Recommendations for Sunday meetings during inclement weather

12 February 2021

Bishops and Branch Presidents…

As we all know, we’re having quite a winter event this weekend and it’s expected to go into Sunday, though there is hope that rain will come later on Sunday and temperatures will warm up significantly by Monday.

We remind you that safety comes first and therefore we recommend you take one of the following actions this Sunday:

1. Conduct all meetings virtually with the bishopric conducting sacrament meeting via webcast from the chapel (only if the bishopric can get to the building safely);

2. Conduct all meetings virtually with the bishopric conducting a sacrament meeting or devotional from home;

3. Suspend all meetings conducted by your ward or branch and invite members to conduct their own devotional at home, including administer the sacrament where possible.

Thanks to the pandemic, we’ve had “practice” doing all three of the above options. But, unless the weather conditions change dramatically in the next 24 hours, please do not expect or invite members—for their safety—to attend any meetings in person this weekend.

We appreciate you counseling with your counselors and decide which direction you want to take and then notify members far in advance. 

Gratefully,
Stake Presidency

Email to Gresham Stake President Rick Craft about the recommendation to realign stake boundaries to match school boundaries

12 February 2021

Hello, my friend…

As you know, we have a meeting with Elder Blunck on March 2 about whether stake boundaries can be realigned to match high school boundaries in an effort to keep youth together. (BTW…they’re holding the meeting on March 2 so I can still be involved before I’m released in our stake conference March 6-7.)

It’s a valid desire to realign boundaries to bring unity and nurture righteous and supportive friendships among our youth, but it would take some pretty drastic surgery.

I took the liberty of asking Chuck Allen, a former bishop and member of our stake presidency (I think you know him well), to overlay the Gresham and Barlow HS boundaries over our stake and ward boundaries. It’s very telling, as you can see by the attached.

It’s apparent the cleanest or easiest move is to transfer the Kelly Creek Ward into our stake—so all Barlow HS students are in the Mt Hood Stake)—but that would be very painful to you, I’m sure. And it means we’d have yet another unit meeting in one of your stake buildings (Stark building), which isn’t horrible but not ideal. 

To send all of the Gresham HS students into your stake would take sizable chunks out of three of our leader-laden wards—Powell Valley, Walters Hill and Damascus—and reduce our membership total significantly (we’re now at around 2,800). Some of the numbers lost by us would be offset by the Kelly Creek Ward into the Mt Hood Stake, but I think it’s a relatively small ward, yes?

To go the other way would equally be painful to you, I’m sure, as I assume your Blue Lake and Kelly Creek Wards provide significant leadership for your stake.

Anyway, I thought maybe we can start visiting now and contemplate how beneficial or devastating a boundary realignment would be to both of our stakes…so we can make a recommendation or explain our challenges in the March 2 meeting.

It would also be helpful for me to be able to pass along our combined thoughts on the matter to the new Mt Hood stake presidency in March so you won’t have to re-explain everything to them.

Want to visit on the phone some time soon?

Thanks,

Crismon

Report on the Stake Family Support Group meetings now being held in our stake

4 February 2021

Bishops and Branch Presidents…

As you know, our stake began weekly Family Support Group meetings on Jan. 12 with the Stake Relief Society presidency providing oversight and former Stake Relief Society President Beth Newell serving as the facilitator. 

The emphasis of the meeting is to provide a haven for women with family members struggling with an addiction or other compulsive behaviors. They learn how the gospel of Jesus Christ can bring comfort and hope into their lives.

The group meets each Tuesday evening at 7:00 pm in the High Council room in the Sandy building, both in person and virtually. After four weeks, the class is averaging 6-7 attendees. 

We look forward to visiting more about this program in our virtual Bishopric Training meeting for you and your counselors this Tuesday, Feb. 9, at 7:00 pm. We will email you a Zoom link this Sunday or Monday.

Before meeting, we wanted to give you some feedback on how it’s gong so far. The following is a report shared this week from Sister Shannon Richards, our Stake Relief Society president:

I thought you'd appreciate hearing a bit of what we experienced at last night's mtg.  

The sister I had mentioned to you who was struggling so very much the previous week and who opened up to share her story came again this week.  As I walked in the room, she nearly jumped out of her seat to thank us for the counsel and words of encouragement we had given her last week.  The spirit had testified truths of the gospel to her and those truths were repeated in her mind throughout the week, enabling her to overcome many of her worries, stresses, and feelings of negativity and hopelessness.  We saw in her a complete change in countenance and the peace in her mind and heart was quite evident on her face and in her demeanor.  It was truly a blessing for me to see this transformation and to be reminded that the Lord encourages us to seek after and care for "the one."

I am honored and humbled by the experience to see the atonement working in people's lives in such a tangible, evident way.  I'm so grateful for Beth and her ability to draw upon the scriptures and doctrines of truth to help strengthen these women who are hurting and desperately seeking peace and understanding.  I am humbled to be a part of it and am excited to see how the Lord continues to work miracles in the lives of our dear sisters in the stake.

We hope this is helpful and encouraging as to how these Group meetings can bless sisters in your ward or branch.

We look forward to discussing this further with you on Tuesday evening.

Stake Presidency

P.S. Please consider sharing this email with your counselors and Relief Society presidencies.

Suggestion for second-hour classes in our 'new world' of in-person and virtual meetings

1 February 2021

Bishops and Branch Presidents,

As you may be discovering, getting a consensus in your ward or branch council on how to hold second-hour classes may not be easy. Should the classes be (1) all-virtual, (2) in-person only or (3) a hybrid?

• Making them all-virtual is the simplest and safest, but that means you’re sending everyone home early at a time when we’re trying to help more members feel comfortable attending in person. 

• Making them in-person only can offend those who want to attend, but don’t feel comfortable in coming in person yet.

• While hybrid may be ideal, how do you social distance those who attend in person and still make it easy for those online to hear or participate in a classroom discussion?

I have a suggestion: Why not have two classes for each group—one in person and one online?

This is in line with what many of you were already doing before the pandemic. You may remember, as a stake presidency, we had asked you—for the sake of encouraging more members to join in class discussions—to call two Adult SS teachers and divide your large Adult Sunday School class (formerly Gospel Doctrine class) into two smaller classes. 

You could do the same with a large youth SS class.

So call (or keep) your two Sunday School teachers and have them both teach on the 1st and 3rd Sundays—one teach an in-person class for those who attend sacrament meeting in person and one teach a virtual class from home.

You could do the same with Relief Society and Elders Quorum. Each presidency could conduct a brief hybrid “opening” for announcements and business (only when absolutely necessary) on the 2nd and 4th Sundays. And then each break into two smaller groups for class instruction—one in person, one online.

I hope this is helpful as we wrestle with our “new world” of trying to accommodate both in-person and virtual church meetings.

President Lewis