Panic over wildfires near Estacada...and how we clarified the original information

 14 September 2020

Dear Mount Hood Stake Members,

The wildfire conditions in our stake continue to worsen. Right now half our stake—the Estacada Ward, both Sandy wards and part of the Damascus Ward are under some level of evacuation order. 

You'll notice in this Wildfire Evacuation Zone map by Clackamas County that the entire City of Sandy is now in Stage 2—to be packed and ready should a mandatory evacuation (Stage 3) alert be given.

You may also notice that our stake center, where evacuees have been gathering, is now on the border of Stages 1 and 2. If we are forced to evacuate the stake center in Boring, we will then gather at the Gresham Stake Center located on 182nd Avenue across from Centennial High School. The Gresham Stake is prepared to use all of their buildings for evacuation purposes, if needed.

Attached is the sad announcement that the fires have become so out of control that firefighters have been pulled out of Estacada. While we have no reports of property damage to members' homes in that area, unfortunately they have lost firefighter protection.

There are some members who have remained and joined with their neighbors to continue to battle the fires in their neighborhoods. 

We invite you to join with us in fasting and prayer for a miracle...for their protection and the protection of their community.

Stake Presidency 

TWO HOURS LATER:

Dear Mount Hood Stake Members,

I'm happy to share with you a clarification as to what I sent you earlier this afternoon.

As you'll remember I shared with you an announcement that made it appear that firefighters were abandoning the community of Estacada. The reason, it said, was that the fire was out of control. 

It was, just not in Estacada.

I have since learned of factors they failed to communicate:

• It appears the fires approaching Estacada slowly turned south today away from the community—thankfully!
  
  Possible confirmation of this was the announcement today that the Riverside fire (threatening Estacada) is expected to merge with the Beachie Creek fire to the south (near Salem).
  
  
• As a consequence, the firefighters were not abandoning the community, but were being reassigned to more urgent front lines.

If the fire is moving away from us, why did they expand the the reach of Stage 2 to include all of Sandy and other points north?

Apparently it was out of two precautions:

• Wildfires are so unpredictable, it's possible the Riverside fire will suddenly change direction and move north again;
  
  
• If the wildfires suddenly move north again they will impact denser population areas, like Sandy and Damascus, and authorities need everyone to be on high alert and even start evacuating voluntarily to avoid major, even dangerous, traffic jams caused by mandatory evacuations.

Why weren't we given this information?

I assume they didn't want us to get complacent or even hint that it might be safe for Estacada residents to return to their homes.

May the above bring us all some relief and great hope. Frankly, I hope it's true. Information, like the weather, changes quickly in times like these.

Fasting and prayers are still needed. While wildfires may miss us, they're not missing someone else.

May the Lord bless and protect you...and all those who are still in the path of these horrific fires.

President Lewis

Meeting guidelines for bishoprics and branch presidencies during wildfires

14 September 2020

TO: Bishoprics and Branch Presidencies

Dear Brethren,

Thank you for all that you're doing to provide refuge for your members from the wildfires and smoke.

SUNDAY SERVICES: Please go forward with your sacrament meeting webcasts from the church building this Sunday, as long as your building is not in Stage 3 or mandatory evacuation area. We hope you'll still invite those on the program to attend in person, if possible. 

This is an important time when members need to feel the assurance that our world isn't falling apart, that we're all pressing forward, and that the solution to problems is to trust in the Lord. Seeing you and your counselors in the chapel will help send that message to your members.

If, however, for any reason you do not feel safe in webcasting from the chapel, we support your decision.

NEW GUIDELINES: You've all received the attached new guidelines (3 pages) from the First Presidency regarding meetings and activities.

As you see, they validate what we've already been doing or planning to do by holding weekly sacrament meetings with three options: 1) home worship, 2) hybrid of webcasting sacrament meetings with some in-person attendance (we start in October), and 3) in-person sacrament meetings with the sacrament administered at the conclusion of the meeting (to start in November).

Here are a few other things we noticed:

• We received permission to hold bishopric and presidency meetings in person and in the building, if we want (with social distancing, of course). 
  
  
• There was an emphasis on helping the youth to connect by holding "youth meetings, activities, and service projects, virtually or safely in person...on Sundays or other days." While it doesn't say specifically, we suggest this includes an increased use of our church buildings for youth gatherings.
  
  
• What they don't address are the second-hour classes. While you have been holding them regularly (thank you!), you may (1) continue doing so, if you feel they're of benefit to members, or (2) discontinue holding second-hour classes until we receive further instruction.

Thank you again for your faithful leadership, providing encouragement and hope that the Lord is mindful of our circumstances and will not forsake us.

