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

Update on sacrament meeting attendance results after new guidelines allowing up to 100 persons

28 December 2020

Good morning wonderful Stake Leaders,

I thought I would update you on members’ response to the new guidelines allowing attendance of up to 100 at sacrament services.

Having visited in-person all of the units in our stake, I estimate that most wards are typically drawing 50-60 members, including the YSA branch. I suspect most units are able to open up attendance to any who want to attend and not have to “assign” who can attend as we did before when limited to 50 and then 25 persons.

You may find interesting that the Estacada Ward continues to assign: A-M one Sunday and N-Z the next. Because of that they chose to have two special (Come and See) sacrament meetings on Dec 20 and 27.

Attendance was 75 on Dec 20 and 81 yesterday, Dec 27. They’re opening the curtain into the cultural hall, though so far they’re able to accommodate everyone with social distancing in the chapel and overflow.

I suppose there could be a variety of reasons why they’re drawing such numbers, not the least of which may be the “refiner’s fire” they endured earlier in the year.

I’m deeply impressed by the faith of the members of our stake and how well the bishoprics are taking every precaution to make our sacrament services a safe haven for members who yearn to worship at church.

President Lewis

Can wards and branches start holding in-person interviews and council meetigns?

10 December 2020

Bishops and Branch Presidents…

One of you asked if the new flexibility we have with meeting attendance also means we can now conduct interviews or even ward council meetings in person?

Originally (around summer) the word from the Area Presidency was to keep those types of meetings virtual only. As you can see by the attached Sept. 11 document from the First Presidency, that those types of meetings are to be “virtual or safely in person.” So both options are there.

Our Area Seventy has confirmed that this decision now resides at the stake and ward level.

We therefore leave it to bishoprics and branch presidencies to counsel together in making this decision for your ward or branch. However, we remind you that Covid cases and deaths are surging and we’ve been urged by the First Presidency to exercise an abundance of caution in all that we do.

A good rule of thumb is to simply ask those who would attend a meeting or interview as to whether they feel comfortable in meeting in person. We recommend that you always provide the virtual option. We don’t want anyone to feel obligated either by leaders or peers to do anything they think might jeopardize their health.

Another good rule of thumb is to ask yourself: “Is there a valid reason that this meeting should be face-to-face or can we accomplish the same thing virtually?” A setting apart would be considered one of those valid reasons.

So..just because we can doesn’t mean we should.

If you choose to hold in-person meetings and interviews, remember that indoor safety guidelines are still required, including wearing face coverings and social distancing.

We hope this is helpful. Thank you for prayerfully counseling together on this matter for your ward or branch. We support your decision.

Stake Presidency

Making assignments for a Christmas toy collection project

7 December 2020

Bishops,

My apologies for another Urgent message, but we’ve received from our Area Seventy and Multi-Stake Communications Directors a unique opportunity to use our surplus budget funds.  Unfortunately, the deadline is THIS WEEK.

As you may have heard, Church headquarters has recently established a strong relationship with the Salvation Army (SA) for Humanitarian assistance. We’ve now been asked to assist the Salvation Army locally with their Rescue Christmas project—providing as many 3,000 unwrapped toys for children ages 7-12 in the Portland Metro area. We are told because of the major reduction in donations to the SA this year (no bell ringing as in the past) many of these children will have no Christmas without our help.

Our Area Seventy has decided the Church will step up and provide the 3,000 gifts (unwrapped toys) requested by our friends in the Salvation Army.

As you can see below, each stake in the Portland Coordinating Council has been assigned to provide an allotment of toys:

We now ask you to accept an assignment to full our stake’s allotment to provide at least 225 toys (it’s OK if we go over). The chart above identifies the number of toys needed by gender and age.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT

We are dividing our stake allotment among the 6 wards in our stake:

Damascus - 34 toys for Boys ages 7-8

Estacada - 34 toys for Boys ages 9-10

Powell Valley - 41 toys for Boys ages 11-12

Sandy River - 34 toys for Girls ages 7-8

Tickle Creek - 41 toys for Girls ages 9-10

Walters Hill - 41 toys for Girls 11-12

All of the toys in our stake are to be delivered to Chuck Allen, our Stake Communications Director, who will collect by this Saturday, Dec. 12, all 225+ UNWRAPPED toys and arrange for the Salvation Army to pick them up on Monday, Dec. 14.

