the Church’s website for “Addiction Recovery."

My rookie mistake allowing a film crew to film our stake center

28 September 2017

To a variety of you in the stake who may have been exposed to the film crew at the stake center…

I think I owe some apologies to a number of you in our stake who were exposed yesterday to the film crew at the stake center. My apologies for not getting out the word better that the crew was coming. It was compounded by the fact that I was out of pocket unavailable for phone calls (Vivienne and I serve on the Wednesday mid-shift at the temple).

In case you’re interested in knowing how this happened…

I was contacted by an “indie” (independent) film crew in Portland about 24 hours before they wanted to shoot. In my rush in a number of “hot” items going in my life on that day, I didn’t ask enough questions. 

I was assured they wanted only to shoot the exterior of the church. That it was a movie about two teenage girls in the 1960s leaving Twin Falls, ID headed for Woodstock (movie title planned right now is “Woodstock or Bust”). Apparently one of the girls in the movie has a change of heart when she attends a funeral at a church. They only wanted to shoot the exterior of the church, showing someone approaching the church. The funeral interior filming would be at another location.

Later I was told they were aiming for a PG-13 rating and that the lead roles were minors back in the 1960s suggesting that it had to be fairly tame. I suggested that our stake center was not even close to a 1960s look and that I could point them to other churches that would fit that era. For whatever reason, the director selected our church out of a lot of photos he/she was presented.

I quickly called the supervisor over all Church buildings in this part of Oregon (he’s located in Salem) and was told there is no church policy or prohibition regarding the use of the church’s exterior for filming. The film company also sent an insurance certificate assuming liability for any damages.

So I gave them permission and, in the spirit of wanting to be a good neighbor, even tried to arrange for them to access the building to use the bathrooms only. In my haste, it didn’t even occur to me to remind them that we have standards and that we expected the film crew to abide by our standards, including no smoking.

I’m so embarrassed later to hear the script (actually read by a few LDS members in downtown Estacada, where the crew filmed earlier) is not so innocent and that some on the film crew may have been smoking during filming at our stake center. I’m sad that our beautiful stake center (even though they assured me that they would avoid any identification as to the name of the church) might be tied to anything not wholesome. I’m confident this film will not get widespread viewing, if any.

My apologies to all who may have been taken off guard and even offended to see the film crew at the stake center yesterday. Please forward this email to any others in our stake who you think may have been offended or at least wondered why the crew was even there.

I would chalk it up as a rookie stake president mistake…except after 5 years I’m not supposed to be a rookie! (:

I’ve learned my lesson. No more film crews except Church film crews. Period. Hope others can learn from my foolish mistake.

Please accept my apology.  And thanks for your patience,

President Lewis

Concerns about assigning General Conference talks as sacrament meeting topics

20 September 2017

Bishops and Branch Presidents…

(If the following applies to your bishopric or presidency, please forward this email to your counselors)

General Conference talks are excellent material for classroom study and discussion, as we do regularly in the third-hour instruction for adults. 

However, assigning someone to speak about a General Conference talk does not make for a good sacrament meeting topic.  

If you are doing this in your ward or branch, will you please discontinue the practice? 

If you want to know the reasons why we ask this and the alternative for you to consider, see below.

Thank you very much,

President Lewis

WHY WE ASK YOU NOT TO ASSIGN GENERAL CONFERENCE TALKS TO SACRAMENT MEETING SPEAKERS 

Brethren,

Thank you for your many efforts to make sacrament meetings a spiritual feast. However, we’ve noticed lately a tendency in some wards/branches to assign General Conference talks to speakers. This is understandable because General Conference talks are obviously messages worthy of being heard again, and it lightens the burden on the priesthood leader who assigns speakers to come up with topics.

However, the downside is significant because members speaking about a General Conference talk will often…

 ….turn their talk into a “book report” about the General Conference message instead of preparing through their own study of the gospel;

….read large portions of the talk making it difficult for the congregation to follow;

…reflect the General Authority’s feelings and not the feelings of their own heart. 

When assigning talks, you may want to give the members several references, including General Conference talks, to help guide them in their study. We realize this puts an added burden on the priesthood leader who assigns the talks.

