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There's a guy who comes to my GD class weekly. He no longer lives in our ward, but his license is suspended due to DUIs, so his mom (in our ward) picks him up and brings him to church with her. Last week, he showed up to church drunk. He didn't look noticeably intoxicated, but he made a few comments in GD and you could tell by his speech he was drunk.
As I mentioned in Pelagius' SS thread, last week was a disaster in my class. I cut the lesson short 7 minutes, and my frustration must have been obvious. After church he apparently called the bishop asking for my phone number. He then called other bishopric members (since bishop wouldn't give it to him), and finally ended up with my wife's cell. He left a drunk message that was actually fairly thoughtful (you're a great teacher...man... was repeated a few times).
I tried to call him back but he didn't answer.
Yesterday I get a call from a member of our bishopric (sort of a douche, but a nice enough guy), who asks, "Did you get any interesting phone calls Sunday?" I said, "Oh, yeah, Brother X called me and left a message. I think he was drunk." I also mentioned that he was intoxicated at church, but said, "I suppose there's no better place for a person to be drunk than church, right?" (meaning: it sucks he is drunk, but I think it's great he still wants to be at church). The bishopric member told me not to talk to him when drunk and indicated that they're also going to tell him that he needs to go to his own ward and that he isn't welcome at our building if drunk.
This concerns me. I understand it's preferrable that people show up on Sundays chemical-free, but this guy actually has a pretty good spirit about him (no pun intended). You can tell he's really trying to be better, and his comments are normally no worse than the rest of the class.
I'm a little concerned that the bishopric asked me no to talk to him if he's drunk. I understand that we shouldn't enable people, but is having an open ear when an alcoholic is drunk enabling?
What would you do if you were in my shoes?
As I mentioned in Pelagius' SS thread, last week was a disaster in my class. I cut the lesson short 7 minutes, and my frustration must have been obvious. After church he apparently called the bishop asking for my phone number. He then called other bishopric members (since bishop wouldn't give it to him), and finally ended up with my wife's cell. He left a drunk message that was actually fairly thoughtful (you're a great teacher...man... was repeated a few times).
I tried to call him back but he didn't answer.
Yesterday I get a call from a member of our bishopric (sort of a douche, but a nice enough guy), who asks, "Did you get any interesting phone calls Sunday?" I said, "Oh, yeah, Brother X called me and left a message. I think he was drunk." I also mentioned that he was intoxicated at church, but said, "I suppose there's no better place for a person to be drunk than church, right?" (meaning: it sucks he is drunk, but I think it's great he still wants to be at church). The bishopric member told me not to talk to him when drunk and indicated that they're also going to tell him that he needs to go to his own ward and that he isn't welcome at our building if drunk.
This concerns me. I understand it's preferrable that people show up on Sundays chemical-free, but this guy actually has a pretty good spirit about him (no pun intended). You can tell he's really trying to be better, and his comments are normally no worse than the rest of the class.
I'm a little concerned that the bishopric asked me no to talk to him if he's drunk. I understand that we shouldn't enable people, but is having an open ear when an alcoholic is drunk enabling?
What would you do if you were in my shoes?
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