DEADLINE

• All toys are to be delivered to Brother Allen preferably by this Saturday, Dec 12.

• If any toys will be delivered later than this Saturday, please notify Brother Allen so he can arrange to receive them before the Salvation Army picks up the toys at his home on Monday, Dec. 14.

WHERE TO DELIVER 

Please arrange for all toy deliveries to go to:

Chuck Allen

1447 SW 19th Court

Gresham, OR 97080

503-705-6108

allenfamily25@comcast.net

WHO TO MAKE PURCHASES

We encourage you to consider assigning this immediately to your ward Relief Society presidency, if not burdensome to them, or to another dependable member of your Ward Council, who can make the time to shop in person or online. 

Or you may want to assign half of your allotment to the elders quorum and half to the Relief Society. We think mothers may have a better feel as to appropriate toys for gender and age.

HOW TO PAY FOR THIS PROJECT

With this short notice, the two ways for you to fund this project are:

1. Contact ward members, who regularly offer funds to help needy families during the holidays, and invite them to contribute to your ward Other account;

2. You are authorized to use budget funds; each ward has surplus budget funds due to the lack of activities during the pandemic.

The bishop should establish the budget amount for this project based on available funds.

HOW TO PURCHASE THE TOYS

Again, with this short notice, we suggest the following two ways to purchase the toys and deliver them to Brother Allen’s home:

1. Go to store(s) and buy the toys, take them directly to Brother Allen’s home and then seek reimbursement from the ward (remember the toys are to be UNWRAPPED);

2. Shop online, having the toys shipped directly to Brother Allen’s home.

While there are still some good deals online, like this link for a good price on footballs, you’ll notice they are backordered and Amazon cannot promise delivery by Dec 12. Store shopping may be the safest option.

IMMEDIATE ACTION

Most importantly, please communicate immediately with Brother Allen ASAP on:

1. Who is your ward’s point person (with contact info) for this project;

2. When you plan to fulfill your assignment so he can schedule the Salvation Army for pick up by this coming Monday;

3. Whether or not you can label each toy—all toys are to be UNWRAPPED and labeled with gender and age group (i.e. Girl 9-10—or if you need Brother Allen to label the toys for you.

Thank you so much for accepting this last-minute assignment and for making sure it happens on time.

With heartfelt gratitude for your quick response…and for sharing in the Christmas joy for children.

President Lewis and the Stake Presidency

P.S. Please confirm receipt of this assignment and that you have a plan in place to meet the above deadline.

In response to a high councilor, whose feelings had been hurt, by my mishandling of an assignment

3 December 2020

Dear (Name),

I’m the culprit here. I owe you an apology for the miserable handling of this assignment. I had no intention of causing hurt feelings. Please forgive for me for the offense I have caused.

Maybe some background on how this came about would be helpful.

A year ago I was approached by a sister in our stake, who had been seriously betrayed by her priesthood leader husband. He did not commit adultery, but had hidden for more than 20 years in their marriage some deep-seated addictions that only came to light when he was arrested and she had to get him out of jail. Besides being horribly embarrassed by the incident, her years of trust in a husband, who had deceived many members and priesthood leaders (including myself) over the years, had been shattered. 

Many wives would eventually forgive and try to forget. But it sent this sister on a tireless crusade to understand how pornography can re-wire a man’s brain and pull off such a deception for decades.

After more than a year of searching and learning, she felt compelled to come to me last fall to raise awareness of how prevalent pornography addiction is among priesthood holders, including leaders, and how it affects them. She also was concerned about how many priesthood leaders respond to these types of confessions. I, too, was guilty of failing to detect her husband’s addictions and frankly the bishop and I had handled the confession and discipline very poorly unwittingly hurting the wife deeply. 