Gratefully,

The Stake Presidency 

New Gresham YSA Branch: History in the making

14 September 2020

Dear Mount Hood Stake Members,

We are pleased to announce the formation of a new branch in our stake, the Gresham YSA (Young Single Adult) Branch, to be created this Sunday, Sept. 20, at 12 noon.

This new branch will comprise the current Mount Hood YSA Branch plus all YSA in the Gresham Stake.

The new Gresham YSA Branch, which will continue to be a part of the Mount Hood Stake, will be officially established in a sacrament meeting to be webcast, along with some in-person attendance, in the Troutdale building, 1515 SW Cherry Park Road, across from Reynolds High School.

The Troutdale building is located within the Gresham Stake and will become the new home for the Gresham YSA Branch because of its proximity to two popular YSA gathering sites—Mount Hood Community College and the Church's Institute building, 2285 NE Kane Road, Gresham.

We are pleased to announce that the current Mount Hood YSA Branch presidency will be sustained as the presidency of the new Gresham YSA Branch. They are: Steven Lindhorst, president; Brian Allen, first counselor; and Clay Ramberg, second counselor.

We look forward to this action, authorized by the Area Presidency, in hopes it will become a more centrally located gathering place for YSA in both stakes.

Speaking of YSA...

Last night Young Adults around the world participated in a most remarkable Face-to-Face event with Elder Ronald A. Rasband, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and Sister Melanie Rasband. The Rasbands fielded questions on many topics, including suicide and renouncing Church membership. 

All members will enjoy this very unique and inspiring event available on the Church's website.

This is a marvelous time to be a young adult in the restored Church of Jesus Christ.

Mount Hood Stake Presidency

Request to Stake Council members to discover how to act when acted upon

 14 September 2020

Dear Presidents of the Stake Relief Society, YW, YM, Primary and Sunday school…

We look forward to meeting with you this Sunday at 7:30 am via Zoom for our quarterly Stake Council meeting. (Note: the High Council will meet at 7:00 am to conduct stake business.)

In a recent Coordinating Council Meeting with our Area 70, we learned about a survey the Church conducted of missions worldwide. Church leaders wanted to know why are some missions flourishing during the pandemic and others floundering? There must have been a lot of reasons, but the bottom line came down to:

• Those that were flourishing were discovering and developing new ways to do missionary work, including using social media and other technology.

• Those that were floundering were “waiting for spring.” They were stuck waiting to go back to “normal” missionary work when the pandemic finally ends…hopefully by spring.

Recently, Kevin Worthen, president of BYU, gave an excellent address to the faculty and staff in which he discussed the importance of “learning how to act when acted upon.” In other words, how do we fulfill our calling when we’re impacted by so many things out of our control (like a pandemic)? 

We encourage you to listen to the entire address, if you want, though it’s obviously focused on the school itself and how to approach the academic year in a different way. We ask you to at least listen to a 5-minute clip: from 9:20 and to 14:16.

We feel the principles are the same and apply to us as stake leaders.

ASSIGNMENT: Will you please visit with your presidency this week and come prepared to give a 2-3 minute report this Sunday in Stake Council on: “No, we don’t want to wait until spring…here are things we’re thinking of doing differently in the coming months to fulfill our callings.”

Feel free to forward this email to your counselors and secretary.

Thank you for beginning this discussion and coming prepared to report briefly this Sunday in Stake Council on what you decide.

Gratefully,

Stake Presidency

P.S. If we have time, we’d also like to hear from High Councilors with their ideas on how to fulfill their calling during a pandemic. Thank you!

GETTING READY #3: Encouraging testimony-bearing during monthly Testimony Meetings

7 September 2020

Bishoprics and Branch Presidencies…

Thank you for making the “leap” to webcasting from your chapel yesterday. While the transition hasn't been seamless, we’re making great progress. THANK YOU for figuring it out so well!

And a special thanks to those who are going the extra mile to incorporate singing at home in your webcasts.

TESTIMONY MEETING

As you well know, yesterday was Testimony Sunday. The holiday weekend took a toll in most units. Some of you had wonderful experiences and others ended early for lack of participation.

Fortunately, our next Testimony Meeting on Oct. 11 will be a “hybrid”—both a virtual webcast and some in-person attendees (see earlier email about October Fast Sunday).

Here are some thoughts that may help in the future:

• PREPARE MEMBERS: Remember to announce in advance the Fast and Testimony meeting so members, either in-person or online, will prepare mentally and spiritually to share.

