How's the new Ministry thing going to work?

[slk]

All I've heard is that it will be husband and wife companionships? If this is the case, I don't see it working since many couples have one or the other not "in." I just don't envision it being any better than the old system unless they're just going to select only card carrying couples to visit maybe 5 families each but given more than a months period to visit everyone. Sorry for my ignorance with the ministry question. In the meantime, I'll be crossing my fingers that this shit doesn't work out for them.

[Brent]

True ministering would enclude self selection. But that means there is no accountability...and a church without accountability is like breakfast without bacon.

[Thoughtful]

If we're using the Anderson model of spy and snitch, I will be declining to have ministering people's visit my house.

[slavereeno]

If we're using the Anderson model of spy and snitch, I will be declining to have ministering people's visit my house.

+1

[Archimedes]

It will give more members more cover to be slackers, with so many internal mind-numbing meetings that nobody will ever have time to come bother you.

[blazerb]

We were told yesterday that each family will be assigned ministering brothers. Each woman will be assigned ministering sisters. So, I'm not seeing much change. The biggest change is that we won't have to report each month. Each companionship will be interviewed once per quarter.

[Corsair]

We were told yesterday that each family will be assigned ministering brothers. Each woman will be assigned ministering sisters. So, I'm not seeing much change. The biggest change is that we won't have to report each month. Each companionship will be interviewed once per quarter.

How is this somehow different? Can I simply wave to my family in the hall and claim that "all is well" in the quarterly interview? I suspect this "quarterly interview" will simply turn into an email at the end each quarter that looks like: "Jones family: OK, Smith family: OK, Jensen family OK".

It's going to be an annoying 6 months of goofing around with the new assignments until the next general conference and the inevitable faith promoting stories come out. My guess is that the final evolved form of "ministering" will come about by a million active Mormons flailing about trying to find the best way to make this program not totally suck and not totally look like "slacker home teaching".

[lostinmiddlemormonism]

Shakespeare said, "A rose by any other name..."
Historically it has been stated as "The king is dead; long live the king!"
the military calls it Same $#!t Different Day

In other words, the new "Ministry thing" is going to look and work almost exactly like the old "Home Teaching" thing.

-lost

[slk]

I will have to politely decline if our new HTers/ministry is different from our current situation. Our family has had a husband and wife companionship for HT and they've never left a lesson, never read from the Ensign and they've never left with a prayer. I'm guessing they are aware of my beliefs. I never feel shunned or shamed. They have been awesome. If we are assigned anyone else, that will be the end of that.

[SeeNoEvil]

I know it's been a few weeks since the new ministering program was announced but a friend just forwarded me this email she received today from her RS President. Granted this is old news but I just finally got around to reading the official statement:

Hello Sisters,

Just a few quick notes –

You may have heard this in general conference or you may have heard it in church or you may not have heard it at all – but here is the quote from President Russell M. Nelson –

We have made the decision to retire home teaching and visiting teaching as we have known them. Instead, we will implement a newer, holier approach to caring for and ministering to others. We will refer to these efforts simply as “ministering.”

Because of these changes in the Visiting Teaching/Home Teaching programs and the transition to the new Ministering program, you no longer need to report your visits to your supervisor. When necessary, the RS presidency will contact you for a report on the sisters under your care. You are still assigned as a “visiting teacher” to your same sisters, we are just now calling you a “ministering sister” J (I think). Here is a link to the recent general conference talk by President Nelson describing the new approach –

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/ ... g?lang=eng

All I could think of was, Oh brother! "... holier approach to caring for and ministering to others?" I'm sorry, but how can this be holier? I guess I was under the assumption all those years... decades.... as a visiting teacher that we were providing Christ like love and care for those we were "assigned" to visit. Taking care of other's is the example Christ set so how is this a step up? So doing away with the monthly reports makes it "more holier?" Please some one explain to me how this new ministering thing is supposed to be more holier? Am I missing something here???

I am sorry for being such a sarcastic arse on this one, but geez.... Such a big to do about nothin.

[slavereeno]

"... holier than thou approach to caring for and ministering to others?"

There, I fixed it for you.

That's based on Anderson's talk at the BYU devotional, they just missed a couple of words in there.

[SeeNoEvil]

[slk]

Thanks for enlightening me. That is a good question on how this change makes it holier. Making it holier is getting rid of it all together and just being a good neighbor. You don't need a calling to be a good neighbor. As far as the #s reporting, I'm pretty sure Uchtdorf gave a talk at GC a few years ago that it shouldn't be about the #s. That being said, I'm glad to see they're doing away with reporting.

I bet the real reason they're doing away with reporting is the same reason they're no longer reporting stats in GC. I'm sure HT and VT is at an all time low and what better time to get rid of more stats. We wouldn't want our members to know or start questioning why everyone is leaving.

[SeeNoEvil]

Thanks for enlightening me. That is a good question on how this change makes it holier. Making it holier is getting rid of it all together and just being a good neighbor. You don't need a calling to be a good neighbor. As far as the #s reporting, I'm pretty sure Uchtdorf gave a talk at GC a few years ago that it shouldn't be about the #s. That being said, I'm glad to see they're doing away with reporting.

I bet the real reason they're doing away with reporting is the same reason they're no longer reporting stats in GC. I'm sure HT and VT is at an all time low and what better time to get rid of more stats. We wouldn't want our members to know or start questioning why everyone is leaving.

I agree. I'm almost certain the average TBM hasn't any idea the magnitude of what is happening in their church with people leaving. Another thought here.... could it be the change in the name was to make the church sound more christian. A quick look through some of my local christian churches websites shows all sorts of "ministering" programs but they are things like food kitchens, community donation stores like goodwill only the stuff is free to the needy, mentoring programs, etc. They actually help people and they don't have to belong to be helped or required to pay their tithing to receive which is much different than being ones assigned friend. I don't recall the word "ministering" used very often in the Mormon church and now it is all over the board like we have been part of God ministry all along.

[slk]

For some reason they feel that changing the name of something will fix things and make it better. Sorry but they are still selling the same shitty product. All in all I think the no reporting is a good thing. Now let's work on getting ALL members familiar with the essays and start printing them in lesson manuals and stop hiding them.

[nibbler]

There's still a reporting mechanism.

The only report that will be made is the number of interviews leaders had with the ministering companionships in the ward that quarter. Simple as that sounds, my friends, those interviews are absolutely crucial. Without that information the bishop will have no way to receive the information he needs regarding the spiritual and temporal conditions of his people.

Now instead of a monthly email there's a quarterly interview. Joy.

Here's the deal. I'd like to have a friend at church. A person that befriends me just so they can report up the chain intimate details about my life is not a friend. In fact it makes me not want to participate in the program as a recipient or a giver. I don't want to report a friends needs and I certainly don't want someone claiming to be my friend reporting on what they believe to be my needs.

Church leaders have NO concept of what to do with introverts. When introverts are ready, they will come to you. Maybe I'm over generalizing with these statements but Introverts prefer deeper, intimate relationships as opposed to acquaintances. I don't want to be thinking in the back of my mind that this interaction isn't private or, worse yet, the whole relationship only exists to communicate my needs up a chain? That really sits wrong with me. Really.

I don't think I'll know for sure exactly how things will look once the dust settles (a EQP is called) but in the interim our ward is keeping all the assignments that were already made. Nothing has changed so far and it's clear to me that people in my ward are too sheepish about owning a program and making it their own. They are all waiting around for leaders to tell them how the new ministering program is supposed to work.