After meeting with her the first time, I wanted to repent by learning more. So I set up an almost-weekly schedule of hour-long meetings for two months or more with this sister and her ward Relief Society president and asked her to just teach me all that she has learned about this pernicious addiction and how priesthood leaders should handle it when it comes to light.

After our meetings, I felt a desire to begin a spouse support class feeling that if the pornography addiction (or levels of addiction) was as prevalent as she suggested (I thought maybe 25% among men in our stake; she said 75%) that the women of our stake would “speak” with their feet. Hence, the desire to have a women-only meeting so sisters would have confidence that they could share with complete privacy and not fear priesthood leaders were on a “witch hunt” looking for men who are addicted. My only concern is not to “discover” those who are addicted but to make sure the wife, who has suffered the most in this type of marriage, gets help…that she knows we love and care for her and that she gets the “tools” she needs to keep her life and marriage together, if possible.

That’s why I asked that you not attend the class, even though you would have oversight.

As you know, our first attempt at starting this class fell apart with the onset of the pandemic precisely at the same time of the fist class (March 12). Later this year, in my monthly Stewardship Interview with the Stake RS president, the subject came up again—it was on the minds of both Sister Richards and myself. So we began discussing it, along with Bro Hawkins who attends my monthly SI’s with Sister Richards. Frankly, I simply forgot that we had put the original class under your umbrella of responsibilities before. So I naturally just pushed forward with the Stake RS, inasmuch as the impetus for the class in the first place had initiated with me and it was easy for me to work through the RS directly since I have direct responsibility for the State RS. 

Sister Richards and her counselors recommended Sister Newell to be the specialist to give direction to the class. That’s how her name came before the HC. Once approved, Brother Hawkins went ahead with the call (before the oversight was re-assigned to you). Dave met with both Matt and Beth to discuss at length the calling. So she has been called, but I asked that she not be sustained in the stake until we have a date, time and place for the first class so it could be announced at the same time of her sustaining…so sisters would put the two together—Sis Newell’s call and the beginning of the class. Once she is sustained, you will be asked to set her apart.

I hope you could tell how embarrassed I was when you spoke up in HC when Beth’s name was presented. I hadn’t realized or remembered until that moment that I failed to discuss this with those (you) who have Addiction Recovery Program oversight. Please know it was totally inadvertent. So when I realized what I had done, as you’ll recall, I suggested we discuss this in presidency, which is what we did and ultimately we changed direction and brought the oversight back to you.

However, because of how the initiative came about (my meetings over months with the two sisters in our stake) and how strongly I feel that we work through the RS to make sure that sisters feel comfortable in attending and sharing (and that this is not a witch hunt), it was natural and important to me that we keep this under the guidance of the Stake RS presidency. So I am asking that you take a different adviser role. That you not feel a responsibility to direct this initiative, but to be an “assistant,” ready to help however and whenever the stake RS needs you. If the class fails, you will not be blamed or chastised.

I hope you can see this is not too unique. It’s not uncommon for a high councilor like yourself, assigned to a very competent and seasoned EQ president, to recognize that his (HC) role is not to step in and be a mentor, but to some extent stay out of the way and take on a more supportive role.

I hope this background helps soothe the hard feelings I’ve caused because of my poor memory and weak management style. If you have any other questions, I welcome hearing from you. Please know how grateful I am that you spoke up so feelings don’t fester, as you suggested. I want you to be happy and feel needed in your service. Please know how much I appreciate your dutiful and faithful service on the High Council.

With love and gratitude for your diligence,

Crismon

Heightened emphasis on sacrament meeting safety

1 December 2020

TO: Bishoprics and Branch Presidencies

Brethren,

As we enter this new phase of potentially increased in-person sacrament meeting attendance (up to 100, if they choose to come), please give an even higher priority to safety.