• MAKE IT EASY: Instruct those participating online how to make it known they want to bear their testimony. Remind them they don’t have to turn on their video. Sometimes the “raise hand” feature on Zoom Webinar is difficult for members to locate. Explain that they can also notify the bishopric in other ways, such as with the Chat function or texting.

• EASIER STILL: Some of you used the regular Zoom version for your Testimony Meeting, making it a lot easier for members to unmute themselves and just start talking without having to raise their hand or indicate they want to share.

• TEACH TESTIMONY: Teach through emails or messages from the pulpit the power of testimony bearing and why Church leaders ask us to consistently hold a Testimony Meeting each month despite conflicts, like general conference, on the first Sunday.

• LEADERS’ ROLE: Encourage your ward council members to set the example by stepping up to share when the testimony bearing becomes uncomfortably slow. Remind them of the influence and example leaders' testimonies will have on new and returning members in attendance.

• A TESTIMONY CULTURE: Create a culture of testimony-bearing by encouraging families to hold testimony meetings in the home.

I hope these are helpful. Thank you for persevering in making your monthly Testimony Meetings a spiritual highlight for your ward or branch each month.

Gratefully,

President Lewis

GETTNG READY #2: Preparing to webcast from the chapel

7 September 2020

TO: Bishoprics and Branch Presidencies

Dear Brethren,

Thank you for the preparations you are making to webcast sacrament meetings from your chapel beginning this Sunday, Sept 6.

We hope the following will be helpful:

• As per the earlier email, when you can, please incorporate congregational singing into your sacrament meeting webcasts. And invite those in the chapel now to sing reverently with their masks.
  
  
• The bishop or his counselor always presides in your sacrament meeting webcasts unless a member of the stake presidency is on the stand in-person. The stake presidency does not preside when only viewing the webcast.
  
  
• You can begin anytime to "practice" having members attend in the chapel by inviting family members of those on the program (speakers, prayers, music) also to attend in-person.
  
  
• Thank you for finding a way to use the pulpit microphone in conjunction with webcasting. We remind you that this won't be essential until you start inviting up to 40 or more members to attend in person (hopefully by October). So please don't stress over this technology challenge; you have time.

We hope the above are helpful. We appreciate you leading the way in webcasting your sacrament meetings from the chapel.

Gratefully,

The Stake Presidency

GETTING READY #1: Lead singing in the home in virtual sacrament meetings

 7 September 2020

TO: Bishoprics and Branch Presidencies

Dear Brethren,

As we prepare to begin webcasting sacrament meetings from the chapel, please review together the following:

Several years ago I was reading King Benjamin's sermon in Mosiah 5. I noticed in verse 2 that the people "all cried with one voice" when making a covenant. I thought, "I wonder why we don't cry with one voice in our worship services?" Just then the Spirit whispered, "You sing!"

Ever since then I have cherished the wonderful element of congregational singing in every sacrament meeting.

As we transition to the chapel this weekend, we ask that you please find a way to incorporate congregational singing—especially members singing at home—in your virtual sacrament meetings. Also those in the chapel are now invited to sing reverently through their masks.

How do you incorporate congregational singing in a virtual meeting?

Here are three suggestions:

1. Have a music conductor with organ or piano accompaniment in the chapel direct the music over Zoom and encourage those at home to sing along. Some wards have learned how to overlay the lyrics on the screen. Encourage those in the chapel also to sing reverently through their masks.
   
   
2. Screen share the playing of hymns on the Church's music website. We recommend you click on "Vocals and Music" to the right of the lyrics. It's easier for those at home to sing along when they can hear others singing.
   
   
3. Show a video clip of a congregational hymn in General Conference and encourage those at home and in the chapel to sing along.

You can help members prepare to sing at home by identifying the hymns to be sung when you send your broadcast email announcing your sacrament meeting. That way those at home can have the lyrics ready.

Thank you for making congregational singing an essential part of your virtual sacrament meetings.

Gratefully,

President Lewis and the Stake Presidency

Still confused about gathering limits?

29 August 2020

TO: Bishops, Branch Presidents and Stake Leaders

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

It appears there is still some confusion as to what are the guidelines for gatherings in our stake.

I’m confident I’m the source of some of that confusion. Please forgive me. I’ll try to sort out some things in this email.

Church’s Extra-Cautious Guidelines

Part of the confusion, I”m sure, is that the Church and the State of Oregon have different guidelines. In fact, everyone (federal, state, county, Church, temple, etc.) it seems has a set of “Phases” and guidelines and none of them are aligned.

Number one, the Brethren want us to always keep within state/local government guidelines. That’s typically not a problem because the Church asks us to be extra-conservative and  cautious in staying within those government guidelines.