That burden can be reduced greatly by sharing the responsibility with others, such as…

...invite ward or branch council members to come up with sacrament meeting topics—topics that are timely to meet the needs of the ward or branch;

…invite council members to identify references in the scriptures, General Conference talks, etc. applicable to each topic to be assigned;

…invite council members to recommend those who could be blessed to speak on which topic.

Assigning sacrament meeting speakers ultimately is the responsibility of the bishopric or branch presidency. But please involve the ward or branch council in: (1) helping to identify the topics;  (2) developing references in support of each topic; and (3) recommending the names of those who could be blessed by the opportunity to speak in sacrament meeting.

There’s another way the ward or branch council can help: when a member is terrified by the thought of speaking in sacrament meeting, invite a ward/branch council member (or a counselor or anyone he or she chooses to assign) to serve as a personal coach or mentor.

Thank you for giving this your immediate attention and for all that you do to make sacrament meetings the spiritual feast—the healing balm—for all who come each Sunday to feel again the Lord’s love and seek His miraculous hand in their lives.

Gratefully,

The Stake Presidency

New Guidelines on a disciplined member's level of participation in public Church meetings

30 August 2017

Bishops and Branch Presidents,

Lately we have had a number of stake and ward disciplinary councils. Typically when someone is excommunicated or disfellowshipped, they are given “terms” of their discipline including precise limitations regarding their participation in public Church meetings. For instance, usually they are instructed not to partake of the sacrament, not to use their priesthood (including temple attendance), not to sustain Church officers, etc.

Handbook 1 Section 6.9.3 states for those excommunicated: “He may attend public Church meetings, if his conduct is orderly, but his participation in such meetings is limited the same as for disfellowshipped members.”

In 6.9.2 it states for those disfellowshipped: “He is encouraged to attend public Church meetings, if his conduct is orderly, but he may not give a talk, offer a public prayer, partake of the sacrament, or participate in the sustaining of Church officers.”

In the past we have defined “limited participation” to include not participating in class discussions, not bearing testimony, and not singing in the choir. As I have met with these brethren in follow-up visits, several have expressed that one of the most painful aspects of the discipline has been the prohibition to participate in class discussions. It touched my heart and I began to prayerfully ponder the matter, study again the instructions in the Handbook, and seek counsel from the stake presidency and others.

I’ve concluded that I may have gone beyond the spirit of the Handbook’s definition of “participation in public Church meetings.” We invite you to consider the following guidelines in addressing this with those under formal discipline with whom you may be counseling in your ward or branch .

Possibly the key phrase in the Handbook is not “limited participation,” but “If his conduct is orderly.” In other words, as long as the member doesn’t verbally attack priesthood leaders, vocalize bitterness about the disciplinary process or bring shame to himself by divulging his disciplined status, we want him or her to feel the Spirit of the Lord by: (1) answering questions and expressing feelings in class discussions; (2) bearing testimony in class; and (3) singing the hymns including participate in choirs and special musical numbers. In short, a disciplined member should have at least some of the same privileges in public Church meetings as a non-member. 

We do not encourage allowing the person to bear his or her testimony in the monthly Testimony Meeting. A testimony over the pulpit is akin to giving a talk, which is specifically prohibited by the Handbook.

Finally, we leave to your judgment as to the level of participation you feel is appropriate for each individual within the specified terms outlined in the Handbook and/or in the follow-up letter from the stake presidency.

While this change may heighten the risk that the disciplined member will be asked to give a prayer, substitute teach a lesson or receive other requests that will make it awkward to respond, we feel the blessing of feeling included, wanted and needed outweigh the risk. We want these wonderful members, who willingly walk the thorny path of Church discipline and repentance, to feel some restriction of Church membership privileges, but not feel ostracized. 

Will you please communicate this change immediately to any with whom this may apply in your ward or branch? Yes, you may forward this email to them, if you feel appropriate.

Thank you,
President Lewis

P.S. The attached letter originated soon after a brother in our stake, who was under formal discipline, was called on to give a prayer in his High Priest group meeting and he had to decline. It was very embarrassing for him. Will you please remind leaders and instructors that all public prayers are to be assigned privately in advance.