Asking ward / branch leaders to assume responsibility for in-person gatherings

20 January 2020

Bishoprics and Branch Presidencies...

With the announcement that all meeting restrictions have been lifted by the Church...with the added counsel to follow local safety guidelines...we ask that you assume responsibility for approving all in-person gatherings in your ward or branch.

We recommend you follow the counsel of Church leaders and involve your ward or branch council in making these decisions always with safety as the highest priority.

The Oregon Health Authority provides an excellent resource with safety guidelines for faith institutions at this website: https://sharedsystems.dhsoha.state.or.us/DHSForms/Served/le3465.pdf

You'll notice there are many helpful links in this document that offer guidelines—from meeting attendance to serving food at socials. On the latter point, we remind you that as long as we're in "extreme risk" counties, socials and serving food are strongly discouraged.

A common question among leaders is whether a social event is a "social gathering" or a "church meeting?" That decision is now yours.

You and your council can also decide how and when to hold Primary meetings and Relief Society activity nights, if at all.

We remind you again that safety comes first and we recommend that when in doubt favor being extra cautious until leaders and members feel comfortable in holding events beyond the now regularly scheduled meetings (sacrament services, second-hour classes, youth activity nights, etc.).

We appreciate so much you and your leaders determining how to keep members safe for all events hosted by your ward or branch.

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to counsel with us at any time.

Mount Hood Stake Presidency

Cover message to announcement of our return to pre-Covid meeting schedules

19 January 2020

Stake and Ward Council Members,

Attached is a letter announcing that the Area Presidency has directed all wards and branches to return to our pre-Covid meeting schedule. 

These will not necessarily be in-person meetings and classes, but they can be virtual and on other days than Sunday. Ward and branch councils will counsel together on how and when these meetings and classes are to happen. 

This announcement comes with two very important cautions:

• We are to adhere to local safety guidelines, including social distancing and wearing face coverings indoors; and
  
  
• We are not to over-schedule members so there is adequate family time on the Sabbath Day.

The attached document will provide more details, including options to consider when planning the implementation of this new direction.

We express our continuing gratitude for the measures you are taking so we can worship together...safely!

Mount Hood Stake Presidency

Announcing a return to our pre-Covid meeting schedule

19 January 2021

TO: Bishoprics, Branch Presidencies, Stake and Ward Councils

FROM: Mount Hood Stake Presidency

Dear Leaders,

The Area West Presidency has instructed wards and branches to return to the pre-Covid meeting schedule—while staying within local safety guidelines.

If possible, please implement this by Sunday, Feb. 7—the first Sunday in February.

As you’ll recall this means a return to second-hour gatherings as follows:

• Adult and youth Sunday School classes on the first and third Sundays of each month;

• Relief Society, Elders quorum, Young Women and Aaronic Priesthood quorum meetings and classes on the second and fourth Sundays of each month.

Also we have been instructed to continue holding:

• Weekly sacrament meetings, both in person and virtually (hybrid) with the sacrament administered in homes and in the chapel after the meeting;

• Weekly youth activity nights;

• Weekly missionary and temple and family history coordinating meetings;

• Regular stake and ward council meetings;

• Regular presidency meetings;

• Regular ministering interviews.

There is no guidance for conducting the Primary program for children. Ward and branch leaders are to decide how that is to happen in your unit, if at all.

Safety Still Comes First

For the Church to lift all meeting restrictions is exciting news. However, it’s also daunting when constrained by the safety precautions of a pandemic.

As a consequence, wards are to decide how—in person, virtually
or both (hybrid)—and when each class or meeting is to be held.

Please continue to follow all safety guidelines, including social distancing and wearing face coverings in all meetings and classes in our buildings. We also ask that you continue to read the statement on safety precautions at the beginning of each sacrament meeting.

Also please respect and accommodate the wishes of those who may not yet feel comfortable meeting in person.

Overarching all of this, the Area Presidency has asked that as we plan to return to our pre-Covid meeting schedule that we continue to protect the Sabbath Day for families. 

In other words, please do not schedule so many meetings on Sundays that families and individuals feel too burdened or “burned out” to find time for their Come, Follow Me family study.

Suggestions That May Help

The following suggestions and reminders may help:

• Any of the second-hour classes or meetings can be conducted on a different day other than Sunday;

• Start times may vary; for instance, you can hold second-hour classes earlier in the day for those with a later sacrament meeting start time;

• Because there may not be enough rooms in the church building large enough to socially distance attendees, classes and meetings may be conducted virtually from homes;

• Where possible, have the youth meet in person; the Area Presidency has asked us to give added focus to strengthening the rising generation and, as you have found, by Sunday youth are weary of virtual school classes;

• Avoid scheduling every member of the family at a different time on the same day so families have time to be together;

• Encourage parents with young children to conduct Primary at home and consider a weekday, online gathering of children under the direction of ward Primary leaders and teachers once or twice a month rather than weekly.

Possible Scheduling Options

The following are some scheduling options that may help ward leaders implement this new direction for second-hour classes and meetings:

VIRTUAL-ONLY / SIMULTANEOUS

• Hold all classes and meetings virtually from homes at the same time, just as when we met in person.