For instance, even though the state’s faith gathering limit—with social distancing—right now is 50 people, the Area Presidency’s guidance is even more restrictive due to concerns of what they call “optics”—what it looks like to neighbors and passersby. As example:

1) We are not to use church buildings for any gatherings other than sacrament meetings (right now restricted to those on the program and operating the webcasting; eventually there will be limited attendance by members);

2) While the buildings can be used for an occasional interview, setting apart, baptismal service, presidency meeting (all of which are well within the 50 gathering limit), the Area Presidency is asking us to still hold most of these meetings via Zoom or other video conferencing and not the buildings;

3) While we are being encouraged to gather the youth for in-person activities, we are asked NOT to use the church buildings for these gatherings, but to meet in homes or in parks or other outdoor venues (this, of course, will likely change as winter approaches);

4) While most, if not all, of our youth activities would be well within the 50-person gathering limit, the Area Presidency continues to hear bishops expressing how difficult it is to get the youth to comply with social distancing guidelines (wearing masks, physical distancing, etc.) so they’re asking us to give emphasis to teaching quorum and class presidencies on how to strengthen the youth for whom they have stewardship through individual ministering or even groups as small as 2 to 4 people—and not the big gatherings.

As you can see, the Church is being far more conservative than state and local governments with guidelines for our gatherings. I’m sure that has caused some confusion.

What about social gatherings?

There is a question about one other state limit: social gatherings. The state has a gathering limit of 10 people for social gatherings.

• When members gather on their own for a study group or FHE, that would be a social gathering—with a limit of 10 people indoors, according to the state.

• When we gather in an “official” meeting or activity under the direction of stake or ward leaders, that is a faith gathering—then the limit is 50 people indoors and outdoors.

No Enforcement

When we have guidelines with numbers attached to them, it naturally creates pressure or a worry that we’ll be turned in if we’re unintentionally slightly over the limit.

This past week, I had a wonderful phone visit with with Maria Waters, the Faith Community Liaison for the Oregon Health Authority, which works directly under the governor. I took notes as quickly as possible and then drafted them into the attached document. There’s nothing new there, but it will give you additional information and context as to the “spirit” of what the OHA is trying to accomplish and what they expect of churches.

Please review it and feel free to ask me any additional questions.

I felt one of the most important nuggets I gleaned from our conversation is that the OHA does not work with the police, they are not trying to “catch” churches. There are no OHA agents or authorities dropping in on churches and counting attendance. They do respond to neighbors and others who contact them with concerns about what may appear to be infractions of the gathering limits.

Maria said they do follow up on complaints and contact the Church leaders Their first approach for addressing such issues is education. If that doesn’t resolve the matter, they will then consider enforcement (not clear exactly what they would do). But the most important thing is that they aren’t looking to crack down on churches, but educate them.

Bottom line

Hopefully you can see now why the Church is concerned about the “optics”—a lot of cars in the parking lot, a large group of youth playing on the lawn, etc.

The greater concern, of course, is not optics but preventing an outbreak among our members.We’re following extra-cautious guidelines not just to avoid the “optics,” but much more importantly to prevent a Covid-19 outbreak—to protect and keep our ward and branch members safe!

Thank you for all that you’re doing to help encourage compliance to the guidelines we’ve received. This will pass, as the Brethren consistently say, and we will return to a more normal life…some day. Thank you for your prayers that it might be soon.

President Lewis

Notifying of Area Presidency approval for a limited, in-person Seminary class

27 August 2020

Brothers Risenmay and Richards,

I am pleased to report that the proposal below, as recommended by you, has been approved by the North America West Area Presidency.

Thank you for caring so much for those youth who need this blessing of a limited in-person Seminary class. I’m confident the Area Presidency won’t want this "exception to the rule" to be widely known so please be prudent in telling others outside your ward.

I am copying this to Brother Ira Eldredge, the High Councilor who has responsibility for the facilities management in our stake, and ask that he instruct you both on how to limit exposure in the building and after-class cleaning and sanitizing procedures. Thank you both for taking the responsibility to ensure that the students and yourselves practice social distancing, including the wearing of masks, as directed by the Oregon Health Authority.

Congratulations and thank you again for caring enough to speak up.

President Lewis

PROPOSAL TO THE NA WEST AREA PRESIDENCY via Elder Lawrence Blunck, Area Seventy

Dear Brethren,

We have a growing ward in our stake located in Estacada, Oregon—a relatively remote community in the country 30 miles from Portland.

The Estacada Ward Seminary teachers, Tyler Risenmay and Jason Richards, are very close to their students. In fact, they both have children who attend Seminary.

