I learned in church today

[Pheidippides]

F&T was interesting yesterday. Many people talked about their doubts and their struggles to overcome those doubts. The bishop said Saturday that Elder Oaks had come up and had a meeting with the 16 stake presidents and all the bishops in the area and it many mainly a meeting to address these doubts that many are having right now. We have had a few in the ward drop out but this was the first time I felt concern and uneasiness from some of the more stalwart members. I'm curious to see where the church is in five years what changes will take place.

My own bishop is of the opinion that the church is going through some painful maturation and will contract for a while as people sort out themselves and leave (some of them, anyway). He does not view this as a bad thing overall.

[HBCoug]

I may have shared this before, but shortly after my mission I was living at home while waiting for spring semester to start. I attended ward conference where the stake president (now a 1Q70) gave a 30 minute lesson on being quiet in the chapel. We were basically told that we shouldn't converse in the chapel unless we really needed to and even then we should keep it to a whisper. After the closing prayer, everyone basically got up and left without saying a word. It was quiet in the chapel for the next couple weeks, but after the 3rd week things were pretty much back to normal.

I wondered at the time why such a silly lesson was given....but maybe there was a legitimate reason. Contrast that with my Houston ward where the bishop makes it a point to shake everyone's hand before the meeting starts....meaning we typically start 5 minutes late. It's nice though as people feel a better sense of community as they are welcomed into church every week.

Am I wrong to think this is pretty much equivalent to your Houston bishop walking up to the Savior, extending his hand as if to offer a handshake, and then quickly running that hand through his hair while saying, "sike."

[TripletDaddy]

I too attended EQ for the first time in years yesterday. But I didn't endure to the end: once we broke into small groups to discuss what commitments in our life we can get out of so that we can devote more time to member missionary work, I made my baby cry so that I could soothe her in the hall.

Full disclosure: I didnt endure the entire time, either. Our ward doesn't offer Sunday School so I usually just go home during the second hour to eat a sandwich. By the time I returned to the chapel, I was already 20 mins late for the third hour class. I went to the cultural hall/gym room but no EQ, just several older couples facing each other in chairs doing something that looked similar to MTC investigator role play. i walked around a bit and finally had to ask someone where EQ met. He told me they started meeting in the chapel about a year and a half ago

I like meeting in the chapel because the pews are soft and can also block any tablet/smartphone use from view. When I sat down in the pew, one guy walked over to me and shook my hand, telling me it was really good to see me.

[All-American]

I too attended EQ for the first time in years yesterday. But I didn't endure to the end: once we broke into small groups to discuss what commitments in our life we can get out of so that we can devote more time to member missionary work, I made my baby cry so that I could soothe her in the hall.

Breaking into groups is almost without exception a lazy copout for failure to prepare a decent lesson. Sorry to hear it.

I wish we would do more as a church/culture to promote effective public presentations, given how much we rely on them. Giving many people opportunities to speak and teach is a start, but listening to only bad lessons and talks only teaches people how to give bad lessons and talks.

[All-American]

Our ward doesn't offer Sunday School

Wait, what?

[Donuthole]

Wait, what?

Tree, forest, sound.

[TripletDaddy]

Wait, what?

My ward doesnt offer Sunday School or Priesthood, so I usually just go home instead of staying at the chapel. For some reason, yesterday the ward decided to offer Priesthood meeting, so naturally I came back to attend. Per my understanding, it was a one-time offering so next week I will go back to my one hour meeting block schedule.

[byu71]

There is a sifting going on. I think its a separation between "Institutional Mormons," and "Disciples of Christ," meaning mormons who grew up and love the church for what it is, are good people living good lives, but are shocked by how we got there, and the Disciples of Christ who are searchers of a righteous path back to the Savior, and have found an equilibrium in the LDS Church and care not how or why. I know its a lot more complicated than that, but if you had to put it in one sentence I think that would be pretty close to what's going on.

I think there is another group. The fundamentalists and I wouldn't necessarily include them in the Disciples of Christ category.

I think they are probably the smaller of the three groups, but I think we all have hunches as to who they are. I say hunches of course because none of us on here judge anyone.