• Give priority to youth to use devices with video capability while adults, if needed, use a phone to call in for audio only, if there are not enough devices or wifi capacity at home.

• Find ways to keep young children occupied safely in the home.

HYBRID / SIMULTANEOUS

• Youth gather in person or hybrid at the church building for their classes during the second-hour period.

• Adults attend virtually at the same time.

• Accommodate the time it takes for parents to shuttle youth to and from the building.

HYBRID / STAGGERED SAME DAY

• Youth meet in person, virtually or hybrid on Sunday.

• Adults meet virtually from home at a different time on Sunday.

HYBRID / DIFFERENT DAY

• Youth meet in person, virtually or hybrid on Sunday.

• Adults meet on a weekday evening.

Feel free to discuss and implement additional approaches. Thank you for prayerfully counseling together and making preparations needed to return to a pre-Covid meeting schedule by Sunday, February 7. 

Finally, please know how much we appreciate the many adaptations you’ve been asked to make as we have navigated together the challenge of staying connected and meeting as a church during the past 10+ months. Because of your attention to safety, we have had no Covid outbreaks due to gatherings in our stake, for which we are most grateful.

Thank you for moving forward the work of the Lord during a most challenging time!

Mount Hood Stake Presidency

In response to a sister in the stake who repeatedly votes in opposition during the sustaining of stake leaders

16 January 2020

Dear (name)

Our conversation earlier this week has been weighing on me. I hope I can share some feelings without offending.

I appreciate your desire to stand up for something you feel strongly about when you voted in opposition during the sustaining of stake leaders.

If I understand correctly, you believe a current stake leader once “abused" his wife (with a pornography addiction). As you’ve come to believe through your studies that such addictions cannot be overcome without professional help, that leader must still be, to some extent, an abusive husband…thus not worthy of a sustaining vote.

Would you say this is an accurate characterization?

While it may not be this simplistic, may I share the following feelings:

• Jesus commands us to judge only righteously (JST Matthew 7:1) and he cautions us that we will be judged by the same measuring standard we apply in our judgments (Matt 7:2).

• The Lord explains that we can judge a person by his or her fruit (3 Nephi 14:16) and the patterns we observe in their lives (D&C 52:14-16).

• While the world’s experts may claim that a man once addicted may never fully change, we believe that because of the Atonement and through repentance we can experience a complete change of heart (Helaman 15:7) so that through a sanctification by the Spirit we will literally abhor the sins we once embraced (Alma 13:12).

• Repeatedly the Lord declares that we must forgive to be forgiven (Mosiah 26:30-31; D&C 64:8-10; Matthew 6:14-15).

• Sometimes we feel we have forgiven someone, but cling to a feeling of distrust. The Lord told Joseph Smith that his disciples (the original 12 Apostles) may have appeared they had forgiven each other, but really hadn’t in their hearts (D&C 64:8).

In short, for you to object or vote in opposition, you are judging whether a person has repented or not. If you are aware of a grievous sin or inappropriate behavior, it is very appropriate for you and expected of you to vote in opposition and share what you know with the presiding priesthood authority. This is what you did at stake conference last March and I appreciate it. However, once you’ve shared your feelings, you now shift the burden of judging from your shoulders to the presiding authority’s shoulders. 

He must answer to the Lord, not you, if the person in question has not truly repented.

From that moment on, you can sustain the person in question trusting that he or she has fully repented—a judgement only God can and will make; and makes known through those who hold priesthood keys to serve as a common judge. 

Can priesthood leaders make mistakes? Yes, of course. But that becomes the leader's problem and the Lord has ways of correcting such missteps. Still, even with all of our imperfections, the Lord continues to place the burden of judging a person’s faithfulness and repentance on the shoulders of those He has called to preside. When we sustain members in callings, we are also sustaining the presiding authority's judgment…affirming that the burden is now his, a burden he shoulders at his own peril. 

Therefore, I hope you’ll re-consider and sustain your stake leaders with the assurance you have fully and properly shared your concerns. In that way, all of us if ever in a state of opposition, can go forward with hope that others will be as merciful and trusting in the Lord and His leaders when our names are presented for a sustaining vote.

Again, I hope this is not offensive, (name). Please place the burden of judging on the Lord and those he has called to preside.

With love and admiration,

Crismon Lewis

Are we meeting with the youth enough?

 5 January 2020

Draft of an email to send to bishoprics and branch presidencies after surveying them on how often they are meeting with their youth?

Bishops and Branch Presidents…

We appreciate how well you’re engaging the youth in your ward or branch. This link gives all of you a quick visual of how each of you are doing, according to the survey you completed:

We share this data with the hope we do not cause comparisons, but only to give you an overview of what others are doing. 

With this data, we’re wondering if you might like to talk to discuss this and/or share ideas? If interested, we’ll be happy to arrange for and facilitate a brief “bishopric discussion night” on a regular basis (weekly? monthly?)…maybe on a Thursday evening at 8:30 pm for a half hour?

Some of you have asked…

…how often should we be meeting with the youth?