Brothers Risenmay and Richards have made a special request for permission to provide in-person, early-morning Seminary for about 10 of the 14-15 students. All the other students prefer the virtual Seminary instruction, as planned.

As priesthood leaders, we have counseled together and feel this is a valid request. My second counselor, President Steven Christiansen, has been a school counselor at Estacada High School for many years. So he knows the youth in that school and ward very well. He confirmed that all 10 of the youth found virtual learning extremely challenging last spring and would benefit significantly from a small, in-person class. 

The plan is for these 10 students to attend early-morning Seminary in a meetinghouse classroom where they can be socially distanced (at least 6-feet apart). They will also be required to wear masks. The teachers are willing to accept responsibility that all who attend comply with state and church guidelines.

The two instructors are being trained on the Canvas software so they can provide adequate administrative support and instruction for both the in-person and online Seminary students.

Estacada Ward Bishop Andy Trujillo and the Stake Presidency are unanimous in supporting this recommendation, even though all of the students are part of the Estacada School District, which has decided to host school 100% virtually through October 30.

The current state guidelines allow for indoor, faith-based gatherings of up to 50 people provided they are socially distanced. That number will increase to 100 when we finally enter Phase 2.

Thank you very much for giving this your consideration.

Crismon Lewis

President, Mount Hood Oregon Stake

503-914-8689

Sharing about a special baptismal service

19 August 2020

TO: Stake Presidency, Bishops and Branch Presidents

Brethren,

I thought I’d share with you an experience that reminds us that “things are changing” in the world and in the Church. As you know, the doctrinal truths don't change, but policies and procedures can and do.

Point in case…

Recently Vivienne and I attended the baptism of our 8-year-old grandson in Vancouver. 

Only 10 persons were allowed to attend in-person…our daughter, her husband, their 5 children (including the 8-year-old), two grandparents (us) and one close cousin. There were at least 50 people (including another grandparent witnessing from Utah) were watching the proceedings—from Washington to Virginia—via Zoom.

Also witnessing via Zoom was their bishop.

Because we were all family and had been together before, we didn’t have to wear masks (that was nice).

Because it was now a family service, our daughter conducted the meeting. Her husband baptized their son and I assisted our son-in-law in confirming their son afterwards.

The mother (our daughter) and our 9-year-old, recently baptized, grandson served as witnesses at the font while the bishop witnessed via Zoom.

After the meeting, with the entire family participating, the 8-year-old was able to look at the laptop screen and see ALL the people who had attended virtually and thank them for attending. 

Frankly, it was a sweet, sweet experience for grandpa. plus it was a wonderful reminder that things are different in today’s world…and it’s wonderful to see how the Church can adapt.

Thought you’d enjoy, too.

Grandpa Lewis

Soon thereafter, I posted this email:

Hmmm…on second thought.

Maybe I should clarify. I’m sure the bishop, who can now preside at the baptismal service via Zoom, approved of our daughter conducting the service where only family members were in attendance in person.

But the Handbook in 18.7.2 reads: "When a baptismal service for 8-year-old children who are members of record involves only one ward, a member of the bishopric plans and conducts it.” There’s no indication he can delegate this role to anyone outside the bishopric.

Guidance for convert baptismal services reads: "Under the direction of the bishopric, the ward mission leader (if one is called) or the member of the elders quorum presidency who leads missionary work in the ward plans and conducts baptismal services for converts."

So, it appears there’s not a lot of leeway in who is authorized to conduct a baptismal service.

Thanks for doing what the Handbook says and not what my family did :)

PrL

Why I am recommending that we prepare to resume in-person sacrament meetings

12 August 2020

Steven and Everyone,

Thank you for your feedback. I have updated the proposed plan as per your suggestions with additional changes in an attempt to reflect answers to your concerns.

I’ll try to answer your questions in this email, as well.

As for the motivation…

In my opinion, there are two ways nations are responding to the pandemic.

We’ve all admired the countries that went into tough lock-downs and, it appears, brought the Covid-19 under control or even eradicated it.

America wasn’t so fortunate…wise…determined…caring...responsive to experts…whatever (pick your reason).

After 3-4 months in lock down, Americans decided they couldn’t beat the virus so they’ve decided to live with it…until a solution is found (vaccine, faster/cheaper testing, effective contact tracing, etc.).

The traffic on the highways and at airports tells us that Americans are already back to living…taking individual precautions (face masks, social distancing, etc.) and living with the risk.

So I personally feel we need to begin preparing leaders and members on how to minimize the risk so those who desire can return to church. And those who don’t want to return yet do not feel pressure to do so.