Such as:

1. Read the attached introductory statement at the beginning of every in-person sacrament meeting. Soon you may begin to see members attend who have not attended before. They may not have heard this message. Please don't forget this.
   
   
2. Give safety guidance to speakers when you assign them to speak or pray at the pulpit. Use the instructions for Testimony meeting in the attached document when assigning those to speak or pray. We continue to see members set their mask on or to the side of the pulpit. And many are failing to use hand sanitizer before and after speaking at the pulpit. Bishopric members conducting the meeting, please teach by example.
   
   
3. Give extra caution to safety when administering the sacrament. If you choose to have priesthood holders wear gloves (it's not necessary as long as they sanitize well), make sure they are instructed how to use them, i.e. not touch their face, not set them down, not put them under the arm when putting them on, etc.
   
   
4. Prepare for more members to partake of the sacrament in the chapel. While attendance may not increase immediately, due to the recent surge in cases, please coordinate with the other units in your building to make sure you have plenty of water trays. Where we're using water trays for passing both the bread and water plus for disposing of used cups, you may need extra water trays soon. It appears on the  Church's online store that water trays are on back order. 
   
   As a back up to water trays for capturing used cups (please do not ask members to hold on to their cups and dispose of them later), small baskets that the passer can carry in his free hand are readily available at craft stores.

Also, with the added flexibility, it means there's now capacity for...

• Speakers and those who pray to attend in person. If they're willing, we encourage in-person attendance as it is very difficult for those in the chapel to follow the message of speakers they cannot see, only hear.
  
  
• Music to be conducted in the chapel to lead the congregational singing, which is preferred for encouraging singing in the home.

We appreciate so much your many efforts to provide both virtual and in-person sacrament meetings...so they're inspiring and safe.

Gratefully,

Stake Presidency

Introductory statement to in-person sacrament meetings

30 November 2020

STATEMENT TO BE RAED AT THE BEGINNING OF EACH SACRAMENT MEETING

Brothers and Sisters, we welcome you to the (Ward / Branch)  sacrament meeting. We extend a special welcome to those viewing these proceedings at home through webcast.

Bishop (President) (name) presides at this meeting. He has asked that I, (name), (title), conduct.

Before we begin, please know that your safety is our first priority. For those attending in person, thank you for following a few safety precautions:

• Always wear a face covering while indoors.

• Refrain from shaking hands or hugging.

• Use only the restrooms located at (location of restrooms)

• We encourage those at home to join us for all congregational singing. Those of us in the chapel are asked to sing quietly with our mask on. Or, for those who prefer, simply read the lyrics while the hymn is played. The music conductor will be allowed to remove (her/his) mask to lead the singing, especially for those watching online.

• The sacrament will be administered to those in attendance immediately after the benediction. The sacrament is also authorized to be administered in homes.

• Once the meeting ends, please exit the building promptly and socialize safely outside.

TESTIMONY MEETING INSTRUCTIONS:

Today is Fast Sunday. We will invite you to share your testimonies, both in-person and virtually. It is no longer necessary to wipe down the pulpit and microphone after each use, but we do ask that you remove your face covering before coming to the pulpit and that you not set your mask on the pulpit. Also, please apply hand sanitizer, available on each side of the pulpit, immediately before and after speaking at the pulpit.

Thank you so much for helping all of us to be safe. We will begin this meeting by singing hymn (number), (hymn name), with (conductor’s name) conducting and (organist’s name) on the organ (piano).

After which (name) will give the invocation.

Announcement about increase of sacrament meeting attendance of up to 100

30 November 2020

TO: Bishoprics and Branch Presidencies

Dear Brethren,

You may have noticed that Oregon's governor announced this week new guidelines that give us much more flexibility on the number who can attend in person religious services and gatherings.

As reported: "Faith institutions, funeral homes, mortuaries, and cemeteries will be limited to a maximum of 25% of capacity or 100 people indoors (whichever is smaller), or 150 people outdoors."