[Sullyute]

I too attended EQ for the first time in years yesterday. But I didn't endure to the end: once we broke into small groups to discuss what commitments in our life we can get out of so that we can devote more time to member missionary work, I made my baby cry so that I could soothe her in the hall.

That is too bad. Our EQ is excellent. We haven't had a bad lesson is ages. We have had the same two teachers for over 7 years and they knock it out of the park almost every time. There is still some dry material they have to cover in the manuals, but they do a great job of making it as interesting and involved as possible.

For the fourth Sunday, a different member of the quorum is asked to teach each month. We don't assign GC talks to rehash, but let them talk on anything they feel inspired about. They present their lessons with passion and interest because it is something they care about. I look forward to EQ every week.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

I wondered at the time why such a silly lesson was given....but maybe there was a legitimate reason. Contrast that with my Houston ward where the bishop makes it a point to shake everyone's hand before the meeting starts....meaning we typically start 5 minutes late. It's nice though as people feel a better sense of community as they are welcomed into church every week.

Our guy would be furious at that, according to him the handbook says that bishopric is to be seated and in a reverent tone 10 minutes before the start of the meeting. It might be just me, but I don't think your bishop is going places in the church.

[Northwestcoug]

That is too bad. Our EQ is excellent. We haven't had a bad lesson is ages. We have had the same two teachers for over 7 years and they knock it out of the park almost every time. There is still some dry material they have to cover in the manuals, but they do a great job of making it as interesting and involved as possible.

For the fourth Sunday, a different member of the quorum is asked to teach each month. We don't assign GC talks to rehash, but let them talk on anything they feel inspired about. They present their lessons with passion and interest because it is something they care about. I look forward to EQ every week.

A good EQ teacher truly is a rare thing. You're lucky.

[DrumNFeather]

That is too bad. Our EQ is excellent. We haven't had a bad lesson is ages. We have had the same two teachers for over 7 years and they knock it out of the park almost every time. There is still some dry material they have to cover in the manuals, but they do a great job of making it as interesting and involved as possible.

For the fourth Sunday, a different member of the quorum is asked to teach each month. We don't assign GC talks to rehash, but let them talk on anything they feel inspired about. They present their lessons with passion and interest because it is something they care about. I look forward to EQ every week.

We have a pretty solid three-man rotation in our EQ (of which I am one). Our fourth guy, however, he gives up 6 runs in the first inning a lot...so we gotta tighten that up.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

My ward doesnt offer Sunday School or Priesthood, so I usually just go home instead of staying at the chapel. For some reason, yesterday the ward decided to offer Priesthood meeting, so naturally I came back to attend. Per my understanding, it was a one-time offering so next week I will go back to my one hour meeting block schedule.

You and Sizzle go to some of those new ward/stake pilot programs. No SS or Phood, no Saturday Stake things. Truly you are CS' pioneers, one day we will share testimonies of you.

[Applejack]

Breaking into groups is almost without exception a lazy copout for failure to prepare a decent lesson. Sorry to hear it.

I wish we would do more as a church/culture to promote effective public presentations, given how much we rely on them. Giving many people opportunities to speak and teach is a start, but listening to only bad lessons and talks only teaches people how to give bad lessons and talks.

One thing I don't understand about church is that most people are really bad (a) public speakers and (b) teachers. This makes little sense since before age 21 most mormons speak publicly and teach much more than the average person. I blame General Conference - it should be packed with great speakers talking about great things, but instead it is painfully boring (sorry, just being honest).

[Moliere]

Our guy would be furious at that, according to him the handbook says that bishopric is to be seated and in a reverent tone 10 minutes before the start of the meeting. It might be just me, but I don't think your bishop is going places in the church.

That might be part of the plan....but it's interesting to see that since he's been bishop we've had numerous inactives come back to full activity.

We had a SP member visit a couple weeks ago. He's a real hardliner. He was visibly distraught that the bishop would start the meeting late and even moreso that the bishop was the source of commotion in the chapel prior to the meeting. He said something to the bishop after the meeting and the bishop said he'd do better without really having any intention of changing.