To me, this is just the beginning of more “plagues” to come (D&C 84:97). We now have the opportunity to learn together how to deal with them as a church…and not run or hide from them.

No, there is no groundswell of requests from stake members or bishops asking that we begin in-person meetings. I simply feel we need to begin learning how to safely return to church meetings and activities, as was taught us in the May 19, 2020 letter from the Brethren.

My intent is not to mandate anything to anyone beyond asking the wards in September to return to their original sacrament meeting start times and to webcast from the chapel in September...as a preparatory step. Hopefully they will gain confidence to begin in-person meetings as early as October or whenever they feel comfortable in doing so. And then, when they feel they are ready, they can start administering the sacrament in their meetings. It will be their decision.

As I sat on the stand and watched our meeting unfold last Sunday, I could see how we really can make this work to bring us back together.

I confess I have been influenced by listening to family members in other parts (including in Eugene and Utah) who are back to in-person meetings. They say it feels so good to be back and find it well worth the inconvenience of the restrictions (masks, social distancing, etc.). 

I noticed that another group of temples, including the Medford Temple, have now been granted Phase 2 status. 

The Church is moving forward even in areas where the Covid numbers haven’t dropped dramatically. The Church is finding ways to make it work.

My hope is that I can convince leaders (including our presidency) and members that we can do this. We can learn how to gather the saints safely even during a pandemic…or whatever future plague awaits us around the corner.

I feel like the Lord wants our stake to gather as best and safely as possible. The attached plan is a road map. It doesn’t have to be the only map, but at least it gets us moving in the right direction.

I hope this helps. I appreciate your counsel and need your help as we walk this uncharted path together. 

Crismon

Invitation to participants for Walters Hill Ward sacrament for change in bishopric

7 August 2020

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

You are invited to participate in the Walters Hill Ward in-person sacrament meeting this Sunday, Aug 9, at 10:30 am at the stake center. You will have a designated seat on the stand.

Due to prescribed limitations of in-person meetings, we regret you will not be able to invite your families to join you in this meeting. An exception has been granted to the outgoing and incoming bishops. 

The meeting will be webcast to all ward members and, for those involved in the setting apart afterwards, you are invited to arrange for a live stream of the setting apart to those of your choosing. All settings apart will be conducted in the chapel overflow shortly after the close of the sacrament meeting.

Only those seated on the stand and Brothers Mueller (technology support) and Eldredge (High Councilor over facilities) are receiving this email. Will each of you please share this information with those you’ve been authorized to invite?

Please take note of the following guidelines for this in-person meeting:

• Families attending are to sit together and away from others in the chapel;

• Everyone inside the building must always wear a face covering (mouth and nose) except when speaking at the pulpit;

• Please do not hug or shake hands with those outside your family;

• All who speak at the pulpit are asked to use a disinfectant wipe (to be provided) to wipe down the microphone and pulpit surface after each use;

• Due to social distancing requirements, children unable to remain seated are asked not to attend;

• Those older than 60 years of age attend at their own risk;

• If needed, use only the restrooms closest to the chapel (women’s off the north hall, men’s off the south hall);

• In order to limit in-person exposure, those connected to the current bishopric please enter and exit through the ward-side doors; those in the new bishopric enter and exit through the stake-side doors;

• To minimize the number of vehicles in the parking lot, please carpool wherever possible;

• The sacrament will not be administered in this meeting, so please arrange for the sacrament to be administered at home.

The program, including those conducting, prayers, music and speakers, have been assigned by the stake presidency.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact President Lewis at 503-914-8689.

We look forward to joining with you for this very special sacrament meeting.

The Stake Presidency

Trying to avoid misunderstandings in assignment with my first counselor

31 July 2020

Paul,

Thank you so much for explaining what happened and for not holding ill will toward your aging, forgetful stake president.

I’ll certainly try to do better in explaining myself and not make assignments without establishing some dialogue and accountability.

What would help me greatly, inasmuch as I’m not always writing down the assignments I make, is if after a meeting…and you’ve been given an assignment that will take some pondering and maybe even research (not a simple go-and-do assignment)  that you email me with something like: “As I understand it, you’ve assigned me to do such and such. This is the direction I plan to take in fulfilling this assignment. Is this the direction you want me to take?” 

That would help me greatly and also hopefully eliminate the misunderstandings I’ve been creating lately.

I appreciate so much your desire to lift my load and move forward the work in your most important area of responsibility.

Gratefully,

Crismon

No problem President.  There are no ill feelings on my part whatsoever.  I am just trying to understand better my assignments and fulfill them in helping our stake leaders support and train ward leaders.  We can certainly wait on this training.  