While we are still seeking the seating capacities of the chapels, overflows and cultural halls for all three buildings, as established by the fire department, we are confident the seating capacities of those three rooms combined in each building will easily allow more than 100 people to be socially distanced.

So the new attendance allowance for sacrament meetings in our stake, beginning Sunday, Dec. 6, will be up to 100 people—as long as everyone is properly distanced, wearing masks, etc.

A few notes:

• Beginning Dec. 6, you may no longer have to restrict who attends, assuming you have fewer than 100 members who want to attend services in person.
  
  
• You may want to ask members to notify you in advance, if they plan to attend, so you can adequately prepare for seating into the overflow and cultural hall, if needed, and plan for the increase in administering the sacrament.
  
  
• Continue to conduct Sunday services virtually as there will be many who will not want to attend in-person due to the most recent surge in Covid cases.
  
  
• Continue to administer the sacrament following sacrament meeting (not to be webcast) and authorize administration of the sacrament in homes.
  
  
• For youth second-hour classes and activity nights, you'll want to know the seating capacity of the rooms you plan to use to make sure the 25% allowance in each room can accommodate the number attending.

If you don't already know the seating capacity of a room (sometimes there is a fire department document or plaque on the wall that gives the number), Brother Eldredge, of the High Council, has been tasked with obtaining those numbers for each building and we'll get them to you as quickly as possible.

Coincidentally this week, you may have seen that the Supreme Court ruled against a state government applying Covid-19 restrictions on church attendance. While this is good news for churches and for freedom of religion, we still want to show "an abundance of caution," as the First Presidency has repeatedly stated, to make sure we do everything we can to keep our church meetings as safe as possible.

Thank you for continuing to read the attached statement reminding those attending sacrament meeting in person of the safety guidelines. Please draft and read a similar statement for all other in-person church meetings.

Gratefully,

Stake Presidency

Message to the children when sending them our wills

20 November 2020

Dear children,

This has nothing to do with the brush I’m having with Covid right now (still no word yet from Brother Jones, though he feels the longer it takes to get test results the better the indication that he’s negative because testing labs notify the positives first so they can immediately initiate contract tracing efforts).

But a couple of months ago Mother and I signed up with an MLM called Legal Shield to get access to an attorney to draft our wills. Those wills are now complete and attached. (We’ve cancelled our Legal Shield membership.)

We just wanted you to have a copy of them for safekeeping, but we have the originals as does the attorney, Kivel and Howard LLP in downtown Portland.

The attorneys simply use a template and fill in our names and your names. There’s not much to the wills, but hopefully it will expedite the processing of assets (home, cars, furniture that no one will want, etc.) if something should happen to the two of us together.

Earlier we drafted wills back in the early 1990s when all of you were still at home. So these wills should replace those wills when now, instead of amazing children, our most prized possession is a can of Reliv in the cupboard or our 2008 Honda with 200K miles in the garage :)

We hope these wills give you some comfort or assurance that our post-death desires are now formalized. BTW…Apparently there is no formal or court-recognized document for us to establish a living will, i.e. if you’re having to make a life-and-death decision for both of us. But please know that neither Mother or I want our lives to be prolonged if we are on some type of life-sustaining device in the hospital. We are completing a form and will keep that on file.

I can’t believe we’re old enough to be talking about this, but such is life or mortality, right? Thankfully, the Lord wants us to come home—His home.

We love you and cherish each of you…you make us very happy and thankful for Thanksgiving that you and your wonderful families will always be around OUR table. 

Dad & Mom

Guidance on weeknight use of the stake center

16 November 2020

Stake Leaders and Bishoprics / Branch Presidencies...

Just as we are restricted to in-person attendance of 25 for Sunday services, we must also abide by that limit for youth night activities and other weeknight gatherings...always with masks and social distancing.

