2005/07/22

Oh The Power!

Well, I am officially released from nursery. For those of you who don't know, I asked to be released in April sometime and I just got out. The reason I finally did get released was because our branch president offered me the calling of Young Women's President. Yes, you read that correctly. He asked josh first and josh gave me the heads up. It is a good thing he did too because I would have said no if I had not had time to think about it.

I was really scared at first and I still am at times but at least I have some power now and can straighten out another program. After I gave into my fate and accepted that I would probably never get out of primary I decided to clean up the program and get it running the way it say to in the manual. I actually had a parent pick up their kid from class one Sunday and after I gave them the handouts from the lesson they said "you mean there is a manual for this class?". They were pretty much feeding the kids cookies all day. So much to some parents dismay I fixed the program. Now I have young women's to get back on track. Don't get me wrong, the members up here are nice enough. They just happened to live here all their lives and are very stuck in their ways. Their answer is to change church programs so they are more convenient or fun for them. When corrected they say "oh, we are only a branch we don't have to do it that way."

Even though we only have six baptized members on role and only three active I am hoping we can get things straightened out. I have some really good counselor and was pretty surprised that they were called so fast. It can take weeks or months sometimes.

My plan is that since Josh is in young men's and I am in young women's we can just take over and make our own little branch. I bet it would take the stake about a year to figure it out;)

14 comments:

Justin said...

I had to move to get out of Primary. Good luck with those crazy hormonal women. You know how they are.

Jason Heilpern said...

It's surpising how disorganized the church here in North Carolina is on a whole? Its really been a frustration!

Josh said...

so hard not to... biting my lip...

Megan said...

i'm sorry jason but the church is messed up everywhere. the way you said it made it sound like north carolina is the worst and i would have to disagree. i realize that you and terra are frusterated about her divorce papers but you should try and remember that the stake president might have other things he has to do first. i'm sure the only wrad/branch that runs by hte book is the one President Hickley's.

Jason Heilpern said...

I really wasnt refering to anything specific. However having lived in 5 different states and at least twice as many wards I would have to say hands down here is the worst!

Matthew said...

Mary Ann is in a very similar situation right now, but I'll let her tell that story if she wants...

I have also been frustrated by wacky chuch customization by local folks. However, I would venture to say that in my own personal experience, there is something in southern culture that lends itself to a more relaxed attitude to following handbooks and proactively dealing with deadlines. It was my general impression that the church tended to be run better from an administrative perspective in NY than NC. Of course, this doesn't inherently mean it was being run more effectively, just more efficiently.

That being said, some of my favorite local custimazations were found in Germany. I am convinced that there has never been a commandment that the Germans couldn't improve on. I clearly remember a particular Bishop who had decided that people who arrived during the second half of the sacrament hymn were to be physically prevented from taking the sacrament by the usher/bouncer, even if they had been there for the sacrament prayers. That was a fun one!

Anyway, good luck with your new calling. I'm the kids are going to get something more spiritually enriching than cookies.

Megan said...

i think that most of the bias comes from being to young to really know whether things are being run correctly or not.

Grandpa Harris said...

I had resolved not to say anything on this post, in an effort not to offend, but this has gone too far. We must remember that those other than Latter-day Saints read this post and these comments have sunk to a pit of mummerers. Local custom, indeed. It is called discernment. Handbooks are guideline, albeit strict guidelines, still local leaders, especially Bishops and Stake Presidents are certainly not bound to disregard personal revelation. We, on the other hand, are covenanted to follow our local leaders. Don't sweat it, this is the Lord's Church and He will work out the kinks. Thank God we don't have to.

Shalene said...

Good for you. I'm sure the stake YW presidency will be thrilled to hear that you want to run it "by the book". Who are your counselors?

Megan said...

bennie,

thank you.

shalene,

i kept amy and called shiree. i think it will go well.

Dare said...

Hmmm, comments interesting they are!... as Yoda would say.

I think I'll bite my lip with Josh on this one.

BUT: I do think you'll be a great YW president Megan, the girls will love you!!! Good luck!

Matthew said...

Bennie,

I would certainly agree with you in cases where the customizations to the program were the result of inspiration. It is important to be able to “think outside the box” and be responsive to the spirit. However, in the case I mentioned, the Bishop was flagrantly violating even the basic teachings of the BoM, which is pretty clear on when and why people can be prevented from partaking of the sacrament. Further, in the way Megan explained it (which I’m assuming is accurate), even the people who made the modifications are making no reference to inspiration. “We don’t have to do it that way because we are a branch” is a profoundly different from “I have prayed about this and feel inspired to take a different path”. Occupying a calling in the church doesn’t convey the right to toss out inspired instructions with impunity. In such cases, this behavior should be addressed.

In such cases where church folks are departing from inspired church instructions without even making an allusion to inspiration, something needs to be done. There again, we do have some quite clear instruction in D&C on how such matters are to be handled. However, Megan is charming, sweet and enjoys a special place in my heart, so I will not be pointing out that a blog might not be the best place to air such matters.

Grandpa Harris said...

Matthew, I know where you are coming from. I know where you are all coming from and I think I understand the frustration. Still, if the Area Authority Seventies and the General Authorities don't see a problem, I won't either. I'll just plug along until God gathers the wheat and tares and burns the tares. I hope nothing I have ever written has offended you. What do you think would happen if you wrote the Area President? Probably a nice letter in return urging you to be faithful. Man, I used to really get agitated when I observed what you have described. It only weakend my testimony. Keep the faith, my boy. This, too, shall pass away.

bohica said...

I know this is dramatically different in one respect, but human nature is human nature. When we make rules at work we intentionally make them much more strict than we ever plan on enforcing. The rules are there, and as long as the employees maintain a general level of acceptable behavior everything is copacetic. However, when someone needs to be brought in line, they are brought into line according to the rules of the company, not the more relaxed rules that we actually live by. This may seem unweildy to some but it is very effective. If the employees think they are getting away with a little, they will be a lot less likely to try and get away with a lot. I will let you interpet how it pertains to the conversation at hand.