My primary concern is that when you give me an assignment(we were discussing what topics to train HCs on this upcoming Sunday and in the future months), I understood  you directly gave me a charge to come up with a topic for this Sunday.  To help me better fulfill this assignment it would help me immensely if you would be specific in what training you are thinking about at the time, if you do have something in mind, i. e. Ministering interviews.  That would help me focus my attention on what you feel most important and suggest training around that topic.  Or, if you have a topic already and want to draw from the recent leadership training video let me know that and I am happy to follow that direction.  I know there are many times you receive inspiration or subsequently feel strongly about a topic after you have already given assignment and I understand that.  However, as specific as you can be with your direction and what you are hoping the training will cover would assist me in my endeavors so I can be on the same page as you.  Thanks President!

Paul

Paul,

I can see now I changed course here on you. My apologies. It was a horrible oversight on my part. 

In my mind, the welfare element of the assignment was to focus on how can we help EQ/RS presidents (or presidencies) help the bishops find ways for welfare recipients to serve. That is a major missing element in our welfare assistance. 

I would appreciate training, maybe even use the HC to help create a list of service opportunities for welfare recipients. My hope is that we could show such a list to the bishops and assure them that the EQ/RS have been trained on how to oversee this part of the welfare procedure to give him confidence that as soon as he authorizes welfare assistance he assigns the recipient to work with the EQ / RS president to arrange for ways to serve as a way to show gratitude for the assistance received.

That is the focus I wanted you to take. Obviously I failed in communicating that. Please forgive me. 

I appreciate that you would like to instruct the HC / EQ on all the welfare principles and program, but I would like us to focus on just that one element for now—it’s the missing piece in our stake. 

I agree we want to help offload welfare from the bishop to the EQ. I would like to see us try to make this transition as a first step in EQ/RS offloading the welfare—to give bishops something they can actually DO to move in this direction.

Does that clarify the misunderstanding? Is that something you want to tackle this Sunday or give it some time to work on?

Again, my apologies for my poor communication.

Crismon

In response to a Facebook post by President Christiansen

22 July 2020

Dear (Name),

Thank you for expressing your feelings. 

Priesthood leaders do have to be careful, but I’m not inclined to censure anyone over their expressing a personal opinion. You and I both treasure freedom of speech and I want to honor that.

I don’t think anyone would construe President Christiansen’s HearHim message as a Church endorsement, but simply a personal opinion possibly in line with Elder Holland’s message at the last General Conference where he stated: "May we hope for schools where students are taught—not terrified they will be shot—and for the gift of personal dignity for every child of God, unmarred by any form of racial, ethnic, or religious prejudice.”

The HearHim “campaign” is all about members expressing personal feelings about how we’re inspired by many things in life that may flow from our God-given minds and hearts.

Feel free to forward this to the many you feel were offended by his post. On behalf of the stake presidency, please forgive us for the many offenses we unwittingly cause and mistakes we foolishly make.

Crismon

President Lewis,

I’m very sad that the most recent post on the “How do you hear Him” FB page featuring President Christiansen, who I love with all my heart, has him holding books on political/social racism theory, books which are rather offensive to myself and others in the stake. I thought this page was about the gospel, and our Savior, not personal opinions of this nature. Others may applaud those books, but I have to say I believe them to be really inappropriate for this focus, and with the platform that he has, I would have hoped for a more careful selection of “best books.” 

This isn’t just me, this is many. I thought you should know.

Sister (Name)

Technology recommendation to bishops for broadcasting sacrament meetings

16 July 2020

Bishops and Branch Presidents…

During my meeting last night I began to hear how other wards and branches in the Portland area are now holding virtual sacrament meetings. As suspected, nearly all are using Zoom. I kept hearing about Zoom Webinar.

So I did some checking.

First, in my opinion here are some of criteria of what we’re looking for in technology:

1. Unlimited minutes

2. Capacity of at least 100 log ins (I doubt anyone will need more than 100 simply because that’s 100 households)

3. Capability of members, who don’t have Internet at home, to call in and listen to the meeting over the phone (the phone number to call is always in the meeting invite along with the Zoom link; someone would need to call and give it to those who don’t have email)

4. Ability to make others a co-host so they can share their screen

5. Interactivity for 2nd hour classes and meetings (everyone can be seen and heard for full participation; they can turn their cameras on/off and can mute themselves)

6. Privacy for sacrament meeting (members can see and hear the presentation but cannot activate their video or audio)

7. Mute and unmute “panelists” (those on the sacrament meeting program)

I have investigated this, including speaking with Zoom reps. Zoom can fulfill all of the above criteria.

