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