Will you please note that the following times are scheduled exclusively for those units assigned to the stake center. It is most important that no other groups or even missionaries use the stake center during these times on the designated weeknights so we don't exceed the 25-person gathering limit:

• Tuesdays, 7:00 - 8:45 pm - Walters Hill Ward
  
  
• Wednesdays, 7:00 - 8:45 pm - Powell Valley Ward
  
  
• Thursdays, 7:00 - 8:45 pm - Damascus Ward and Pioneer Branch

Thank you for respecting this schedule and helping us abide by the new state guidelines that go into effect this Wednesday, Nov. 18.

Gratefully,

Stake Presidency

P.S. Also, we remind you of the following guidelines sent to you on Nov. 9 that apply to all meetinghouses in our stake:

• Where possible, please defer to virtual rather than in-person for (1) presidency and other leadership meetings; (2) interviews; and (3) adult classes, including Relief Society, Elders Quorum and Self-Reliance classes.
  
  
• Use meetinghouses only for Church gatherings where adult leaders are present and are willing to assume responsibility for the safety of the group, including maintaining a list of attendees for contact tracing purposes.
  
  
• Do not use cultural halls for contact sports and other activities where participants are unable to practice social distancing and wear face coverings.

New guidelines after the governor's announcement today

13 November 2020

Bishoprics and Branch Presidencies...

As you're aware, the governor announced today new guidelines and restrictions, including a reduction in gathering limits for churches to 25 indoors and 50 outdoors.

We are grateful the governor acknowledged, for the first time, the importance of faith gatherings and didn't lump us in with social gatherings, which came under even more severe restrictions.

President Lewis spoke personally with Maria Waters, the Faith Liaison in the governor's office, and she said it is a favorable indication that the Gov. Brown recognizes that faith groups are being extra vigilant—thankfully very few, if any, outbreaks from religious services. However, she stressed that the demand on hospitals is now critical and everyone is being asked to do something to bring the latest Covid surge under control.

By the way, Maria said she was hopeful that this temporary "freeze" through Wednesday, Dec. 2, will make a difference and that faith groups would be among the first to see an easing of restrictions.

We, of course, want to be good citizens and comply with government guidance and continue to show an abundance of caution in our in-person gatherings. We may yet receive specific direction from our Area Presidency inasmuch as the three West Coast states are working together in addressing the latest surge in Covid cases.

In the meantime, we share the following guidance for our stake:

• The new state guidelines go into effect next Wednesday, Nov. 18, so there is no need to make any changes this Sunday, Nov. 15, unless you feel to do so;
  
  
• Starting Sunday, Nov. 22, we encourage you to continue to hold in-person sacrament meetings with 25 in attendance;
  
  
• You may want to survey your ward again next week to determine how many want to attend in-person and assign them accordingly so all have a chance to attend an in-person sacrament meeting at least once per month;
  
  
• We encourage you to continue to administer the sacrament following your sacrament services, but consider having only one priesthood holder bless and one pass;
  
  
• Here's one idea to maximize the number in the congregation—2 bishopric members, one to conduct, one for technology; 2 for music; 2 speakers; 2 to administer the sacrament; 0 prayers, invite prayers to be given over Zoom from home; leaving room for 17 in the congregation; as you've noticed, it's very difficult to speak over the pulpit when no one is in the audience (17 is better than no one);
  
  
• If you feel deeply that there is an increased risk to members' safety, you may choose to continue to webcast your sacrament service and not invite members to attend in-person nor administer the sacrament in the chapel;
  
  
• Continue to hold second-hour classes and meetings for youth and YSA, but we strongly recommend they be virtual-only until restrictions ease up.

Thank you for how well all of you have adjusted to these fluctuating guidelines and continue to provide inspiring sacrament services both in-person and virtually.

Gratefully,

Mount Hood Stake Presidency

New Guidelines following Governor Brown's announcement of a 'pause' with stricter guidelines

9 November 2020

TO: All stake and wards leaders in the Mount Hood Stake

Dear Leaders,

As you know Governor Brown recently announced a two-week "pause" by listing additional safety precautions for five counties beginning this Wednesday, Nov. 11. The new guidelines were issued for some businesses and "informal social gatherings" (usually in homes) where precautions are easily ignored. Her action was in response to the recent surge in Covid-19 cases in Oregon.