Here’s what I recommend:

• Each of you purchase the Zoom Pro plan (reg $14.99/mo), which I think most of you’ve already done by now

• Purchase what’s called the Webinar Add-On ($40/month)

Here’s why:

• The Zoom Pro gives you the basic plan that will accomplish Criteria 1-5 above;

• The Webinar Add-on gives you Criteria 6-7 so attendees cannot activate their own camera or speaker, like they can when in a Zoom Pro meeting, but you can activate the video and audio of “panelists."

How to buy:

1. I recommend you cancel your month-to-month Zoom Pro plan ($14.99/mo), if you already have

2. Then go to this link and purchase an annual subscription of the Zoom Pro license ($149.90 / year, which comes out to $12.49 / month; a 20% savings)

3. Also purchase the Zoom Webinar Add-on for $40 / month for a total of $189.90

Later your credit card also will be charged $40 per month for the Webinar Add-on, but you can cancel it any time.

Why do I recommend this?

• While I don’t believe we’ll be holding virtual sacrament meetings for a year (you can cancel the Webinar Add-on anytime), I think you’ll agree that virtual meetings are to here to stay. Some of you have already expressed a desire to conduct ward council meetings virtually in the future because it means leaders can participate even when traveling. So an annual license is not a high risk.

• The Zoom licenses that are tied to whomever sets up the account (i.e. purchases the plan), can be transferred fairly easily (in settings) to someone else if you are released, move, want someone else to initiate all video conferences. Note:  we are not allowed to share our log-in information with someone else.

• All of you have adequate budget funds to cover the above costs. This is good use of Church funds.

• We need to have confidence that we are using proven technology so we don’t have to worry about the technology, but focus on providing quality, inspirational meetings.

If you have a better plan or proposal, please feel free to reply to everyone so we can all learn together. I hope the above is helpful, especially for those who don’t have time to investigate this further.

President Lewis

P.S. One other excellent idea I heard last night was to play Tabernacle Choir music as prelude and postlude (10-15 min) so program participants can’t start chatting before and after sacrament meeting and disrupt the reverence of the meeting.

Guidelines to bishops as we near the start of virtual sacrament meetings

13 July 2020

Bishops and Branch Presidents,

Thank you for your continuing efforts to provide your ward or branch members a virtual sacrament meeting, some beginning this Sunday, July 19. You’re doing a wonderful job communicating with and preparing your membership for these upcoming meetings.

Some developments and reminders:

1. ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE LIVING ALONE: Many families will find their “home church” more enjoyable (with more reverence from children) than when they’re watching a sacrament meeting online. You may want to remind members, especially families, that this virtual meeting is optional. And then emphasize with leaders to continue to focus on making sure all members living alone can access the virtual sacrament meeting. These virtual sacrament meetings are especially for them. And then arrange for them to receive the sacrament before or after, if they welcome guests.

2. NEW GOVERNMENT GUIDELINES: You may have seen the news today that Oregon’s governor announced that beginning this Wednesday, July 15: (1) indoor social gatherings of more than 10 people are banned; and (2) everyone must wear masks outdoors if they are unable to maintain a 6-foot distance from others.

While the indoor social gathering limit does NOT apply to churches (we’re still allowed the indoor limit of 25), please remember the example of our leaders to be “good global citizens” and keep gatherings, especially among youth groups, to as few as possible and instruct everyone to wear masks. Also, please make sure parents are aware of in-person youth gatherings and that they do not feel obligated to send their children.

3. SETTING UP THE ZOOM CALL: I’m not a Zoom expert, but I noticed when scheduling a Zoom meeting it gives you the option of turning off participants video (under the “Video” heading) and “Mute Participants upon entry” under the “Advanced Options.” (See attached screen shot) While everyone will still be able to view the Participants list, you’ll want to avoid having participants on video to eliminate the distraction it will cause during sacrament meeting. Of course, for the second hour meetings you’ll want all participants to be on both video and audio.

If you haven’t already, please feel free to use budget funds to purchase the video conferencing service you need to provide these virtual meetings for your ward or branch. 

4. MEETING SCHEDULE: Also attached is the most updated version of the Virtual Sacrament Meeting schedule in our stake. Please notify us of any changes.

5. WORK TOGETHER: As you begin hosting these meetings, please work together by sharing ideas and recommendations with the other bishops and branch presidents. The oft-used phrase “We’re in this together” certainly applies to us right now. Let’s help each other learn how to do this so it’s a blessing to the members of our stake.

I hope the above is helpful. Thank you again for moving forward on this new direction of holding virtual meetings.

President Lewis

503-914-8689