I learned in church today

[Topper]

So, it wasn't technically during church, but I learned that wards usually schedule these Primary Programs for the last Sunday of a quarter in order to boost Sacrament Mtg attendance & get a bigger budget when numbers are tallied for appropriations.

being ignorant of how this works, I ask those who know - is this somehow true? Seems like it shouldn't matter which Sunday the chapel is packed. I heard this from 2 different people.

I had heard that but I have never confirmed it with Stake leaders. You may have to ask some of the Illuminati, such as PAC or Clack, or some other high level member.

[swampfrog]

So, it wasn't technically during church, but I learned that wards usually schedule these Primary Programs for the last Sunday of a quarter in order to boost Sacrament Mtg attendance & get a bigger budget when numbers are tallied for appropriations.

being ignorant of how this works, I ask those who know - is this somehow true? Seems like it shouldn't matter which Sunday the chapel is packed. I heard this from 2 different people.

As a former (one might say reformed) membership clerk, the only time Sacrament meeting attendance is reported to Salt Lake is during the quarterly report. The numbers on the quarterly report are only for the last month of the quarter. The only months that matter are March, June, September, and December. AFAIK, those numbers are indeed used to determine budget. We had 7 of the 11 wards in our stake perform the primary program yesterday.

[Moliere]

I learned in church today

So, it wasn't technically during church, but I learned that wards usually schedule these Primary Programs for the last Sunday of a quarter in order to boost Sacrament Mtg attendance & get a bigger budget when numbers are tallied for appropriations.

being ignorant of how this works, I ask those who know - is this somehow true? Seems like it shouldn't matter which Sunday the chapel is packed. I heard this from 2 different people.

It's true that part of the budget is based on sacrament meeting attendance...and only certain months count. I think I once posted how Ward budgets are determined. If I haven't, I have it in my notes somewhere.

[clackamascoug]

I counted Sac Meeting attendance for a few years. I just "ball parked it" with the number of people actually in the Chapel, the members I knew had stake callings, the number of people I thought to be in the building at the time, the regulars I knew who were on vacation but weren't that Sunday, and pregnant sisters or at least the ones that looked pregnant. And then I added 5, in case I missed someone, just to be sure.

[Topper]

I counted Sac Meeting attendance for a few years. I just "ball parked it" with the number of people actually in the Chapel, the members I knew had stake callings, the number of people I thought to be in the building at the time, the regulars I knew who were on vacation but weren't that Sunday, and pregnant sisters or at least the ones that looked pregnant. And then I added 5, in case I missed someone, just to be sure.

I just asked the bishop what numbers he needed to make his job work. It was kinda an imaginary number. Who remembers when the clerk sat up in a perch to the side up front so he could count the members?

[chrisrenrut]

I just asked the bishop what numbers he needed to make his job work. It was kinda an imaginary number. Who remembers when the clerk sat up in a perch to the side up front so he could count the members?

We count the sacrament cups used, and add 20 for missionaries in the field, babies, and those with stake or MoTab duties.

We usually do the primary program in October. We count on missionary farewells and homecomings to bolster attendance/budget. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. This year it did. We had two couples return and one leave in September, and we'll have 2 elders and one sister return in December.

For the last 3 years, we have had to move our primary program with less than a months notice. Last year it was a gas leak. This year, we didn't realize we had planned it for UEA weekend.

[Clark Addison]

So, it wasn't technically during church, but I learned that wards usually schedule these Primary Programs for the last Sunday of a quarter in order to boost Sacrament Mtg attendance & get a bigger budget when numbers are tallied for appropriations.

being ignorant of how this works, I ask those who know - is this somehow true? Seems like it shouldn't matter which Sunday the chapel is packed. I heard this from 2 different people.

We used to do ours in October. We now do ours in September, for this reason.

The two other wards in our building did it on the same day as us.

[myboynoah]

I've never heard of this practice.

How silly. If you want to count the primary program in your numbers, then just do it, no matter the month.

[YOhio]

I've never heard of this practice.

How silly. If you want to count the primary program in your numbers, then just do it, no matter the month.

Haha. The law of averages is way less sexy than ProgMo corporate Mormon ward budgeting tactics and conspiracies. Unless the church bases budget numbers based solely on sac attendance the last Sunday of every quarter, which I'm sure they totally do and bishops churchwide have united to game the system with the PriPro. They pull that same shit the last Sunday of the year with the Christmas program.

[Harry Tic]

Speaking as one who loves kids, and who firmly believes the church is most true in primary and nursery, man, the primary program is obnoxious.

False. The primary program is generally the best Sunday of the year. It's not just that kids are cute. It's that the potential for uncorrelated behavior is so high for that thirty minutes. Other than when the strange-smelling Cat Lady gives her testimony, never are you so close to an eruption of chaos in church. The tension between the kids' unpredictability and the over-correlated script is what makes it so entertaining.


9/10. Would do it every month if possible.

[Eddie]

So, it wasn't technically during church, but I learned that wards usually schedule these Primary Programs for the last Sunday of a quarter in order to boost Sacrament Mtg attendance & get a bigger budget when numbers are tallied for appropriations.

being ignorant of how this works, I ask those who know - is this somehow true? Seems like it shouldn't matter which Sunday the chapel is packed. I heard this from 2 different people.

Speaking for our ward, the past 4 years our primary program has been the week that the primary president asked the Bishop to hold it. A couple of those years they ended up moving it a couple of months out because the pianist or music leader was going to be out of town. It's not ever been a date picked by the Bishop.

Once out of those four times, it was held in September and would've counted for budget.

[kccougar]

So, it wasn't technically during church, but I learned that wards usually schedule these Primary Programs for the last Sunday of a quarter in order to boost Sacrament Mtg attendance & get a bigger budget when numbers are tallied for appropriations.

being ignorant of how this works, I ask those who know - is this somehow true? Seems like it shouldn't matter which Sunday the chapel is packed. I heard this from 2 different people.

Average weekly attendance for the last month of each quarter is the number that is reported. It is one thing that goes into the formula for determining budget, but it isn't the only thing. We held our Primary Program in September this year, but we leave it completely up to the Primary President when she tells us she wants to do it.

[TripletDaddy]

False. The primary program is generally the best Sunday of the year. It's not just that kids are cute. It's that the potential for uncorrelated behavior is so high for that thirty minutes. Other than when the strange-smelling Cat Lady gives her testimony, never are you so close to an eruption of chaos in church. The tension between the kids' unpredictability and the over-correlated script is what makes it so entertaining.


9/10. Would do it every month if possible.

tension and chaos?? lol knock it off.

it is actually tedious and dumb. It isnt that funny when some kid swallows a microphone or screams into it really loudly.

[wally]

tension and chaos?? lol knock it off.

it is actually tedious and dumb. It isnt that funny when some kid swallows a microphone or screams into it really loudly.

You know what is funny during the PriPro? Finding the 10-11 year old boys that are SUFFERING being forced to be up there singing. Hilarious.

EDIT: My 11 YO is one of them. so priceless watching him squirm.

[TripletDaddy]

You know what is funny during the PriPro?.

No.