…what should we do when the youth are burned out with Zoom?

… when youth aren’t meeting, can we resume some of the adult meetings, like RS and EQ, on Sundays?

While we may not have specific answers from the Area Presidency on all of your questions, here are some thoughts from the stake presidency, with Area Presidency guidance in mind:

HOW OFTEN?

Youth are the bishopric's #1 priority and of premier importance to the Brethren. We strongly recommend you find a way to teach the gospel to youth at least weekly, if not twice weekly—as we are accustomed to doing with Sunday classes and weeknight activities. There’s never been a greater need for leaders to help youth gain a testimony that will carry them into their adult years.

While that is the parents’ responsibility to raise up a converted generation, we all know that teenagers often follow the advice of friends and leaders more than parents. Many parents are worried.

WHAT ELSE CAN WE DO?

The Church is not going to tell us everything. Some families are desperately looking for help from leaders, who will prayerfully seek ways to connect with their children and teens and guide them onto the covenant path—unfortunately, without the benefit of temple excursions and freedom to gather and socialize easily in person.

It’s a time for everyone to “think outside the box” in coming up with new ways to connect with youth. The new Stake Youth Leadership Committee and the Ward Youth Committee are ideal for conducting such discussions regularly. Are those meetings happening consistently and are they effective?

WHAT WORKS?

We commend you when you meet often with youth and adult youth leaders to discuss ways to connect with youth. 

Several key principles would apply here:

1) Youth respond to peers; class and quorum presidencies, when functioning well, play a HUGE role in this effort;

2) Personal interviews, even more often than every six months, can help bishopric members and other leaders stay close to the youth;

3) Working personally with the children, youth and their parents in implementing the Children and Youth Initiative in the home can have a dramatic impact;

4) Coordinating with parents and Seminary instructors to encourage Seminary attendance and spiritual growth will bond leaders and teachers with the high school - age youth.

WHY NOT ADULT CLASSES, TOO?

We recognize that Relief Society and Elders Quorum presidencies are eager to gather their members. We caution against any virtual or in-person gatherings besides those of youth classes and discussions on the Sabbath. One of the lessons, from watching the Brethren respond to the pandemic, is that they want us to protect the Sabbath for families. The Area Presidency feels so strongly about that…coupled with their concern for the youth…that the only exception they offer to the Sabbath-Is-For-Families "rule" is for sacrament meetings and teaching the youth. Beyond that they have not given any encouragement.

So it brings us back to “thinking out of the box.”

How can we help RS and EQ presidencies accomplish their objectives and goals without simply returning to a two-hour meeting schedule? Frankly, we’ve observed that those who’ve tried to hold RS and EQ meetings, even virtually, attendance is disappointing.

Can we task the ward council to try new approaches, such as…

…Can we informally organize virtual study groups?

…Can we teach ministering brothers and sisters, in ministering interviews, to more effectively provide personal fellowshipping (what does it look like)?

…Can we organize “teams” and tournaments for playing online games?

…Can we offer educational, informational, entertaining classes?

…Can we help create book clubs, movie reviewers groups, do-it-yourself handyman groups?

…Can we organize adults to serve as mentors or coaches to youth or other adults?

…Can we create a service committee and task them with coming up with a monthly service project that can be done at home?

Update from our Area 70 on in-person church services

1 January 2021

Bishops and Branch Presidents,

Earlier this week Elder Blunck asked for a brief, unscheduled video conference with stake presidents. There was no agenda. Mostly he wanted to: (1) get an update on what stakes are doing as far as sacrament meetings and second hour youth meetings; and (2) share his insights on the legality of the state dictating constraints on churches.

What other stakes are doing: I found interesting that there’s quite a broad spectrum as to how stakes in the Portland area are responding to the pandemic. Most stakes are doing what we’re doing. There are a few who are still completely virtual and even some that are spreading out their meeting start times to accommodate second-hour youth quorum and class meetings that are in-person only.

Elder Blunck’s insight: As you may be aware, professionally Elder Blunck is an attorney. He wanted us to know that there have been “several” cases ruled on by the US Supreme Court recently in favor of religion. In short, the court ruled that Covid-related constraints placed on churches by state governments are unconstitutional. In other words, the government can’t tell churches they can only have 25, 50 or even 100 people attend in person or whether those in attendance can sing or not.

I don’t think Elder Blunck was sharing this to encourage us to do whatever we want. But I think he wanted us not to feel so constrained that we’re counting noses and panicking if we go over the allotted 100 in attendance.

It still comes down to optics. We want to be good neighbors. And, as the Brethren, have stressed, we want to be good citizens by following government guidelines. I think his point was to remember that the state is issuing guidelines, not laws.

Bottom line, I think it means bishoprics have the flexibility to determine how many you will allow to attend your meetings and, above all, the responsibility to make sure we keep members safe…recognizing we still have MANY members who still do not feel safe coming to meetings in person. Thank you for continuing to make sure they don't feel pressure or an obligation to attend in person.

I hope this is helpful as you counsel together on how to continue to go forward in your ward or branch. We appreciate so much your many efforts to make your sacrament meetings safe and inspiring.

President Lewis