Gratefully, the new restrictions did not include religious groups or faith-based meetings. We believe that is because officials acknowledge that churches, like ours, are making every effort to follow safety guidelines.

Additionally, Clackamas County (where all of our meetinghouses are located) was not included in the governor's directive. However, Clackamas County is experiencing a surge in Covid cases, too, and may soon come under the same restrictions. Regardless, we want to be good citizens and comply with all official guidelines as best as possible.

Therefore we ask you to please follow these (hopefully temporary) guidelines for our stake:

'OFFICIAL' GATHERINGS

• Continue to hold Church in-person services and classes, specifically: (1) sacrament meetings; (2) second-hour classes for youth and YSA; and (3) weekday youth activities.
  
  
• Continue to follow safety precautions during in-person gatherings, such as wearing face coverings indoors and even outdoors, if unable to social distance.
  
  
• Stress with parents the expectation that youth comply with safety precautions, including wearing of a mask indoors.

OTHER GATHERINGS

• Where possible, please defer to virtual rather than in-person for (1) presidency meetings; (2) interviews; and (3) adult classes, including Relief Society, Elders Quorum and Self-Reliance classes.
  
  
• Use meetinghouses only for Church gatherings where adult leaders are present and are willing to assume responsibility for the safety of the group, including maintaining a list of all attendees for contact-tracing purposes.
  
  
• Do not use cultural halls for contact sports and other activities where participants are unable to practice social distancing and wear face coverings.

We hope these new guidelines will not be permanent. In the meantime, we appreciate your willingness to help protect our stake members and communities.

Gratefully,

Mount Hood Oregon Stake Presidency

Guidance to bishoprics after the Governor calls for a "pause" in social gatherings

7 November 2020

TO: Bishoprics and Branch Presidencies in the Mount Hood Stake

Brethren,

We recognize there may be concerns about continuing with in-person sacrament services following the governor's announcement yesterday.

Unless we are directed otherwise by our Area Seventy and/or the Area Presidency, the stake presidency has counseled together and feel to continue meeting as we are for several reasons:

1. The governor did not include religious services as part of the two-week "pause" presumably because the latest Covid outbreaks have not come from churches where safety is a priority;
   
   
2. The greatest concern is with "informal social gatherings" in homes where safety precautions are seldom taken and with many businesses where contact tracing is all but impossible;
   
   
3. We continue to conduct hybrid services so members can choose whether to attend in person or virtually.

We appreciate you continuing to take every safety precaution in conducting sacrament meetings and administering the sacrament afterwards. Please make sure your clerk or Covid-19 Supervisor continues to keep a list of all who attend in person each Sunday for the purpose of contact tracing.

Feel free to draw from this email or forward it in your communications to your leaders or members. 

Gratefully,

President Lewis and the Stake Presidency

Message to Members on 29 Oct 2020

2 November 2020

Dear Mount Hood Stake Friends...

As you know we live in a wicked world with wars, atrocities and even genocide not unlike those we are reading about in our Come, Follow Me study this week of Mormon 1-6.

We are amazed by the prophet-general Mormon, a mighty man of righteousness living at a time when the "day of grace was passed." (Mormon 2:15) Somehow he retained in his heart "the goodness of Jesus." (1:15)

My heart resonated with a thought shared in a popular podcast about Mormon. 

First, let me say that I welcome and completely embrace President Nelson's plea that we not use nicknames for the Church or for ourselves.

But this week's reading has given me a new appreciation and gratitude for Mormon's righteous life while surrounded by evil.

So if you slip and say to someone, "Yes, I am a Mormon," please don't feel guilty. It can mean you are trying to be like Mormon and live righteously in a wicked world.

May we all be "Mormons!"

With love and gratitude for your faithfulness,

President Lewis